There are no filler days on the tour. Every tour usually has one…the day you plan to tee the ball up for the next day, but with no real agenda of it own. Covering a large distance with a range of objectives forced me to plan diligently and stay focused on my timelines.  These are not common behaviours on bike my bike tours. Getting up early and being on the road by 8:00 is the first objective of any day. Today I failed and slept in until after 8:00. It was 9:30 by the time I got ready and hit the road.  I had four goals for the day. At least one was now in jeopardy.

I deliberately chose Bend because it is an hour south of Madras. Madras was important because just north of town…tucked between the ancient volcanic escarpments of the high desert…is the Richardson’s Rock Ranch. That was objective number 1 and the principle reason for coming to the Oregon interior at all.

The Casacade Volanic Arc has about 20 major volcanoes and extends from Southwest British Columbia down through Washington and Oregon and into California. It runs down the subduction zone of the tectonic plates (same ones that cause earthquakes).  Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, and Mount St. Helens are all part of this volcanic arc and I rode on all three of them.  In addition to all of the active volcanoes, there are lots of ancient volcanoes and lava flows everywhere.  This makes Oregon incredibly interesting geologically, especially if you’re into agates.

More on that later.  I chose to put the Rock Ranch on hold and headed northwest to a highway that reportedly cut along a lava field. It would take me an hour and a half hour of the way but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

I wasn’t disappointed. I rode hwy 242 from Sisters (named for The Three Sisters…three volcanoes that loom to the south), and ended up on a narrow little road that was heavily treed (for the desert) and ascended rather rapidly. I was starting to enjoy the ride when I suddenly turned a corner and was confronted with a jaw dropping scenery, the likes of which I had never seen. As far as I could see was nothing but a black, rocky nothingness. The rocks were jagged and hard but they looked as if they flowed down the mountains in the distance.  Looks were not deceiving either…that mountain is a volcano and this was its lava flow.  It has hardened and cracked and looks like this:

I went as far as I thought I needed to, and then started my backtrack to get to Madras, which is northwest of Bend.  It was 12:30 by the time I got there, and I took a few minutes for some Taco Bell and fuel.

The Richardson Rock Ranch is a working cattle ranch that is also home to the Priday Agate Beds, which features ledge agates and thundereggs.  I have a few Oregon Thundereggs at home.  I bought them in Kelowna on the Return to the Vines episode of the Lord of the Roads Trilogy 2013.  Anyway, they’re agates that formed inside a gas ball in the lava.  Here’s the description on their website:

The unique agate-filled mud balls are found in layers of rhyolite lava flows, which spread over the land an estimated 60 million years ago. This was long before man appeared on the earth and thousands of centuries before the Cascade Mountain range was formed and pushed upward, due to tremendous stress beneath the surface of the planet. Geologists reason that the round-shaped Thundereggs were formed in gas pockets, serving as molds, that were left in the lava plows of the Eocene Geological Age. Over long periods of time, the gas cavities or cooled bubbles were gradually filled by water percolating through the porous rock formations, Water (hot or cold) oozing into the cavities carried rich quantities of silica (quartz). The solution lined and in many cases filled the cavity molds, first with the darker matrix material, then the inner core of agate or chalcedony. The beautiful and varying colors were derived from nearby minerals present in the soil. These processes are still going on, but at a much slower rate than during the times of volcanic action, with huge clouds and deposits of volcanic ash rich in silica (quartz).

Anyway, I was super pumped to be around all of these volcanoes and to be able to go to this ranch to see these agates in the lava beds.  You can even bring a pick and go hunt for them yourself…they just charge you by the pound.  I didn’t have time for that, so I was hoping I could get some from their rock shop.

Well, the rock shop kicked me right in the ass.  Giant piles of minerals and rocks all over the place.  All piled neatly…petrified wood over here, rose quartz over there, sodalite mounts, all kinds of agates…everything.  It was crazy…and all kinds of sizes too.  I have been to many rock shops in my day, but nothing like this.  They had rocks from all over Oregon, and then others from around the world.  Just crazy.  I still can’t believe it.  I think the rock shops that I bought from get their rocks from a place like this.  I had found the supplier.  The only problem was that I was on a bike and rocks are heavy.  I spent an hour looking about and then grabbed two thundereggs to cut through and polish at home, three garnet crystals, three pieces of opal eggs, and some moss agate (my favourite agate). It only cost me $11.  I couldn’t believe it.  I need to find a way to get back here with a truck or a car.  This was quite a find.

I left the Rock Ranch dumbfounded and excited, but heavy in the reality that it was now after 2pm and I still have 5 hours of riding ahead of me.  My third objective was to ride along the Columbia River to the north…apparently there is a huge gorge that is quite scenic.  Unfortunately it would take at least an hour and a half to ride, and I just wasn’t interested in getting to Leavenworth after dark…so I rode Hwy 97 all the way to Leavenworth.  I rode it hard too…only stopped to take a few pics here and there and for fuel once.  I was able to get to my motel at around 7:30.

The fourth objective was Leavenworth.  i chose to stay here because it is quite famous in Destination Marketing academic circles because the entire town conforms to a Bavarian motif.  The streets are named in english and german, the buildings all have that Black Forest look (even the gas stations and grocery stores…everything).  It is a very charming town and my only disappointment was that I got there too late.  I was able to have a late dinner at a place called

Rudloofs Pizza and Brats.  I had their sausage and sauerkraut dish with some mustards and beer.  It was so damn good.  The sauerkraut was homemade and the sausages are made in the neighbouring town.  Even the beer was local.  Solid place, and nice staff.  I highly recommend.  The meal was the perfect cap for the day.  Objective completed- three out of four ain’t bad.

Here’s a map of the day: