July 17, 2007
Time of departure: 6:40 A.M.
Temperature: 47 degrees
Elevation: 4233 feet
Total Mileage: 145
“So you’re from Texas? I should have known. You look like a cowboy.”
What do you say to that?
“Oh really?” “What kind of TV have you been watching?” or “Since when does a cowboy wear black, reinforced nylon pants and a silver helmet?”
Instead I settled for a nice, neutral, “Ummmm...yeah.” Then I remembered that this was Oregon. Anybody with a bit of a drawl and a ride not made by Subaru qualifies to be labeled a “cowboy.”
Since we arrived in La Pine yesterday afternoon, Oregon has been living up t
o our expectations. We left this morning in cool, damp weather and immediately began ascending the Cascades.
Emerald green, with snow capped peaks, was to be the order of the day. We rode up and down mountains for the better part of the morning. Towards midday, we began to parallel the South Umpqua River. It was beautiful. Over most of its course, the bed was solid rock, and in many places there were waterfalls.
Several miles downstream, we came to the South Umpqua Falls. Literally, the falls were a sheet of rock, a hundred 
yards wide, with a true fall on one side. It would’ve made a great water slide, given you wore a helmet and kneepads.
A sign next to the falls said that salmon still run up the falls. That’s something I’d love to see.
All in all, it was a great day.
We have one more day. We plan on arriving in Port Orford, OR tomorrow. We hope we make it.
See y’all down the trail.
Ron and Meredith
