Day 115 – 129: changin’ plans

As we expected, our route has deviated from the original plan and taken us to Reno, Nevada. The original route took California Highway 89 which, outside of Truckee, is not advised for bicycling and the re-route put us into an active fire. So we headed a bit more east and have landed in Reno. Now we have to decide whether to make our way back to the original plan in the Sierras or continue eastward through Nevada and head toward Utah (we’re leaning toward the eastbound route through Nevada).

It was so easy when we were riding in Alaska, the Yukon & British Columbia as the roads and route choices were quite limited – now the choices are almost endless and we find ourselves in analysis mode trying to weigh all the options taking into consideration the following constraints: impending winter, fires, climbing, things to see, water/groceries/showers/laundry/etc.

September 11 – 25, 2024

• Day 115 – rest day in Ashland, Oregon
• Day 116 – Ashland to Yreka, California – 42 miles/3200’ climbing
• Day 117 – Yreka to Weed – 42 miles/2200’
• Day 118 – Weed to Cattle Camp – 37 miles/2600’
• Day 119 – Cattle Camp to Burney Falls – 36 miles/2000’
• Day 120 – Burney Falls to Lassen National Park – 44 miles/3500’ 
• Day 121 – Lassen National Park to Chester – 44 miles/3700′
• Day 122 – Chester to Quincy – 15 miles/500′ (shuttle)
• Day 123 – Quincy to Everstoke – 25 miles/1900′
• Day 124 – Everstoke to Portola – 20 miles/1200′
• Day 125 – Portola to Reno – 46 miles/1600′
• Day 126 – Rest Day in Reno
• Days 127-129 – Central California (via car)

Total mileage: 3,600 miles
Total climbing: 166,000 feet
Dustin’s hair length: ??

After a rest “chore” (laundry, groceries, showers, digital catch-up and route planning) day in Ashland, Oregon we made our way across the state line (via Interstate 5) to California. This was the first time during the trip that we had to use an Interstate Highway because there are no other roads available. We held on for a death defying 35 mph downhill while on I-5 and enjoyed a very wide shoulder and courteous truckers who moved over for us. Between Oregon and California there was a mandatory agricultural inspection stop for all vehicles but we were waved on. 

With limited camping options we ended up riding 4 miles off route to a forest service campground along the Klamath River called Tree of Heaven. The ride to the campground was through a gorgeous river gorge. The Klamath River was quite brown and we learned from the locals that a dam had been removed about 6 months prior resulting in the current brown color. 

The next morning we backtracked the 4 miles back to our route and had another lovely ride through the Shasta River gorge before making our way toward Mount Shasta (just 300 feet short of being California’s tallest peak at 14,179 feet). 

We made camp in a town called Weed that had a market on selling t-shirts & trinkets playing with the town’s name. 

From Weed we continued to make our way around Mount Shasta with a tough climb up to “Dead Horse Pass” – hopefully no dead cyclists…it was a heart thumper! Along the way to our camp for the night we stopped at Middle McCloud Falls for a break. 

When we made camp for the evening at Cattle Camp we noticed something very peculiar, campfire smoke. This was the first time since July 12th we had camped absent of a fire ban – the fire bans for us started in British Columbia, Canada and extending into both Washington & Oregon. Generally, we’re not fans of campfires – they smoke, stink up all our gear, and on a few occasions we’ve been forced to breathe in the smoke all night while the fire maker has retreated to their RV. 

So the next night, at Burney Falls State Park, we were excited to learn we could camp at the hiker/biker campsite away from all the campfires. Little did we know what we were in for that night…

After setting up camp at Burney Falls we looked to the sky and saw some ominous clouds – OK sure thing we’d heard rain was predicted. It started with a sprinkle and then abated so we decided to give it a go and cook dinner. While making dinner we were completely surrounded by black clouds and Patricia sped up dinner. The heavy rain started just as we’d grabbed dinner to eat in the tent. As we ate dinner the rain became a deluge and then the hail started. Thankful to be in the shelter of our tent we happily enjoyed our hot cooked meal & dessert. After eating, when it was not letting up, Dustin decided it was time to go outside and put larger stakes down for the rainfly and to tighten up all the stays. Not wanting to get his clothes wet he stripped down to his undies and prepared to jump out. 

Once he could see the surroundings of the tent he said, “Oh shit” as we were surrounded by a lake of water because the ground could not absorb the massive rainfall. After restaking & tightening up the rainfly he dug a trench with his heel to divert the water away from our shelter. After being out of the tent for so long in a cold rainfall when he finally got back in the tent he was cold to the bone and took quite a while to warm up even with dry layers and hopping in his sleeping bag. 

It rained (and hailed) for a solid 4 hours and we were thankful to have stayed relatively dry during this storm. The next morning we were able to gauge the rainfall from a container we’d left empty on the table – we had received over 2 inches of rain. We packed up a very wet tent and cycled onward. In our first mile of biking we noticed an area that still had the remnants of hail from the previous night – this small microclimate must have had quite a bit of hail to still have some remaining the next morning. 

We pedaled on and headed toward Lassen National Park where Patricia had reserved a cabin at Lake Manzanita because there was supposed to be rain all day – it is so nice to get to a dry cabin and not have to set up an already wet tent in the rain. As we rode along all day the rain never came and we were thinking we had wasted money on a cabin that wasn’t necessary. Just then, about 5 miles from our cabin, the rain started. We arrived drenched and cold (it was 43F) at our warm, dry cabin and were delighted. 

From Lake Manzanita the next day we did a grueling 20-mile climb up to the highest point at Lassen National Park. The day started out quite foggy but had mostly burned off by the time we made it to the pass.

After Lassen, the next section of the route was “not advised for bicycling” due to very twisty mountain roads with little to absent shouldering and heavy (log) truck traffic, so we followed the advice of Adventure Cycling and took the local transit bus to bypass this hazard. This is the first time we’ve voluntarily taken a ride (there have been a couple required pilot cars through construction) after the lift we took on our first day leaving Fairbanks. It felt a little like cheating but in the grand scheme of things riding a bus (downhill!) for the 46 miles is insignificant – misery is optional, safety is important, and we’re riding our ride.

While in the bus we rode through the town of Greenville, California and spoke with one of the local residents – this town was destroyed in the 2021 Dixie Fire. Empty slab foundations could be observed with many people still living in campers. Here is the story from Greenville burning from 2021.

The bus dropped us off in Quincy – a historic gold rush town where we had a wonderful studio suite for the night above a courtyard where we enjoyed live music from a local band (bass, banjo, accordion, harmonica) – it was a welcomed respite after several nights of tenting. 

Now that the sun is rising later and the coldest temperature of the day is occurring when we’d been used to riding early in the morning, we’ve been taking more leisurely mornings these days. Quincy was no exception – we didn’t set an alarm and got rolling around 9am (late for us!). We had a short ride over to the town of Blairsden where we camped at an up and coming mountain bike park called Everstoke. The owner kindly welcomed us even though we weren’t mountain bikers :). 

We’ve learned from several locals that this area is called the “Lost Sierras” – Lake Tahoe gets all the glory (and tourists) while this spectacular region of the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains is often forgotten. Our sense from the locals is being forgotten, and not overrun by tourists, is just the way they like it. The towns are small and quaint and the outdoor recreation is plentiful. 

Our next stop was Portola where we went to the Western Pacific Railroad Museum – trains were such an important part of the development for this area and many historic trains were on display in Portola. 

While in Portola at the Natural Foods Co-op having some lunch we were spontaneously approached by Will who saw our bicycles and touring gear and said to Dustin – “You have to meet my wife and we’d love to host you tonight”. Trusting our gut instinct we messaged his wife, Katy, and made sure this was OK. She was all in – so we made our way over to their home just outside of town on our route and had the most marvelous time connecting over bike touring and adventuring in general. Katy & Will were wonderful serendipitous hosts and we left with our hearts so full for the ride over to Reno, Nevada. Katy knows bike touring very well and even made us a “Hobbit Second Breakfast” for the road!! We are so thankful for the chance encounter with Will and that we trusted in humanity because the experience was unforgettable. 

The next morning we rode (and Katy even rode with us) through the Sierra Valley a massive 590 square mile alpine valley that attracts many migratory bird species among other wildlife. 

As part of the route to get to Reno we rode on Highway 395, a divided 4 lane, with a nice shoulder and then hopped on the frontage road when we were able. The frontage road proved quite a challenge for a couple hills at 14% grade – we had to hike-a-bike just to get over the hills!

We were glad we took the frontage road because we were able to meet Robert, a fellow touring cyclist, on his way to Reno. Robert started biking when he realized half of his Social Security was going toward his rent and he didn’t have money left over for travel. He left Oregon and is headed south for the winter and was getting ready to lay out his bedroll in the gulch for the evening. He was planning on getting to Reno the next night so he could have some spokes on one of his wheels fixed. We offered Robert food and water but he said he was fine – he did take us up on the offer of a Nevada map & our spare sunglasses 🙂 

We exchanged phone numbers and told him to contact us if he needed anything else since we would overlap our time in Reno. We never did hear again from Robert again but did see him cycling down the strip in Reno – we were so glad he made it into town with his 3 broken spokes!

We enjoyed a “rest” day in Reno where we must have walked 6 miles seeing the sights and trying to find healthier groceries. We even took in a short show at the Circus Circus & walked the inside maze of casinos and themed ornamentation, including the multistory mining rig inside the Silver Legacy Resort.

Now we are taking off a few days to visit friends in the Central Valley of California (via car) where we will work on the bikes and route our next segment of the trip. Our plan is to take advantage of the cooler fall temperatures and head across the desert in Nevada on Highway 50, called “The Loneliest Road In America” – this should prove an interesting new challenge so stay tuned 🙂

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