Day 23-Crow Butte Park to Maryhill State Park (Biggs, OR)-58.73 miles

This was the hottest day I have experienced in my life. We left as early as possible to beat the predicted heat. We were on our bikes at 6:30 a.m. We stopped at 10:00 for a bite to eat at a "saloon" that served breakfast. By noon the heat was intense and we still had 15-20 miles to go. It only got hotter. I hung my small thermometer on the handbars of my bike and for the next 2 hours the temperatures hovered around the 105 degree mark. There were almost no trees...we did find one old red cedar tree where we could escape the sun for a short time. About 5 miles from our destination for the day, we ran into a huge uphill. That hill took every ounce of energy I had. Fortunately, on the backside of the hill was the Maryhill State Park. When we stopped to register, we left our bikes in the sun and went in to the park office. When I came back out, my thermometer registered a blistering 120 degrees! I've never been so glad to see a campground. We were given a beautiful, secluded site that was in the shade and cooled by a breeze from the river. What a relief! Later we heard on the weather radio that the high temperature had officially been 108 degrees.
We have been biking through desert for the past 2 1/2 days. Most of the hills are covered with sagebrush only. I guess I never realized the eastern Washington and Oregon are mostly desert.

-clarkwheel

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