Day 64, Monday, June 23



The temperature dropped into the 30s overnight, but the forecast was for it to warm quickly once the sun came up. We decided to wait until 7:00 to depart when it would be a little warmer and the local convenience store would be open.

That did not mean we slept late. We inevitably awoke around 5:30, so we made some coffee and hung out at the church for a bit. 

After a quick stop at the store, we followed the John Day River about five miles until it entered the Picture Gorge. As we approached the Gorge it appeared as a gigantic gash in the ridge on the north side of the valley.

The road through Picture Gorge did not have much shoulder, but what little traffic there was moved slowly. That helped because I was completely distracted by the scenery.

 
In the gorge the John Day flows north toward the Columbia River, but US 26 turns west and heads up Rock Creek. We had to climb over 2000 feet to our next pass, them had a steep descent into the town of Mitchell.

We reached Mitchell shortly after noon. It was only a 38-mile ride, our shortest day, but we had been through three hard days of climbing. Also, we wanted to stay at the Spoken Hostel, a famous bicycle hostel.

As John said, staying at the hostel seems to be a rite of passage for long-distance cyclists traveling through Oregon. It is located in a small former church, with the main bunk room occupying the nave. It's a bicycle hostel, so the host, Dana Gee, had us roll the bikes in and park them at the foot of our bunks before showing us around.

There is a common area on the basement with all sorts of seating for guests and resources for cyclists. Our has a kitchen, with coffee and cereal in the morning. Dana have us lemonade and we sat and chatted with her for a while. They also have a freezer with giant tubs of ice cream, but they do ask  you to go easy on that. Behind the hostel are areas where you can nap and read and talk, and we did.

We were hoping to meet cyclists at the hostel, but aside from one non-cyclist staying in a private room downstairs we were the only guests.

There is a brew pub and mercantile a short walk from the hostel, so after a relaxing afternoon we did some shopping and had dinner. Then it was back to the hostel where I think I was asleep by 7:30.





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