My Route


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Saturday

Day 71: Monday, 10th September. REST DAY #9: Sumptor Stockade, Sumptor, Oregon

As Edward & Ewa will remember, mileage, gradient and places to stay don't always fall neatly into place when sorting out the next map's itinerary. My routine has pretty much stayed the same since the beginning: at the end of each map (full-size versions of the ones in this blog) I'll take a rest day and spend a couple of hours sprawled on my motel bed with the new one laid out in front of me, noting down where I want to stay and how many miles it'll take to get there. Then, phone card and Visa in hand, I'll make reservations. Simple. Except, sometimes places are closed, or full, or only have the honeymoon suite available at $170 per night. And sometimes I didn't look at the map closely enough and there's everything in that perfectly located town except a place to stay...

...Which is what happened on my rest day in Baker City. So, rather than face a long day with three mountain passes, I cancelled my 2nd night and headed off at lunchtime up the valley 31.5 miles to a little place called Sumpter, effectively a base-camp for my next day's ascents.

The route back up into the hills took me along Powder River, and into pine forests. Sumpter turned out to be a gold mining town, dating back to the gold-rush years of the 1860s. A single street of one or two-storey timber buildings, including a bar (where I ate) and the Stockade Hostel (where I slept), and not really that much else. Picturesque, though, and I was told there's still gold in them thar hills, for those willing to dig. I had the hostel to myself - well, except for the deer roaming outside, and a pesky mosquito roaming inside.