Day 11: Prairie City, Oregon

Today’s ride from Dayville to Prairie City was almost 47 miles. Once again, relentless heat and blue skies. I can take the skies, and I haven’t had rain since beginning this journey, but cool air would be refreshing.

The ride wasn’t too bad. I managed to do it in about five hours and saw some really spectacular country. Mountains in every direction and a few even have traces of snow on them.

I’m seeing midsummer plant life now. Most of the fruit on the trees, such as apricots and juniper are ripe. They use the juniper berries to make gin.

I arrived in Prairie City in the late afternoon. I once again had arranged to stay with a WarmShowers.org family. Nobody was home when I arrived, so I collapsed on a bench in their garden and fell fast asleep. About an hour later, I heard a car stop on the road below and Jimi hopped out and ran up the bank to the garden where I was. He didn’t seem surprised in the least and invited me in. He showed me around, gave me a place to put my sleeping gear, pointed out the all-important shower, and then left me alone.

The view from the room was breathtaking, looking out towards Strawberry Mountain. He had offered for me to join him and Karen for dinner, but I opted to walk down to town and get a few things. The next day’s ride was about 68 miles (109 km) and I wanted to have something to eat. Food wasn’t certain until Baker City. I learned later that there was a restaurant/convenience store about 20 miles (32 km), but there was some question as to whether it would be open on Sunday…it was.

I slept a deep sleep in Prairie City after going out and looking at the star-filled sky. The stars are brilliant here, something one rarely sees in Florida.

Thanks for following along and please do leave comments.

Author: Dennis Blanchard

Dennis Blanchard was born in Bristol, Connecticut. He and his wife Jane moved to New Hampshire in 1980 where he has climbed thirty 4000-foot mountains, biked the trails and enjoyed the wilderness. Never living very far from the Appalachian Trail, Dennis was always aware of the seductive siren’s call to hike it. Dennis is an electronics engineer who has freelanced for amateur radio, technical and motorcycle adventure magazines. He now lives in Sarasota, Florida. View all posts by Dennis Blanchard