Last night we stayed  in Zigzag, Oregon and the name of the town should have given us an idea of what was in store for this morning; a big climb! I got up a 5 AM and ate a huge and delecious breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon and oatmeal. It was really cold, in the 40's but finally clear an crisp. This is me and although in the picture it doesen't look steep, the first 10 miles was a relentless climb over the shoulder of Mt Hood.

After the big climb to about 4,000 FT and a few breif ups and downs around the south side of the mountain, within the span of just a few miles it was though we landed on another planet. The cool and wet air and the solid carpet of trees all around disappearred and with the sun out it actually started to get hot. We rolled along a very dry high plateau for about 30 miles and stripped down to just our shorts and shirt before the most incredable decent I have ever made. I hit around 50 MPH going around some wide sweeping switch backs into the town of Warm Springs. Tonight we are staying at the Kah-Nee-Ta resort.

Mt Hood is now in the distance. My legs are a little bit sore, but with a good hot tub now 2 nights in a row they feel pretty good. All in all I feel pretty good. I gained some confidence today because I started out with the pack maybe a little ahead and even with the big climb was among the first 4 or 5 to finish the 65 mile day. What will tomorrow bring?