As I mentioned, I had never toured by bike nor biked over a pass, so Santiam Pass was a new and frightening experience for me..turns out the worst part was the traffic and big trucks.
Ochoco Pass was so beautiful..lots of flat areas with greenery, springs, and trees...and the traffic wasn't too bad! It reminded me of the Sierra.
I discovered that Click and Clack on my IPod can be very distracting...in a good way.
Keys Creek Pass was fine, too, and the descents are a lot of fun.
Then there was Dixie Pass..it was the first of 3 that were close enough to be done in one day, so we decided to do it in the late afternoon. We noted on our map that the rustic campground at the top had NO water..so Fred and I had to fill our 3 liter platypuses with water in Prairie City. Jim couldn't find his platy so we had to make sure we carried enough for 3.
This made the climb so hard! You can imagine the swearing that went on when we discovered a nice stream at the top..oh well, it built muscles, right?
Tipton Pass and Sumpter Pass were pretty gradual with low traffic..
But hurrah for a city stop!
How do these passes compare with the Rockies? Obviously you will be at a much greater base elevation by the time you reach them, but what about the net elevation gain?
ReplyDeleteNot sure, but we'll find out soon enough at Lolo Pass!
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