Reaching for the Top

 I've been reading reports of people biking over McKenzie Pass all winter.  While skiers and water managers lament the lack of snow it was a treat for cyclists to be able to cross the Cascade summit on this route closed to cars during the Winter months. Some friends rode up to the summit from the Sisters side (longer drive to get there, shorter climb, less elevation gain) on Friday and reported no snow on the road at all. They said they rode down toward Scott Lake a way but saw no snow.

Kent and I took off early this morning to ride up the West side from McKenzie Ranger Station.  Our plan, like normal, was to ride up to the summit, then down to Sisters for lunch, then ride back.  It would be a 78 mile ride with just over 6000 ft of climbing.  As an added treat, Kent had never been up the west side before.

We started out from the Ranger Station shortly after 9AM.

There was just a bit of morning chill in the mountain air, but still very much like a summer day as we pedaled out.

We continued to pedal through the Douglas Fir, true fir, and hemlock forest, climbing relentlessly as we did so. At 8 miles in, we reached the first snow gate.  I noted that the gate has been replaced since last year.  I failed to get a photo, but it is now a very substantial barrier, too low to go under, too high to comfortably go over, too wide to go around.  We carried our bikes over boulders on the hillside to get beyond. (yes, we checked before driving down here, it was legal to go around the gate)

Deadhorse Grade snakes its way up the mountainside

 

We had started at 1500 ft elevation.  We saw the first skiffs of snow as we reached 4000 ft.  Normally in June at this elevation there would be 2-3 ft of snow on the forest floor.  Our talk turned to the ramifications of the dry winter the West Coast has experienced. Shortly after seeing skiffs of snow under the trees we found a patch of snow on the roadway under the shade of trees.

Before too long the novelty of snow on the road was becoming a common occurrence.  Kent had some tread on his tires and weighs bit more than I do.  He had a better time riding through snow patches than I did.  My bike was pretty squirrely.

The snow patches increased in frequency and depth. We finally resorted to walking through the snow to minimize the chances of falling and getting injured.

By the time we neared 4500 ft elevation the snow was getting to be really problematic.

We should have packed snowshoes!

The snow was obviously "new" snow, probably from last week when the ski resorts received their first real snow fall of the winter. It had not set up like ice, but was heavy and slushy.  Our feet were wet with the first steps.

It was beginning to look like we wouldn't make it to the 5400 ft summit.

By the time we got 16 miles into our ride, and reached 4700 ft elevation it became obvious that we weren't going to make it.  We still had 8 miles and a little over 600 ft of elevation to go.

 We were in 6-8" of snow, and the prospect of walking 8 miles and carrying our bikes didn't sound appealing. Given how much conditions had changed in the last 700 ft of elevation, the next 600 ft would probably get worse.  We'd also have to retrace our path back, since our vehicle was parked on the west side.

We sat in the sun, ate a bar, and discussed the day.
We turned around and rolled back down the hill.  We were bummed that we didn't reach the summit and the great views to be had from there.

There will be other opportunities.

33 miles, 3200 ft of elevation gain.

...........road bike..........rollers.........mtb..........lifecycle.......total
Today............33...............0..............0...............0...................33 Jan...............765...............0...............0...............0...............765
Feb................248...............0...............0...............0................248
March...........183.................0................0..............0................183
April...............98................0................0...............0 .................98
Total............1294...............0...............0...............0..............1294