I slept like a baby last night and was up and moving before official sunrise. This route has some little tricks up her sleeve and I have to get on it before it gets too hot.

After circumnavigating Detroit Lake, it was time for some gravel. The first part of the day was supposed to be the hardest, but remember those tricks?

Today, I had a treat from the natural world. I saw for the first time in the wild a bobcat. It crossed the road a ways in front of me and jumped a couple times in the underbrush. How lucky am I?

The second part of day was definitely tougher than the climbing presented in the beginning of the day. Tricks, I tell you. Before I found myself on some nice wagon trails, I had to cross a creek where the road had been blown out and then cross a tree in the path that was very large. It was hard to straddle this monstrous beast much less get War Dog up and over.

At the Fish Lake Historic Site on the wagon trail, I met a lady that knows all my people from The Dalles. She hooked me up with some fresh cold water and after chatting a little, we came to this revelation. Small world.

Soon after, this is when I was introduced to the Clear Lake Trail, which is what I call a hiking trail. I did more hiking than biking and was a little nervous I would tumble from above into Clear Lake. I had a nice sit down lunch by the lake with some incredible views after this experience.

McKenzie River Trail was yet another trail I pretty much hiked today. I feel like I did more hiking than biking on these trails as I am no master at mountain biking fully loaded. This is why tomorrow I will be taking the suggested alternate route toward some hot springs, which will better suit me and War Dog.

I finally made it to Paradise Campground for the second time on another cycling adventure. This time, I splished and splashed to cleanse myself a little in the super cold waters of the McKenzie River. Frigid!