Umatilla, OR to Walla Walla, WA

Miles: 58.0
Total miles: 280.3
Climbing: 1362

Today started out a bit cooler than the past few days and we had a leisurely start at 7:15 due to the short ride. We were riding right near the Columbia River on the Oregon side and had a small tailwind, for which we are always thankful.

..found our retirement home, Ben

Within 7 miles, the explorers in the group took a detour off the road to Hat Rock State Park. What a wonderful spot! It was a large round basalt piece of rock which withstood 50-100 huge floods which flowed from breaking ice dams in W. Montana. We walked up to the base of it for some great photos on this lovely morning. About 17 million years ago, a series of volcanic eruptions covered the area with layers of basaltic lava. This happened repeatedly over the next 10-15 million years and covered 63,000 miles of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho with 40,000 cubic miles of basalt, building up layers nearly a mile thick. The lava gradually cooled into a layer of basalt, shrinking and cracking in vertical columns. Erosion then stripped away the topsoil and left the cliffs exposed. This is not the only one of these exposed rocks and later in the day we saw a pair of them. They are famous in the world of geology and are the most studied basalts on the planet! After resupplying our water our group of five started on down the road. Why pass up something unusual on a day off?!!!

Hat Rock

Hat Rock

Shortly after, I had the very first on-road flat of my life!! I was riding down a 2% grade hill at about 25 mph and then whump, whump, whump, and the front tire was flat. With lots of comments from the little ride group, I had it changed in no time and learned something great from Mary…you can continue to use a CO2 canister which is not empty by locking it shut and using later! She had a half full one which I used after hand pumping as much as I could. Later, I filled up from the SAG vehicle with a real pump. The wire which I pulled out of the tire was totally invisible on the outside but was obvious when I ran my finger around the inside of the tire. A tweezer from Barb K to pull the offending wire out and I was ready to go. After just under 15,000 miles since 2005, I think it has been a miracle that I have not flatted before this! Oh, I have had a valve stem pull out from a defective pump twice on the Southern Tier on the first two days (never used THAT pump again!!) but I have been lucky…and meticulous each night taking care of the tires.

Soon we entered into Washington State to stay for a few days. The river riding was as close as we have been to the river since the start but we crossed over a tunnel and the railroad tracks were to our left between us and the road near Juniper Canyon which rose straight up to our right.

Entering Washington State

Riding up Juniper Canyon
Just after seeing the Two Sisters basalt towers, we turned away from the river, and then it was hot again, very hot.

Two Sisters Basalt Towers

Two Sisters Basalt Towers Legend

A nice stop for ice cream in Touchet, WA (pronounced tushie) and we were on the road again past numerous wineries. The area is well known here for grapes and the tasting locations were all along the road we traveled.

Grapes are being grown everywhere in this area

In Touchet, I found a new bicycle that I can use for, well, you can see what for!


What do you think, Ben, exercise while mowing!?

More wind farms

Our final stop on the way into Walla Walla and our well deserved rest day was at the Whitman National Historic Site about 7 miles outside of WW. This was a mission started by Prentiss Whitman and his wife, Narcissa in 1836. However, the Indians whom they came to teach about the “Book of Heaven” were very nomadic, making it difficult to educate them. Whitman encouraged the Indians to settle onto farms with little success. The Cayuse Indians’ interest in religion, school, and farming waxed and waned as Whitman devoted himself to all three of these, but he persisted in keeping the mission open.

A year later in 1843, Whitman who had gone to Boston to convince the American Board of Foreign Missions to keep the mission open, returned with a wagon train. Being a physician and guide, he served the group well. Those who were sick returned to the mission for shelter and care. In 1843, after 11 years of working with the Indians, it became obvious that cultural differences were insurmountable with increasing misunderstandings between the emigrants and the Indians. A measles epidemic brought by settlers in 1847 decimated the Cayuse Indians who had no resistance to the disease and in a very short time, half of them were dead. Although Whitman’s medicine helped white children and not Indian children, the Cayuse thought that they were being poisoned. In November of 1847, a band of Cayuse attacked the mission and killed the Whitman’s as well as 7 children that they had taken in several years before when orphaned on a wagon train with their parents. Several others were killed as well, and about 50 women and children were taken captive. About a month later, most were ransomed, but the killings ended Protestant missions in the Oregon country. The movie, museum, and grounds are certainly worth visiting on a trip through the area.

At the Whitman Historic Landmark, you could see faint ruts from the Oregon Trail

The Park Service worker very kindly gave us a map for a back route into Walla Walla which kept us off most main roads. This led us to the downtown area were several of our fellow bikers were walking around in a very alive and thriving downtown. After a nice lunch with Kathie, we went to the bike shop to replace my spare tube and CO2 canister and for her to buy one of the wonderful tire changing tools which I have! One block away was a delightful quilt shop were I bought some thread for a little project!

Kathie at lunch...we had a great day, last ones in!

Mural in downtown Walla Walla

Very shortly, we checked into our motel, having had a wonderful and educational day. As on any arrival in a town where we will have a layover day, laundry was on top of everyone’s list. We have a very orderly way to do it. Most roommates do it together as there is not very much to wash as we hand wash our bike clothes each night. We keep a list on the washer with the names and just sign up to do it and the room number. One pair does theirs and then they call the next pair. Even though I was the last one in, my laundry was finished and folded by just after dinner! One job done!

Dinner was great and Barb K did the first of her many funny songs for the trip! I thought that it was a perfect day to do my Australian poem, Holy Dan, and it was. “all dry and hot as hell” and “the lightening flashed and the thunder roared…” quite appropriate to the day we had yesterday! I think everyone liked it! Off to bed fairly early as my roomie is driving one of our group to the airport at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning as she is flying home for her father’s funeral…four flights to get to Illinois by 11 PM tomorrow night! It will be a long day. She plans to return on Saturday and rejoin the group on Sunday.

My layover day roommate is a retired Hospice nurse. She did it for ten years. We had a great discussion about end of life issues and the death of her 94 year old mother after several years on dialysis and the role of Hospice. It was a wonderful story of making choices together and the end of life.

Another day in paradise...on the bike, I love it! Thanks, Ben