Friend Steve and I traveled over Santiam Pass to the wet side for shuttle rides of O’Leary Ridge and ATCA. The wet side is lacking namesake moisture. On Thurs we spent the night at Ray Benson snow park at the pass. Ray Benson is also lead singer of Asleep at the Wheel which is the mnemonic. Pleasant night with enough chill to run the heat. We had a 9 AM meet time for a shuttle from Horse Creek lodge. Several other riders joined. Gary, husband half of lodge ownership, was the driver. I have been shuttled by these folks several times. Shuttle takes almost an hour to arrive at Horse Pasture start.
Ah, the ride, which starts on a short piece of Olallie Ridge which is overgrown with vegetation trailside hiding potential pedal strikes. Olallie pitches down on wonderful deep woods tread, BUT there is a hard left turn on to O’Leary, if you miss it the joy of the incorrect descent is worn off by the steep climb back up. I know the turn. O’Leary is a legacy hiking trail built by the CCC, it is sustainable as seen but not built to mountain biking enjoyment as the climbs are steeper. Deep forest cover on the ridge, never logged. Some past blooming prime rhodendron flowers and beargrass.
Very warm day, perhaps really it was hot. Tree cover shielded us from brunt of heat. Black rating O’Leary ends at Castle Rock climb up to King Castle descent.
A short climb at start of King Castle put us at the top of when too much is too much. The descent comes after hard effort along ridge, 4.1 miles dropping 1644′. The descent seems to last forever, which is great on face value, but is taxing more so than South Fork in Bend or Alpine at Oakridge. Wonderful bikes increase the smile factor and speed. We stopped for a rest and commented that sometimes too much is too much as the downhill is so much fun but taxing.
Steve rides a Revel 29ner and I ride a 27.5 Rail, same suspensions, different wheel sizes. Steve’s bike developed a horrendous skritch in the suspension that was diagnosed as bad bearings. It only complained when pedaling uphill but quiet when coasting. Bike shops in Bend are slammed for service so bearing replacement could not be performed while he was here.
My garmin computer recorded 15.91 miles climbing only 928′ and descending 4232′ in only 2 hrs 17 mins.
Last Sept a strong wind event hit the McKenzie river valley down stream from the shuttle pick up. The wind came from the east which was unusual which knocked down tree that took down a power line that sparked a large forest fire. Gary said over 400 homes were burned down. We drove down river to get to Oakridge viewing large tracts of burnt forest, ghost foundations, and still standing houses. Burnt trees were being felled on steep slopes above the highway which was used as a skidder road to haul out the logs. The highway would be blocked as needed. I was there late Friday afternoon after quitting time for clear sailing. I first drove FS rd 19, Aufderheide parkway, until it was closed because of fire damage, this is just a 56 mile scenic drive to Oakridge. This time is was driving rt 126 down river seeing fire destruction.
I arrived in Oakridge driving slowly looking at town and reacquainting myself trying to remember what was and figuring out what is new. Dinner at Three Legged Crane, formerly Brewers Union. Same people, different owner. My body doesn’t like beer preventing me form savoring their craft beer. We spent the night at the bottom of Dead Mountain trail.
Sat we had a 9 AM shuttle from Trans Cascadia at the bottom of Alpine trail in Red Fir. Van was packed. At Red Fir there is a red covered bridge crossing a McKenzie river tributary and a small park which was packed with shuttle riders. never seen so many riders. On the drive up we followed another shuttle company full van and one of theirs empty descending. The end of the ride at Kate’s Cut in was packed with riders, it looked like a lift line at a ski slope. Steve and I waited for a lull in traffic before starting. Lots of riders, way too many, don’t pick a weekend day to ride. Trail goes across Sourgrass mountain where last year the meadows were full of full blowing beargrass. This year last year’s blooms are just stalks with seed pods.
We pedaled past many riders walking their bikes on the uphills. Just more riders than I want to share my experience with. Traffic did thin out and we finally left the masses by turning on to Tire mtn, the second piece of the ATCA route. Old growth forest just so special to experience. Up high there were many trees blown down and compliments to whomever who cut out all the down. Big trees.
Tire mtn descent ends at Clover Patch climb mixed in with some downhill that had to be made back up. Small trickle streams that the trail crossed were dry. Clover Patch ends at a logging road. A new trail is being built that will eliminate the road ride which starts with a long descent on loose gravel only to turn up anther road for the climb out. new trail build started right at the road with no indication that it was open. Trailforks shows the trail as planned for this year. Steve called the Merch in town and learned just a short piece had been completed; should we have chosen it it would have been a short out and back trip. trail building blunder as there was no signage indicating trail not complete. To me proper construction would have been for the builders to walk into the woods a short distance before digging thus keeping the entrance invisible and only opened when entire trail is ready to ride. Just a hump climbing closed FS road in the heat, my line choice kept me in shade when I could. Last year I saw a new tie with no signage that eliminated some road riding. TrailForks showed it as a trail however it was not signed. We took it. It connects to Alpine downhill of Buckhead shelter where it was not signed. Very little traffic on the tread. Down a ways another tie was built right at the crybaby root but it was flagged closed properly. Back on Alpine late in the afternoon we had the trail to ourselves except for 4 women who rode our route.
Several years ago a fire burnt over a piece of Alpine which burned out the organic that kept loose rock in place. It is squirrelly, I learned to chose where to use my brakes and others to just steer bike straight and let wheels roll over the loose. I stopped at next road crossing waiting for Steve. He arrived some time later, he said that the loose stuff tossed him down for a bell ringer. We waited for Steve to recover as much as his body would before continuing. He will need a new helmet. He rode the rest of the way out good for him.
Down at the bottom the parking lot was empty but for us. A Sprinter pulled in driven by David, owner of Crows Feet in Bend. He told me he is buying the empty grocery store nearby. He showed me a scramble path down to the river which I took and took a dip, water temp was just right. Steve rested for recovery. His bell was rung pretty good.
I drove back to Oakridge to Backwoods distillery for food truck dinner, live music, and an adult beverage mixed drink using one of their products. I soaked up human noise till I was full then drove back to Dead mtn for the night. Steve was already there.
Sunday morning Steve said he was heading back home to Wood River. He drove my Turner back to his barn. I wanted to do another ride, I chose to ride Heckletooth which is a monster road climb for about 7 miles of tight single track descent. I pedaled up the road while listening to my misperforming right hip which is painful when pedaling. At the river crossing I decided that my hip would not like the next 2,xxx’ climb so i turned back down river. I rode thru Salmon creek FS developed campground where I smelled smoke from a campsite. Fire danger here prevents any burning which I thought extended to campgrounds. I gave serious thought to confronting the camper to put out their fire. Fortunately for me I avoided a confrontation as I came across the campground host. I learned that approved campgrounds with fire places were approved for fires. We talked for some time. Last he was at another campground that was evacuated because of that same wind storm was knocking down trees. he said that at his favorite campsite occupied by another camper had a tree fall on top of that guy’s tent, he had left earlier. Host is from Tennessee, Oak Ridge. He said that he was researching same city and he forgot to put in a space in the name. He pulled up Oakridge where he is now. He still pronounces the city name as 2 words instead of here it is one one word.
I knew a trail was on the south bank of Salmon Creek and I could hit the up river start. I found the start. Many trees had been cut out, the trail started climbing right away. While it is rated blue it is still difficult places I chose to walk rather than attempt the feature. Challenging. Trail rides better descending. Narrow single track with vegetation hiding pedal strikes. I checked the water temp of the creek feeling it much too cold for enjoyment. I made it back to my van.
I drove back to town. I shopped Ray’s grocery which is a chain favoring small town markets. I checked produce which is severely deficient in quality, all the baking potatoes were cut during harvest, the yellow potatoes were greenish. Shit, it ain’t right that the store sells substandard produce to a captured market. La Pine has same grocery store, can see driving to Bend 30 miles away for good produce.
I drove to my property for the night. Over the years I have pulled up knapweed which has not come back. Success in preventing spread. Knapweed is along the roadside only. After dinner in twilight I stood outside soaking up neighborhood ambience of no sounds or outdoor lights. The sky was alive with Pandora moths.. Last year I laid out house foot print with PVC pipe. I realized that I did not orient the house properly which I will correct today once I figure out how to make a square.
Crazy. Thursday I did my laundry using the same laundromat. A guy commented on a sticker about normal people. He asked about me. We conversed, he is the new owner. He said he and his wife quit their jobs last year then embarked on a road trip around the country with their 2 kids, He is from Illinois small farm. He studied farming practices. He said Ohio, I said I was from the state, he said Mansfield, I said I was from there, he said Lucas which was my childhood home, he said Bromfield, an early proponent of sustainable farming. He said Malabar which is Bromfield’s farm. Malabar was the name of my high school. He shared knowledge about farming. First time ever I encountered anyone who experienced where I grew up. Bromfield won a Pulitzer for a novel I read on this odyssey. Bromfield is long dead as are my parents and the house is owned by someone else.
Forest fire smoke is in the air, so far air is just yellow. My departure from here will be decided by air quality or fire. Yesterday a forest fire near La Pine was putting up a plume of smoke. I researched the web for info and found nothing. Fear of fire, for me I can drive away with all my possessions, not so for residents. Serious fire danger from lack of moisture. Reservoirs feeding the Deschutes river are way below capacity.
OK enough. Time to move on back to Bend