dirtvert
Whine on!
So Greengiant and I are in the middle of a 4-week trip (don't hate), and just finished up 4 consecutive days that you'd be hard-pressed to beat.
Big thanks to Nan, Nat, Hugh, Binh, and, of course, Liz, for helping us start the trip off on the right note in Demo and El Corte. We had a great run the first week up the coast of CA, hitting sweet trails in Mendocino, then Paradise Royale (mtb nirvana), and the redwoods (where we ran into elk at Prairie Creek).
Then we got into Oregon and stayed the night at an old resort at Diamond Lake, where we saw a bald eagle on a little evening spin. The next morning we rode the 11-mile paved trail around the lake for a warm-up and were stoked to find a big patch of morels. I picked a half dozen fatties, and bartered them for a couple of meals in Oakridge. That afternoon we dropped Dread and Terror along the N. Umpqua River in the afternoon--beautiful, rugged, and swarming with skeeters. I had a mech that stalled us out for a few days (don't ever buy a bike with a "brain"). Sellwood Cyclery in Portland solved all of our problems--mainly by selling Genny a sweet Turner Sultan, and we went on to have 4 magical days:
Day 1- Mt. St. Helens. On a spectacularly clear day, we climbed through an old-growth forest for about 5 miles that was bursting with wildflowers to the top of Ape Canyon. There we had perfect views of all the local peaks--Rainier, Adams, and Hood. Mt. St. Helens itself was clear and imposing. Then we made our way across the next section, the Plains of Abraham, which is all pumice and basalt, but still has some fun flow and had great patches of purple penstemon. We had to turn around before Windy Ridge and the blast zone because of time constraints--and big snow fields. The fast descent through the forest was a grinfest.
Day 2- Hood River/Post Canyon. While known as a freeride mountain, we had a blast on the lower sections of trails. Even the easier trails have little jumps, bermed turns, skinnies, and sketchy bridges (one incorporated a split boulder over a creek crossing). We also climbed up to their mellow play park, Family Man, and had a hoot on the little tables, skinnies, and pump track. Hood River is the kind of town that's hard to leave, but we had our eyes on...
Day 3- Sandy Ridge. After camping in Oxbow Park above the Columbia River--and being woken by a little thunderstorm in the middle of the night--we drove over to the newest IMBA masterpiece. The ride begins with a mellow 5-mile road climb through a typically beautiful OR forest. Then the fun begins on the upper loop, named 338- full of flow, a few big hucks, and some fun-sized tabletops. After that we dropped Hide and Seek, a 3.4 mile descent. The first part is typical sidehill OR riding, with some challenging ups and downs and beautiful creek crossings. Then comes the abracadabra. The last couple of miles is all fun jumps and steep berms that connect so well that they're having a chainless Super D race there in Sept. We really couldn't believe how sweet it was. It's one big fat nugget. And they were building new trails there as we rode. Still in the afterglow, we hit the road around Mt. Hood and into the beautiful high desert before heading back west back into the snow-capped Cascades and our next adventure.
Day 4- Mckenzie River. The classic river trail: 22 miles of flowy, pine-covered trails through old growth Douglas fir and hemlock; maybe a dozen cool skinny bridges over various creeks; 3 basalt sections that make you work a bit and tend to limit the number of old guys on Schwinn cruisers wearing moto helmets (separate story); two raging waterfalls; and one incredible "sump" where the river re-emerges from a lava tube into the stunning Blue Hole. From there we started the windy drive down to Oakridge and had a rest day today before sampling some more of Oregon's finest.
Pictures to follow. Imagine a lot of us smiling...
BTW, Liz- 4 days in Bliss > 2 days in the Alps
:beer:
Big thanks to Nan, Nat, Hugh, Binh, and, of course, Liz, for helping us start the trip off on the right note in Demo and El Corte. We had a great run the first week up the coast of CA, hitting sweet trails in Mendocino, then Paradise Royale (mtb nirvana), and the redwoods (where we ran into elk at Prairie Creek).
Then we got into Oregon and stayed the night at an old resort at Diamond Lake, where we saw a bald eagle on a little evening spin. The next morning we rode the 11-mile paved trail around the lake for a warm-up and were stoked to find a big patch of morels. I picked a half dozen fatties, and bartered them for a couple of meals in Oakridge. That afternoon we dropped Dread and Terror along the N. Umpqua River in the afternoon--beautiful, rugged, and swarming with skeeters. I had a mech that stalled us out for a few days (don't ever buy a bike with a "brain"). Sellwood Cyclery in Portland solved all of our problems--mainly by selling Genny a sweet Turner Sultan, and we went on to have 4 magical days:
Day 1- Mt. St. Helens. On a spectacularly clear day, we climbed through an old-growth forest for about 5 miles that was bursting with wildflowers to the top of Ape Canyon. There we had perfect views of all the local peaks--Rainier, Adams, and Hood. Mt. St. Helens itself was clear and imposing. Then we made our way across the next section, the Plains of Abraham, which is all pumice and basalt, but still has some fun flow and had great patches of purple penstemon. We had to turn around before Windy Ridge and the blast zone because of time constraints--and big snow fields. The fast descent through the forest was a grinfest.
Day 2- Hood River/Post Canyon. While known as a freeride mountain, we had a blast on the lower sections of trails. Even the easier trails have little jumps, bermed turns, skinnies, and sketchy bridges (one incorporated a split boulder over a creek crossing). We also climbed up to their mellow play park, Family Man, and had a hoot on the little tables, skinnies, and pump track. Hood River is the kind of town that's hard to leave, but we had our eyes on...
Day 3- Sandy Ridge. After camping in Oxbow Park above the Columbia River--and being woken by a little thunderstorm in the middle of the night--we drove over to the newest IMBA masterpiece. The ride begins with a mellow 5-mile road climb through a typically beautiful OR forest. Then the fun begins on the upper loop, named 338- full of flow, a few big hucks, and some fun-sized tabletops. After that we dropped Hide and Seek, a 3.4 mile descent. The first part is typical sidehill OR riding, with some challenging ups and downs and beautiful creek crossings. Then comes the abracadabra. The last couple of miles is all fun jumps and steep berms that connect so well that they're having a chainless Super D race there in Sept. We really couldn't believe how sweet it was. It's one big fat nugget. And they were building new trails there as we rode. Still in the afterglow, we hit the road around Mt. Hood and into the beautiful high desert before heading back west back into the snow-capped Cascades and our next adventure.
Day 4- Mckenzie River. The classic river trail: 22 miles of flowy, pine-covered trails through old growth Douglas fir and hemlock; maybe a dozen cool skinny bridges over various creeks; 3 basalt sections that make you work a bit and tend to limit the number of old guys on Schwinn cruisers wearing moto helmets (separate story); two raging waterfalls; and one incredible "sump" where the river re-emerges from a lava tube into the stunning Blue Hole. From there we started the windy drive down to Oakridge and had a rest day today before sampling some more of Oregon's finest.
Pictures to follow. Imagine a lot of us smiling...
BTW, Liz- 4 days in Bliss > 2 days in the Alps
:beer:
