Day 48: Sisters to McKenzie Bridge, OR

44.7 miles, 2346 ft ascent / 4327 ft descent, 3:38 saddle time, elevations:  start 3219, max 5325, min 1248, finish 12257 ft.

Top of McKenzie Pass

After getting a quick breakfast sandwich and scone from the Sister’s Coffee Co, we started our ascent to McKenzie Pass.  This was the last pass in my TransAm journey, and the last major climb.  After riding a very gentle uphill grade of 1% for about 2.5 miles, Brian and I started our ascent of 2093 ft in 12.5 miles.  The traffic was light and I was very happy to see this sign…

…which meant NO RV’s!  The road was quite narrow in some areas and the shoulders were narrow or nonexistent, so the lack of RV’ allowed me to have a very relaxed climb to the summit.

The character of the forest changed gradually as we climbed from sagebrush and cedar trees to the skeletons of trees and a dense shrub covering the ground.

The trees were killed by a pine beetle infestation, and burned by a subsequent fire.

The road to the summit runs along the edge of lava flows that date back 10,000 to 150,000 years.

Edge of lava flow
Lava flows from three volcanos filled the valley with a thick layer of lava (background in top photo).  The surface is broken rock because as the lava flowed the surface hardened, but pressure building up from the molten lava below cracked the hardened surface.  It is hard to imagine the scale of the volcanic activity that formed much of the northwest over millions of years.  It humbles me to think that we humans are just a blip in geologic time and that the forces that formed and then eroded the mountains are beyond anything we can comprehend.  From the summit we got a good view of the Three Sisters from the back side.

The Three Sisters

The ride down the back side of the pass was great!  We went down about 3,000 ft in 18 miles.  We literally coasted the whole way.  The road was windy, so I had to apply my brakes often, but it was FUN!  As soon as we crossed over the flora changed dramatically and the humidity increased.  The West side of the Cascades gets a lot more rain than the East side, to the types of trees and the understory plants are quite different.  It is also much greener and densely vegetated.  I have enjoyed visiting all the areas I have ridden through, but I prefer lush green forests with cascading streams and all kinds of flowers.

Tonight we are staying at Harbick’s Inn in Blue River, and tomorrow we ride to Eugene.  I am feeling that we are heading back into civilization.  In one week I will arrive in Portland, and I will fly home from there on 16 July.  I am looking forward to seeing family and old friends again, although it will also be hard saying goodbye to new friends I have met along the way.




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