After a very nice lingonberry crepes and cappuccino breakfast in town, we headed south into the dirt. We climbed through the forest up to 6,500 ft. Perfect temperature, sun filtering through the forests, nice switchbacks up the mountain, and great views of Mt. Hood as we approached it.
The roads ranged from easy gravel fire roads, muddy puddles, to narrow paths with deep ruts. I managed to hit one of my side cases on a fallen tree, as I was trying to avoid a deep rut, blowing up the lid and bending the box out of shape … but without falling : )
After some “surgery” with a big rock we managed to put the whole box back together and kept going.
Had a nice Hawaiian pizza at Government Camp, a sky resort with lots of cabins and restaurants but it was mostly empty this time of the year.
We continued through Clear Lake and on to Timothy Lake, our campsite for the night. The lake was beautiful, with Mt. Hood next to it reflected on the water. The whole area was totally empty and all official camping areas closed for the season. So we picked the best and managed to go around a gate through the forest to a place next to the water.
We walked around the shore, had dinner, contemplated the future of humankind, watched the starts slowly come up, and went to bed. A great first day of dirt riding in a pristine setting to get our sea legs … and our soul-filing dose of nature.
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