Day 51: Richland OR, to Union Creek Campground. (My favorite campsite)

Since we had the campground we took it easy and left around 9:30. There was a minimal grade into Baker City about 40 miles away. About 20 miles in we took a break and marveled at how great the morning had been. The best part of the morning was passing two neat geological features. One was called’The Hole in the Wall.’ The other was just called ‘Layers of Time Set in Lave’.

A brief history of ‘The Hole in the Wall’

We must have jinxed ourselves because the next 20 miles was directly the opposite. The map lied and said there wasn’t any grade but whatever I was biking was at least 6% grade. The top didn’t offer any relief due to the wind that picked up. I thought we had left the wind in Wyoming but it seemed like it finally caught up with us. When everyone regrouped in Baker City everyone looked beat. After getting lunch at McDonald’s we all passed out on the lawn for a nap. Looking at the map we decided to go another 20 miles to camp on Lake Philips. We grabbed dinner at Safeway and headed out of Baker City. The ACA group was staying in Baker City so it was goodbye for good to them. Before leaving we stopped at a gas station to refill water where I decided to join the humongous club. It was definitely the right move. Drinking cold lemonade for the rest of the day was really refreshing. I tried to think why I didn’t buy one sooner but couldn’t remember why.

For the remaining 20 miles we were graced with a tail wind and the distance flew by. It was at this point when I kept thinking that anyone could do this. And who wouldn’t want to? The weather was perfect and the road open. I’ve met so many people that I would have never gotten to know. I’ve seen the country I live in from the slower pace of a bike. Sure some of it has been rough but during the last 20 miles of the day it was really magical.

At the lake we set up camp and walked down to the lake. Brent, Evan, and Jolee had a water/seaweed fight while we watched the sun send sparkles dancing across the lake. While heading back to our campsite we ran into the camp hosts and offered to open the snack shack up just for us. We bought stuff for s’mores and headed back to make a fire. S’mores was the perfect ending to overall a good day. At one point Jolee and I made Evan a s’more but put a raspberry in the middle. It was met to be a prank but we realized putting fruit in the middle of the s’mores was actually really tasty. The rest of the night was spent watching the sun go down and taking turns playing music. It was really peaceful being on the lake. Once the sun was down it got chilly and I headed inside my tent.