I woke up the next day to a few logistical problems:
One - I had three conflicting sources of info on what the bus schedule was, and if it was even running
Two - Official info was that the road I needed back to town was suddenly closed due to construction, which would turn my hike from a very do-able 7 miles, to a 'I can probably survive' 14 miles. Either way, there would be about 600 feet of elevation change.
Despite all the uncertainty, I headed out anyway. This was literally my fourth attempt at knocking out this leg of the through hike and a fourth failure would be insane. Also, the weather was great and the air was clear and perfect. Smoke hasn't hit yet, but projections are this is going to be a bad year. So I was like fukkit, it's the gorge, I probably can't get into trouble I can't get out of. I need to get while the gettin's good.
Spoilers: The day went pretty smoothly outside of some stress about whether I was doing a very do-able hike or setting myself up for hell.
Finally, the damn trail! The full trail through the gorge should be completed next year, right now I am doing the existing bits in chunks. I have also hiked out to some un-restored highway ruins in the past and need to see if they are still there when I get a chance.
The original highway was not only further inland than the current one, but it also tunneled through the rock in a few sections:
( Two more tunnely pics )Finally out at the Mosier Twin Tunnels! This took so long! Finally being there was amazing, but I hit this early in the day and wasn't sure how things would pan out from there. But hey, at least I was there and not stranded in the middle of nowhere at a connecting bus stop.
The current highway below:
When it's fully complete it will be a way to hike or bike the length of the gorge. It's a massive infrastructure project to make the gorge more accessible, but the trail doesn't go to where the current cities and towns are and there's no shuttle buses. It's a bit of a paradox. When I do the next chunk I'll need to start in Mosier again, but head the other way. Mosier isn't even a regular bus stop. The only places to stay in Mosier are extremely expensive rentals meant for groups of 12 people. Trying to do this accessible trail to support car-free travel in the gorge is a bit of a nightmare without a car.
This tree, note the roots, it's just clinging to the rock. Just hanging out, trying to thrive in an insane situation:
Lunch spot:
The road back to town was open! And a bit spicy, very curvy and not much of a shoulder:
After I got back, had showered and everything, I went out to Fermentation's beer patio:
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olivermoss
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fandomocweekly and ficwip's Level Up challenge!
2025 Reading Log | 35/200 yearly goal (+2 from last update)
First, I decided to read the Oz books (including the post-Baum books by Ruth Plumly Thompson) as a kind of reading project thing, and I of course started with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. 
