The river gorge has now completely transitioned, from dense rainforest to Oak forests to fruit tree orchards and vineyards, and finally to arid grass landscapes. This part of Oregon should be hot and dry but our weather continues to be cool with cloudy skies. The standard bike touring route crosses over to the Washington side of the river at Biggs. However, the Washington side along highway 14 does not have the services we need for 84 miles, so that route was out of the question. The Oregon side has been fantastic with wonderful lightly traveled highway 30 and bike paths in the forest for most of the first 270 miles. But that ended today and our alternative route took us along I-84. The freeway shoulder was wide and smooth and we felt quite safe. But the traffic noise was a bit much. Compensating for the noise was the continued beautiful landscape and mostly flat road.
Arid landscape along the east Columbia River Gorge
John Day dam - so many dams, each with power generators, a lock for the barges, and a Salmon ladder
Freeway riding …
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