Circumnavigating Mount Washington (the dumb way)
Sometimes you have a really good idea that’s not.
Highway 242 over McKenzie Pass opens up to cyclists each spring before vehicle traffic is allowed through and briefly becomes a biker’s mecca. For a few weeks crowds pedal up either side to the lava fields at the summit.
Well if there’s two things I can’t stand, it’s crowds and an out-and-back. That’s where the dirt comes in. I quickly found the Old Santiam Wagon Road on some dusty topos and convinced myself and a couple gullible friends that it was rideable and snow-free.
So after a late-night drive, beers and burgers at Hardtails—the local biker bar (no, not bicyclist), and an incognito bivouac we rustled ourselves onto the trail at the crack of nine. Riding around Sisters is fantastic. The dry ponderosa forests are nearly free of undergrowth allowing the entire landscape to be criss-crossed with dusty double-tracks to nowhere. After what some called a ‘wrong turn’ we found ourselves walking our bikes through unrideable loose sand past a locked gate. Luckily this finally led us to decent gravel roads, into a desolate burn sprinkled with wildflowers, and up and over the first pass.
However we soon realized that despite the 90º weather there was still a considerable snow pack between us and the Mckenzie River valley. The first couple drifts were novel, but after 4 miles we were wet, scraped up, and spent. Eventually the snow gave way near Sand Mountain revealing, you guessed it, sand. At this point the banter was full of “I told you so” and “fatbikes,” but we persevered and eventually stumbled out onto pavement near the upper trailhead of the McKenzie River MTB trails.
We were not even halfway done, each doing the math in our heads, and all coming to the same conclusion: we needed to hustle if we were going to get back to the car before dark. So we hustled. Dropped those 15 highway miles in record time and then started up the 22 mile (3,500') slog over the McKenzie Pass. Barely into this push, a rogue stick latched onto Dan’s derailleur hanger and ended his day. Luckily for him the Belknap Hot Spring Resort was a quick downhill coast away.
Nick closing in on the top of McKenzie Pass.
Nick and I cruised on, seeing fewer and fewer cyclists and feeling less and less mentally stable. We passed the gate, both ran out of food and water, filled up with some snow melt, and kept trudging. Finally the relentless switchbacks straightened out and led us through snow covered forests and lava fields up the plateau to the Dee Wright Observatory at the summit. We got there just as the sun was sinking behind Mount Washington and quickly shared the tallboy of Hamms I had been schlepping the entire ride. Amazing even ourselves, we remounted and managed to cruise the last 15 miles back to Sisters before it was completely dark.
We bookended the trip with more burgers and beer, and didn’t even forget to pick up Dan patiently waiting at Belknap Hot Springs.
Details:
84 miles, 20% Gravel, 10% Snow, 10% Sand, 60% Pavement
7,000' elevation gain
Route Map
Start/End: Sisters, OR
Services: Potable water at Clear Lake Resort
Tires: First half: Fatbike, Second half: Road bike
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