Day 18 – A Jarring Conclusion to our Ride on the Weiser River Trail - Cambridge to Midvale - Fourth & Final Day on the Weiser River Trail

Another leisurely morning, another satisfying breakfast, and another day of the Trail.  It was no better than our memory of this stretch, but at least it wasn’t worse.

We arrived at the Trailhead Hostel in good time.  We unloaded our panniers on the sidewalk, and deposited all the contents in our room, then took the bikes across the street to the City Park.  With a bucket, sponge and rags from the Hostel (they have EVERYTHING you need), we used the park’s water hydrant to fill the bucket and wash our bikes.  Boy were they dirty-it took multiple bucket loads to complete the job.  But they came out looking pretty darn good.  We shook out the dust on the panniers then wiped them down with damp rags.  We then got the laundry started (see what we mean), and had another Beanie Weenie lunch in the Hostel’s kitchen/dining area.

 

Later we had another nice dinner at the Country Coffee Cabin!  Rob had the soup and salad bar; Diane, grilled mahi mahi and salad bar.

And now we are back in room. 

As we reflect on our Weiser River Trail experience we celebrate the positives:  We are physically capable of riding rough stuff, just chose not to do it because the riding wasn’t much fun.  We did not have any flats on the trail, even though goat’s head vine was evident all along the trail.  We never dropped our bikes.  Although we had a few raindrops, it never poured on us.  We never got too hot nor too cold.  We met friendly and interesting people.  We laughed a lot and we made great memories. 

Tomorrow we shuttle to Weiser, pack up and head for The Dalles!

Diane & Rob

Happily on our way to the café for breakfast.

An example of the most typical surface on the trail, rough with gravel embedded in bumpy surface

Diane riding for a few seconds on a few yards of smooth trail.

At the first gate on today’s ride, someone left a note stating that a bear had been spotted at the next bridge on the trail.  We didn’t see the bear but the bear left us a note.

    A well-inhabited wasp nest attached to a bridge support.  Glad it was cold today.  The truly scary aspect of this is when you ride across these bridges, the structure makes a rumbling noise as it vibrates.  On a hot day, the wasps might have reacted badly. 

Dangerously close up view of the wasp nest

The end of the ride.  Our bikes ridden hard, but put up clean and dry.