Day 11: Ochoco Lake State Park, OR to Mitchell, OR

Miles: 40

Elevation (ft): 2,000

Total trip mileage: 359

Today started out with nerves as we had another mountain pass to climb, high temperatures, and no towns until our destination. The ride started out fine as we rode through Ochoco National Forest. Around 17 Miles, Chelsea noticed her front tire was flat again (even though we had just replaced the tube last night). It seemed to be an extremely slow leak, so we debated on whether to continue forward to Mitchell or turn around and head back the way we came. We also had no cell phone reception. Ultimately, we decided to move forward and stop every few miles to check the tire.

The climb ended up being pretty tame compared to previous days. When we reached the summit, we had to ask another cyclist if it was actually the summit. It was...and so the descent began. For Chelsea, this steep descent down the mountain was pretty terrifying, and it started us thinking about the rest of the trip as there are many more mountains to come.

Tired and sweaty, we arrived in Mitchell at a really cool place - the Spoke’n Hostel. Mitchell is a town of about 132 people and looks to be straight out of an old western movie. The hostel is inside an old church and is run by a married couple who are also pastors. It’s a really popular stop for cyclists, and we understand why. The proprietors are extremely generous, welcoming, and have thought of everything anyone passing through would need.

For dinner, we headed into the “town” (which is just one street) and stopped at the Tiger Town brewery. One thing we noticed is that there were a lot of rocks for sale, seriously. Afterwards, we did a load of laundry the old-fashioned way - with a bucket and plunger - and worked on fixing Chelsea’s front tire (we had to pump it up at least three times to make it to town). Considering the difficulties that lie ahead, we are reassessing the trip and will make a decision in the morning.