Bikepacking Oregon Outback Day 4

After putting in a 70 mile day 3, day 4 awaited with another 70 miles in store.  We woke up at Fort Rock and headed over to the day use area to boil some water and ready some breakfast.  We basked in the sun as it came up and enjoyed the warm coffee and oatmeal as the body and mind awoke.

Fort Rock is a neat geologic feature that we appreciated while downing our breakfasts.  After breakfast, it was back to the bikes where the plan was to head up to Cabin Lake and enjoy the surprise Nick buried out there a few days before.  He headed out before the excursion and buried a styrofoam cooler filled with ice and beer.  The only mental hurdle to get over was cracking a beer open at 8:00 a.m.

We quickly got over the mental obstacle, cracked a beer and toured the facility.  It is a really interesting spot that does not seem to be used for much of anything anymore.  Many a moon ago, there was a lake but you would be hard pressed to find water around there.  We had filled up with water at Fort Rock as we knew it would be quite a while before we had the chance to refill.

After a couple of hours of puttering around Cabin Lake the bikes were back on the road as the wheels gobbled up more miles of gravel.  The plan was to potentially ride all the way back to Bend depending on how Nick's foot was doing (achilles was starting to bark a little).  The road took us up to China Hat where we started to run in to more peeps and cars.  We crested and then knew Bend was in sight relative to being 'doable'.

As we dropped in elevation from China Hat we started to hit more traffic and had a couple of crazy ass drivers hauling booty on the dirt roads.  A couple of dirt bikers goosed Nick, several cars punched it as they went by us creating a nice dust cloud for our efforts.  A few F bombs were dropped and we plodded along.  At this point, I was on a mission to haul until we got to some pavement and get away from the knucklehead dirt road kings of stupidity.  

I got to the paved section of road and hung out before Nick popped around the corner in short order.  The paved road was enjoyable for a multitude of reasons...it was smooth, it was not dusty, we were getting closer to home, and perhaps most importantly...people were driver with a little more sanity.

As we started to pedal, we saw a couple of roadies...we waved which elicited zero response...for some dumb reason that kicked my competitive juices into gear and I was determined not to let them pass me on the downhill...so after 200+ miles of riding a 50+ lb sherman tank, I got in a comfy position on the bike with the elbows leaning on the bars and started to churn the pedals.  About 10 miles downhill, we got to a stop sign and I stopped and watched the roadies cruise by a few minutes later.  Somehow they had gained some manners and were a little chattier when they got up to me...funny stuff.

I worked my way through Bend's paved roads where Nick and I hit our Y in the road...he headed home, and I pedaled towards the DRT to catch that trail back home.  All too soon, I was decompressing and enjoying being home...my sit bones were in agony but all I wanted to do the rest of the day was shower, rest, and eat....and eat...and eat...I could not get enough to eat!
As they say, all is well that ends well....

Bikepacking Oregon Outback Day 3

We found a place on the side of the road to pull up an bivvy.  A few miles earlier we had passed a bunch of eyes in the night that curiously followed us as we went by them.  I saw these eyes on the side of the road and started to think through what they were.  They were not cows (too low to the ground), not deer (too close together), not cats (too many of them), and I guessed coyotes.

As we set up the makeshift camp, my guess was confirmed when we heard coyotes howling pretty close by,  They had followed us about 5 miles down the road and were scoping us out.  As soon as we heard the howls and how close they were, we decided it would be a good idea to to start a fire.  We started a fire and then heard them on the other side of us...they were circling us and determining what foul smelling critters went by them at night earlier.  Fortunately, they did not get closer (that we know of) - although they were already close enough to sleep with one eye open.

We awoke without too much excitement and decided to hit the road and make breakfast down the road as we were being swarmed by hungry skeeters.  We found a place a few miles down the road where we were able to sit in the sun, warm up, and warm up some water.

Ater breakfast, the pedaling resumed and we settled into the grind.  We were riding through the Fremont Forest and our travels would eventually take us to Silver Lake where we road into town to load up at the convenience store before meeting the rest of the crew later that evening at the Cowboy Dinner Tree.

I had never been to the CDT so I was anxious to see what the hype was all about.  All I had heard was that it was somewhat rustic and the served more than you can eat.  As a hungry biker I took this as a challenge...little did I know what was in store.

The rest of the crew rolled in and we all anticipated a big meal with what we thought was a big appetite.  I have to admit that my appetite was absolutely no match for the monster meal served.  I got about 1/2 way though my 30 oz steak and tapped out...I was done, done and done.

The meal was impressive but soon enough it was time to get back on the wheels and pedal into town (Silver Lake).  Nick and I thought about putting extra miles in that evening because of the big days looming ahead.  We packed up, bid the crew farewell and then pedaled on a full stomach to Fort Rock.

Bikepacking Oregon Outback Day 2

Our first night out was without too much incident.  We were tired and ready to get some zzz's.  It ended up being a chillier night than I anticipated mostly because we ended up bivvying next to the Sprague river.  The combination humidity and cold temps made for a brisk morning.  I woke up to see part of my sleeping pad was frozen!  

After shaking the cobwebs off, I got out of my sleeping bag and noticed there was some serious condensation going on between my bag and the bivvy bag.  I hung both up to dry as we fired up some water for some morning oatmeal.  

Pretty soon, we were on our way...everything packed back up in its place and rolling.  We had not hit cattle country and the trail went through herds and herds of cattle.  We passed many a gate that we had to stop, dismount, open, close...This little dance went on for a while as we worked our way through ranch land and hoped that the cows that were grazing in those sections did not get too spooked at a couple of weird rolling contraptions.  Fortunately, we made it through without getting charged by spooked cows so I consider that a big plus.

We ran into another fellow biker heading the opposite direction,  He promptly told us to avoid making the mistake he made which was not turning left at a Y junction around mile 57.  We diligently kept our eyes peeled for the junction and said junction never appeared.  After a while we began to debate whether or not we missed our turn as it did not feel right.

We determined we had ridden past our turn by about 6 miles so we had to pull a U'ey and roll back through some crappy trail that had fist size gravel.  We eventually made it back to our missed turn and figured out why we had missed it...it was around mile 52....not mile 57!

The gravel bed changed in color from gray to red by all else remained the same...we pedaled and started to get into some even looser trail.  About this time a local rancher pulled over and checked in with us.  As it turns out, this trail would eventually go through his property and he was a little concerned as he wanted to make sure all the gates were closed behind us as we went through such that his cattle would not escape.  We asked him where the closest water source was and he offered to let us refill at this ranch.  We took him up on it and filled up our bottles and bladders.  

Out of the corner of our eye, we noticed some zebras in the mix in one of his pens.  Zebras in the middle of outback Oregon!  Neither Nick or I had our thoughts together enough to take a picture but apparently this trip was going to be defined by weird animal experiences!  Day 1 was a rabid bat, and day 2 was all about Zebras!

The trail once again beckoned us and we rolled and rolled until we eventually pedaled off this rancher's property (10,000 acres).  We found a little spot by the river and determined we should stop, fill up on water and wait for the rest of the crew.  We had no idea where they were and figured that we should wait until they caught up and regroup.

As Nick and I waited, we mapped out the mileage and plan and figured that optimally, we should keep moving after they caught up.

They eventually rolled in and they looked pretty ragged.  They cooked up some food and we all recounted stories of the past 48 hours.  Nick and I were determined to get a little more pedaling in that evening such that our subsequent days would be less demanding.  We got back on our bikes and rode up the pass as the sun went down and darkness enveloped us.  It was super peaceful and we were now in the heart of the Fremont National Forest.  It was pretty sweet!

We pedaled until we hit the pass where we got onto a paved road.  This paved road allowed us to gobble us mileage...we put a quick 20 miles in since our last stop and decided it was time to find a place to camp for the night.