Oregon Outback Day 1 — Cow Poop
Our trip on the Oregon Outback Trail started with a spontaneous call from Joseph. Jen signed up first and I was a last minute add. The OOT is a 364-mile journey from the southern town of Klamath Falls to the Columbia River in the north. It’s roughly 75% off-road with approximately 16,000 feet of elevation. On paper, this does not look like a tough challenge. But as I’ve learned with off-roading, the metrics never tell the whole story.
The riders:
The trip didn’t start off well for Jen. She had been feeling ill, and it turned into a full-on fever by the start of the first day. 5 miles into the ride, we pulled over to make a stop at a pharmacy and reassess over breakfast. She made the call to go to Bend, rest, and hopefully meet up with us on the 3rd or 4th day.
For safety, her inReach was set up on my phone. It’s something used to track and send messages via satellite. With a full belly, Joseph and I set off.
The first few miles were pavement and then gave way to loose gravel. It was fine, loose, and we were fishtailing everywhere. The scenery was pretty though, cutting through mountains and cattle farms.
This was the OC&E, which stands for Oregon, California, and Eastern trail. It’s a rail trail, covered in gravel, grass, and loosely maintained. The cattle farms are separated by cattle gates, requiring us to stop every few miles to open and close them.
We were getting a bit fatigued and needed some real food. The first break was 40 miles into the ride at Sprague River. Not noted on the route but Running Bear Deli has some killer burgers. We had the cheddar jalapeño double patty burger with mayo and mustard. Water was filled up at the gas station nearby. We were confident in making the 25 miles left to the bush camping area.
But this is where it gets tough! We had been warned by our friend Nick, having done this before and it was stated in the bikepacking article. These next 25 miles were hellish. The ground was chunky loose gravel and it was jarring. Even with a suspension stem, we needed a break every few miles. The cattle gates were now a relief. Our shoulders and asses were sore.
The cows were rowdy here too. There were a couple of standoffs with bulls. One was shooed off and another one we had to go around. We encountered some herds and they ran away from us, looking like we were wrangling them and this was scary-fun.
All of this slowed us down. We were running out of daylight and I was also running low on water. I made the call for a quick 1-mile round trip detour to Beatty. But the only store in this junction was closed. A local passing by said the church would have water.
While we were figuring out our next move, I noticed 2 giant adorable huskies staring at us from within the store. Sarah, the store owner, opened the door a crack and asked, “Y’all need something?” Thank goodness, yes.
I got a big hug from one of the huskies, then quickly grabbed some water and got out of her hair. Sarah was in the middle of dinner. Back on the trail, we hoped this rough part would end soon.
At this point after Beatty, it should be noted that instead of sticking to the red dirt trail, one should take the nice packed road instead. It’s significantly faster and intersects back with this trail farther down.
At mile 60, we called it a day and found a decent area. There were good trees for Joseph’s hammock and some flat ground for my tent. Joseph proceeded to scare the crap out of me by telling me about the bears and rattlesnakes in this area. We started talking loudly so the animals would stay away from the scary humans.
Now, the most fun part of the day.
We had to make a bear bag. Joseph said it should be placed a 100 yards away. We started walking in a straight line, in complete darkness, helped by a high beam light and a headlamp. We found a nice grove, hung our bags and turned around. After a while, the return walk seemed to be a bit longer than the way out. And a little while after, we were lost.
Nightmare scenario. Even with the high beam, we couldn’t see the reflective cords of our shelters.
I remembered I sent Jen a message from the inReach with the location of our campsite. I had my phone on me and while I didn’t have any service, the satellite connection was working. I was still able to access the campsite location! Thank you Jen and inReach!
We took swigs of the good whiskey back at camp (from Jen’s flask) and called it a night. I kept my two titanium cups in case to bang them in case I had to scare a bear away 😬.
Metrics for the day:
Distance: 63.67 miles
Elevation: 1,073 feet
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9196722577
