Dufur Loop Century

For our anniversary the forecast had called for a reasonable chance of rain in Vancouver, so we decided to drive east and ride. Worked like a charm. The only rain we experienced was the downpour in the metro area on the drive back.

Quick Stats Ride Distance: 101 miles   Elevation Gain: 8,066 feet   Average Moving Speed: 14.41 mph

We started in Hood River, but instead of doing our usual glorified out-and-back, we were doing a bonafide loop. The new route would take us on 5.5 miles of Highway 197 and 3.5 miles of Highway 35. We are not highway cyclists, so there were definitely some reservations. But this is why we chose to do this ride on a Wednesday while many schools are still in session.

We are happy to say the highway driving proved quite uneventful. The shoulder on Highway 197 was ample, which was nice since we were on it almost a half hour due to some climbing to get to Dufur. And while descending on Highway 35 we almost did the whole thing without a single car passing us, but just before the turnoff onto Cooper Spur Road a couple RV's went by. The shoulder on 35 was less than ideal in both width and pavement consistency, and the road follows the East Fork of Hood River so is generally curvy, but at least it was downhill so our higher speed minimized the time spent on it to less than 10 minutes, which was a very good thing. Definitely not a route you want to take in heavy traffic.

PHOTOS (IN FLASH PLAYER):

I'd ridden the southern leg of our journey before, the part from Dufur to Mt. Hood. It was the northern leg of the Ring of Fire which I've done twice, but in the opposite direction. So I sort of knew what to expect, but when going the opposite direction on a bike it is really a completely different experience, and that proved true here as well, particularly since it involved a 3000-foot climb instead of a 3000-foot descent.

On that long climb we saw a coyote scamper off the road quite a ways directly ahead of us, and two separate does tending to their tiny little fawns, the first doe with a single fawn and the second with twins. I also heard the distinct cry of a bald eagle, very close, but did not actually see it. No bears or mountain lions. Though I wonder if any saw us? Oh, we also saw a raccoon, a big one, on the rural road before getting to Highway 197. They sure look funny when they run.

The best part about the ride was the traffic. Or lack thereof. I think there was only 3 or 4 cars that went by us on the entire big climb, which took almost a couple hours. We didn't really start having much traffic to contend with until we started reaching civilization while descending down to Hood River, and even then it wasn't all that much traffic. It really was wonderful.

While there was no rain, which was definitely nice, we were not sure what to expect with wind and temperature. I was glad to have just re-learned three days prior that I should bring my leg warmers when riding on a mountain. I started the ride with them and took them off before even getting to the first climb in the first few miles of the ride, feeling silly that I brought them as it was sunny and quite warm. However, on the upper end of the 3000-foot climb the sun was obstructed by clouds, the higher elevation meant cooler temperatures, and there was frequently a very cool breeze on us. The leg warmers went back on and it was pure joy to have them along.

The new experimental route proved to be a good one. Provided you do it on a weekday and preferably not in the midst of summer in order to avoid heavy highway traffic. So that makes it June or maybe September. Sadly Mt. Hood was hiding behind the clouds much of this day. But in spite of missing out on great photo ops we were thankful the mountain was there in order to stop most of the clouds, or the rain-bearing ones anyway, effectively keeping us dry. I'll take staying dry over a great photo op any day, it is a very worthwhile tradeoff.

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