Hurricane Ridge is 17 miles and 5,000 feet of climbing, with relatively gentle grades to make it manageable. The shoulders are thin, but cars generally swing around you and travel at modest speeds. We stopped several times for pictures ascending from Heart o' the Hills, and actually spotted a handful of large mountain goats up on Klahhane Ridge, our first sighting ever! I was thrilled by how manageable this supposedly epic climb was for me (much easier than our mini Tour de Blast), and the sunshine, mountains and goats were over the top.
At the visitor's center, we took a long break and affixed a blinky light to my backside in case the fog rolled in - there are three tunnels about midway up, and I figured a little added visibility wouldn't hurt.
Even on a beautiful late summer day, the steep descent brought me nearly to hypothermia and was overall truly unpleasant - I can only imagine what it would feel like on a cool, rainy day. I was shivering too hard to get up any real speed, and I certainly couldn't hear traffic. It's safe to say that I was the coldest I'd ever been, which is kind of pathetic when you look at my sunny pictures below. I was really surprised at the cyclists I saw coming up after us with minimal clothing, but then they may have been hardy Canadians. Portlanders do tend to be pretty timid about anything but the mildest of temperatures.
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