hammocks | Cycle Seattle

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Crooked River, Deschutes National Forest, Fort Rock, Gravel Touring, Hammock camping, hammocks, Oregon Outback, Prineville Reservoir, tuff ring

-Endless

Day 3 started out with the epic straight flat road common in areas wealthy in sheer space. We rode into the tiny town of Fort Rock realizing we had missed our chance at a party the night before. Lots of bikers were camped out behind the bar and in the patio. We filled our water reservoirs and bottles, and carried on past the Tuff Ring that is Fort Rock. This was formed 50-100 thousand years ago when a 150-foot-deep lake filled the basin and an upswell of magma hit the mud and water of the lake bottom. The area looked a lot like what I would imagine of a drained sea, with the scrub brush like a floor of coral and seaweed. It reminded me of areas of southern New Mexico – vast concave landform.

– Yours Truly

We gradually climbed out of the Fort Rock Valley ascending into the Deschutes National Forest. Trees were still sparse, but we were getting back into the pines. The smell – if they only bottled it! This was the first sunny day, so it was a warm ride. It would require most of our water on this stretch – I don’t recall a refill until we reached our destination.

– Looking Thirsty

The third day is supposed to be tough, and I felt it. After the dry forestland, we meandered across more sparse brushy vistas. At mile-57, we started an amazing descent down into Sage Hollow. For the next 10 miles we followed Bear Creek and speeds were in the 20+ mph range. Not many photos on this day – too much good riding to do.

At the bottom was a beautiful, green ranch with a paved road, but there was one wicked climb up around Taylor Butte. This was in the heat of the afternoon, and no cooling wind was helping us out – it felt like we were pedaling in an oven. We only went up 800 ft in 2.5 miles, but it was brutal granny-gear crawling with the loaded bikes. We felt our destination nearing as we reached the top, and after a nice descent, we reached the Prineville Reservoir.

– Water

– Crooked River Cliffs

After a short hop across the dam, we made good time down the paved road along the Crooked River, and arrived at our favorite campsite of the trip: Big Bend. I had a nice rinse in the cold water of the river, and washed a few items. Lots of folks were fly fishing up and downstream. This was the height of the Memorial Day weekend, but there were still plenty of campsites open. Remote areas don’t get much business even in these heady dayz.

Our water had lasted around 70 miles – one of the longer dry stretches. That said, there were several places we could have begged water along the way if things were worse.

– Camp. Picnic!

Knowing more about the correct level for my hammock, and after a 78-mile day, I retired around 7:30pm and the birds sang me to a deep, restful sleep.

– Just the stars to look at tonight!

Route Map – Day 3

Posted by Stonehog | Filed under Cycling

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Tags

badgers, bones, Cowboy Dinner Tree, Gravel Touring, Hammock camping, hammocks, Hunqapillar, Oregon Outback, Silver Lake, tall bikes

Waking up to rain is not a great start, so when it happens, I generally go back to sleep. It worked this time! The rain stopped, we got up, ate, broke camp and were on the bikes on a nice paved section by 9:30am. The first part of the ride was a welcome relief from the day before on the bumpy OC&E, but we knew it wouldn’t last long.

Our first surprise came when we surprised a badger who had made a den right on the side of the road. With some trepidation, I went back for the photo opp as we were cruising when he popped out.

Say “meat!”

He seemed curious, but we stayed well away. He looked to be about the size of my dog (40 lbs) but likely much more fierce. Onward then. Lots of washboard road this day. It helped that dozens of folks had already been through on bikes. We had a nice, packed trail to follow most of the time.

We had filtered 2 liters from Fivemile Creek at the beginning of the day. The only town we would pass through was Silver Lake at the 50-mile point, and we didn’t know the state of the rivers, though with the recent rain, we probably ended up carrying too much water most of the time. We stopped around 11am at a picturesque bridge with a ton of swallow nests to refill for the haul up to town.

Shortly after 11:15am, John’s rear tire sprung a leak. Similar story to the day before. Rear tire (of course), but with some careful pumping and spinning, we got it to hold air. Tubeless – 2, flats – 0.

This was another partly cloudy, forested day. The scenic level was high as we meandered past the Sycan Marsh area and stopped on a flat spot for our lunch. The first couple days we generally had an oatmeal and hot chocolate breakfast, and salami and cheese for lunch. We also snacked throughout the ride on various healthy snacks including gorp, seaweed chips, coconut bars and plenty of filtered water.

We managed to stay dry, and at 1:30pm, we came upon our second badger of the day. This one was seen scampering across the road in the distance, and we didn’t really know what it was until we rolled up nearby and saw the den. He was smaller, but just as photogenic!

We started to get into the red pumice part of the ride. The roads were pretty packed from the moisture, so riding was not a problem here. Pretty road – no traffic whatsoever.

The fabled Cowboy Dinner Tree was in this section, and we rolled in around 3:30pm. No reservations, so I took some photos, and we pedaled on.

We rolled into Silver Lake in time to catch a couple guys on tall bikes. They had left a few days earlier, and were making pretty good time. My bud Colin from last year’s Entmoot ride was there with his solar-power-charging-stationed Cycle Truck, which made a great tall bike kickstand. It’s amazing who you meet in the middle of nowhere.

The proprietor of the local store said the guys that were racing had been through the night before looking hypothermic in not much more than lycra. They had gone through a couple thunderstorms with hail, and were looking worse for wear. She had been worried about their health, but they managed to continue on. Alas – no coconut helado bars, but we filled up our snack bags. and were soon on our way. The remainder of the day was a fairly long flat slog for about 8 miles on Pitcher Road.

We saw a few vehicles on this stretch, and I just tucked in behind John “leg of ox” Halunen after taking a feeble attempt at leading. We found the “last of the trees” for our hammocks on a small rise before Fort Rock, and made camp in a small turnoff.

It was here that I learned that having my head too low was not a workable sleep situation (see pic above). I ended up sleeping pretty poorly that night. Perhaps the bones and the sounds of coyotes exacerbated the blood rushing to my head? That or the last of the bourbon? There were several types of animal remains in the immediate area. This really added to the western outback feel.