It was 70 degrees last Thursday. The sun was shining behind sparse clouds, and there wasn’t a drop of rain in the air. Nothing too spectacular for an August day, but we were headed to Tillamook where the weather is always up in the air. My brother in law and I were on a last minute three day tour and it had all the right things going for it.
Once off the Max in Hillsboro we pedaled through Cornelius, past the trailer park where I used to read meters, through Forest Grove, onto 6 and up over the summit. We took our time, stopped for beers along the way, and worked our asses off. Once in Tillamook we ran errands. Brie from the Blue Heron French Cheese Company, cognac and whiskey from the liquor store. Oysters from the oyster shop. Bread, wine, and other essentials from the market. Finally we arrived at Cape Lookout State Park. We watched the sun set, ate dinner, and passed out.
Not pictured is the brie and cognac. Take a wheel of brie, stab it with a knife a bunch, pour cognac over it, wrap it in two pieces of foil and put near the coals. In about twenty minutes you have amazing cheese for bread.
Knowing that it would be cold in the mountains, and not knowing what the wood situation was, we decided to carry wood for the night. That’s thirty or so pounds of wood on my bike. The Black Star Bags look great too.
Nothing says light camping more than tyvek. Right? Not for me, I prefer the little domicile in the background.
In the morning we made some coffee, ate donuts, and proceeded to get a move on. We crested the big climb right as the sun was putting out full power. We coasted down the mountain to Carlton.
And as all tours go, this one ended. We rode back through Yamhill, and connected to Hwy 47 through Dilley. The weather was perfect, and I for one would have been happy to keep rolling.
