Wispy low clouds sit happily in the tops of the trees on the surrounding hillsides. Mist plumes up from the grasses in the clearings, the sun encouraging steam to rise from wet ground. I am waking, too. The sun is hitting me directly in the eyes. Autumn is in full force here.
Leaves drop all around, scattering the road with bursts of magenta and yellow and red and orange.
As the road gradually begins to climb, the forest closes in tighter. Soon a fine shaking of snow covers the ground. By the time I reach the top of MacKenzie Pass, the snow is so thick that several snowplows are out clearing the roads. It is only late October. Before I reach John Day, I will travel over three more mountain passes, though none as snowy or as high as MacKenzie Pass.