Oakridge Long Weekend

In an effort to use up my 2012 vacation that rolled over to 2013, I took this past Thurs and Fri off and we took the tin can down to Oakridge for a four day getaway.  We left on Thursday morning and rolled in to Oakridge a couple of hours later ready to go find dirt to play in.  The weather got progressively better during our stay, as did the views at the top of the  climbs.

We also had a little learning curve on the tin can while camping and we had to make a quick trip into Eugene for a water pump replacement which derailed our riding plans for day 2.  All in all, we still had a great long weekend and the riding was top notch.

We hit the local brewery on Saturday night to check out the pub and grab a quick bite and a brew.  As we were walking in, we heard this tapping on the glass and lo and behold there was a familiar face from Bend!  Talk about a small world.  We chatted with our fellow Bendites and they told us they were in town for the grand opening of the Westfir Lodge.  As we were leaving we ran into a couple of guys from the bike shop and we chatted with them for a while and it made us realize even more how small the world can be - especially when they made a comment about how they heard we had ended up at a Salmon Creek Falls campground.

After our dining, we decided to make a quick trip over to the new (old) lodge and check out the digs...As it turns out we met the owner and he told us a little bit of history of the place.  He grew up in the area but is currently living in Bend.  It is a really neat old home with a ton of character.  We hung out for about an hour and then decided to return back to the tin can to get some zzzzz's in order to rest up for our last day of riding on Sunday.

The riding was truly exceptional...the trail conditions, the rides, the weather...all tippy top!  The only downside was the abundance of poison oak that looked like it was just trying to reach out and grab you on the way through the trails!  If we make it through this long weekend without having to deal with the dreaded PO rash, then it will be a minor miracle...keeping the fingers crossed for the time being!

Ride reports upcoming - including Heckletooth, Larrison Rock, Alpine, Tire Mtn, Cloverpatch

Pix from the campground

 Sat evening at the pub with the wifer plotting out the next day's ride: