2.5 - Thursday, March 6

Distance: 50 miles
Time: 7 hours
Conditions: Packed dry snow and some crust

I left Dutchman Flat Sno Park at Mount Bachelor at 5:00 AM for the trip down Cascade Lakes Highway. It went well. The last 15 miles where the road was plowed were more difficult, but still not too bad. All in all, another perfect ski trail. Not a soul encountered.

Averaged about 10 miles an hour for the first three hours. The first miles were a little out of control. It was dark, and I was just trying not to fall as the miles whizzed by. Steep downhill. Just watching in the lit radius of my headlamp for large, unexpected objects in the way. Didn't want to break a binding.

Hit Elk Lake Resort in an hour. Detoured in to see if the cafe was open, but no luck. No one about. With the large initial drop in elevation astern, it was now time to settle in to reality. Some miles to go. Skating was tough on the uneven surface. The road was packed but not quite smooth. Just when I would get into a rhythm a ski would fly off to one side throwing me off. I ended up double poling most of the way, which was plenty fast.

Going north on this road is the real scenic experience, and I was going south. However, I periodically looked behind me to survey the looming Cascade peaks. Mount Bachelor hung around for a long, long time. Beautiful sunrise.

Stopped to put on some sun block. Whoops - it's frozen solid. Luckily my pizza slices could not freeze - too many artificial, industrial ingredients. Tasty. Cold pizza remains a favorite on the trail.

With 15 miles to go the unwelcome sight of large snow banks appeared ahead. The road was plowed - kinda - but not open. Why they do this I do not know. No visible, obvious reason it was plowed. I could not ski on the road much anymore and had to go up on a bank. This worked ok for a lot of the remaining distance, but some times was just plain ugly. Double poling only now - too narrow to skate. Arms definitely feeling it, especially on the uphills.

Spotted Odell Butte from a ways and knew I was there. 50 miles and it's only noon. Changed into my running shoes (always prepare for the worst) and started walking east toward 97 and Gilchrest. I got a ride! This is a remote road traveled mostly by trucks, so this may have been the key ride of the day.

Out on 97 I got another ride. A skier with skis in the car! Holding out my skis while hitch hiking is my version of showing some leg. I know with the right person it will raise an eyebrow and maybe lead to a ride. Sure enough. I dangle these curious objects and see who will respond.

Great ride all the way to Bend. Hitching up Century Drive, which should have been the easiest in theory, was hard because it was afternoon and most traffic was coming down. A friendly guy dropped me part of the way up at Meissner. Only six miles from bachelor, but total no man's land. I started walking up the road, trying to look as downtrodden and hungry as possible. The sympathy ploy worked, and a nice guy who was coming down turned around and picked me up and delivered me back to the car. Bravo!

Good day. One to go! Weather is looking kinda blah, but hoping it hangs on just one more day...