Day 1: July 6, 2024 - Portland, OR, to Vernonia, OR
End: Verninia, OR
Miles: 55.6
Feet climbing per mile: 49
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/199194838
I went to bed shortly after 11:00, was up at 5:00, on the road at 6:40. The first 21 miles was the best suburban riding I’ve ever experienced. The road surfaces were excellent, the traffic was light, and there were plenty of trees.
I found the trail that started in Banks, shortly before mile 34, to be rough for my 25mm tires. Along the way I noticed a poor connection between my left shoe and pedal. I stopped to look and realized it was time for replacement, which I did at the Dairy Queen at mile 38 where I enjoyed a strawberry sundae.
After leaving the Dairy Queen I rode the highway for a while rather than returning to the trail, but the headwind and the heat quickly sent me back to the trail. The surface of the trail after my return was much better than it had been.
I soon emptied one of my water bottles and realized that the other bottle was also empty. Despite the marking on the surface, I found no water on the trail.
I arrived at the Anderson Park campground about 1:30. While setting up my tent I met Justin, from Anchorage, Alaska, who was in the site next to mine. He told me he and his two kids would be pretty quiet and I was glad to have him as a neighbor.
I had been told there was swimming in the river next to the campground but without some sort of water shoes to deal with the rocky bottom I was unable to get in beyond my ankles.
When I returned to my site after taking a shower I saw that there were now two vehicles parked next to Justin’s.
Britany, the camp host, soon came by and asked whether I was ok with all the vehicles. I told her they were encroaching on my site. She said they were ON my site and then had them move. While I was dealing with my gear a dog on the neighboring site started growling and barking at me. Someone, not Justin, said he hates bicycles. I told him to keep that dog away from me. I love dogs but have no tolerance for them when they’re aggressive.
I followed Brittany recommendation of Buckshot Betty’s, for hamburgers, and was glad I did. While I was there I got into a conversation with the people at the next table during which my cross-country trip came up. Sandy asked for info and my blog, and Jesse Martin, the owner of Buckshot Betty’s, gave me a dollar bill and asked me to write on it my name, the date, and something about my trip. That dollar bill is now taped to the ceiling among other such dollar bills.
I got into my sleeping bag before 10:00 because I needed to get an early start the next day in order to avoid the worst heat. Quiet time at the campground starts at 10:00, but my neighbors were still talking and laughing loudly, including yelling at Taco, the aggressive dog, when he would bark. At 10:15 I called Brittany and asked her to get them to be quiet. She said she would be right down to speak with them. In the next half hour I heard no change in the noise so I called Brittany again and left a message. I called her several more times because the neighbors did not become quiet until midnight, and not silent until 12:30. When I woke the next morning at 5:30 I thought that I would like to bang on a pot and yell “RISE AND SHINE! EVERYBODY GET UP!”.
When I spoke with Brittany the next night from Astoria she told me that she spoke with my neighbors several times, brought her husband one of the times, and eventually had the police come. Justin and his kids might have been quiet but the others occupying his site certainly were not. Brittany told me that this group of people is in her records as having not followed the camp rule to which they agreed and next time would be asked to leave at the first violation.
See all of my daily routes here: Cross Country 2024
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