adventure

Palo Duro Canyon 2017


I took a trip to Palo Duro Canyon to ride off-road in June 2017. Wanted to take a week-long trip to a the Pacific Northwest, but with two daughters getting married this summer, the investment (of time and money) in a mountain biking trip was curtailed.

So I planned a short trip where I could take a car-ride, and spend less time and money. I had been to Palo Duro Canyon many years ago (short half-day, non-biking trip) with my family. So I checked out the Palo Duro Canyon State Park off-road trails on the park’s website and planned the trip.

Through the magic of Facebook, I recently re-connected with a college friend who rode mountain bikes. I met David Connel at the University of Texas at Austin. We had lost touch after college, but 33 years later re-connected on Facebook. He and his wife Amy are very active in outdoor activities (hiking, biking, skiing, camping, etc), and so I invited them to go with me to Palo Duro Canyon. David and I had not seen each other for 33 years, and I had never met Amy.

We loaded up our bikes and camping gear and drove out to Palo Duro Canyon. David and Amy drove their 4-wheel drive, extended-cab pickup truck with a bike rack on the back. We visited on the six hour drive from Plano, Texas to Palo Duro Canyon, beginning to catch up on the last 33 years of life. It was wonderful to share all the stories, joys, and sorrows of our lives.

Arriving in the mid-afternoon, at Cactus Camp, we unloaded our bikes and gear. I brought a Specialized Carve hardtail mountain bike with 29 inch wheels and disc brakes. We rode out to explore the canyon’s off-road biking trails for the first time. We rode the Lighthouse Trail, a moderate trail, hiked from the trail’s end to the park’s iconic Lighthouse rock formation, and back down the trail to our campsite. The ride was a good short ride to check out the park (about 9 miles).


After the exploratory ride, we made dinner and visited. I slept in my hammock, while David and Amy slept in the bed of their pickup truck. Went to sleep listening to the night sounds of a light breeze in the mesquite trees, crickets chirping their rhythmic song , a few raccoons rummaging through camp, and coyotes yip-yip-howling into the night. It was good to be camping in God’s creation.

The next morning we woke up to the sound morning sounds of many species of birds – doves cooing, woodpeckers tapping, wild turkeys gobbling, sparrows chirping, roadrunners, swifts, and swallows. A few wild turkeys would roam through our campsite several times over the next few days. We ate breakfast, geared up our hydration packs with water and supplies, and mounted up.

It was a warm, sunny day. We rode the Capitol Peak Trail, the Juniper Cliffside Trail, and the Juniper Riverside Trail back to our campsite. Ate lunch at our campsite. Amy stayed at camp while David and I and headed out to ride the Sunflower Trail, the Rojo Grande Trail, the Paseo del Rio Trail, the Givens Spicer Lowry Trail, and the Lighthouse Trail. We returned to camp on the Rojo Grande Trail and recovered, getting rehydrated and eating recovery food. I rode about 20 miles that day (see trail maps for details).


We changed into fresh clothes and took the truck to the outdoor amphitheater in the canyon floor. We bought tickets to the barbecue dinner and the Texas Outdoor Musical. The barbecue dinner hit the spot after a day’s ride – beef brisket, pulled pork, sausage, beans, potato salad, cole slaw, bread, peach cobbler, cherry cobbler, and other fixings. The musical was held in the outdoor amphitheater that held about 1,000 people – it comprised colorful costumes, lively dancing, singing, splendid fireworks, and drama about Texas and the local canyon. We returned to camp, showered and slept the night.

The next morning we awoke, ate breakfast, and saddled up for a hard day’s work – a ride from the canyon floor to the canyon rim. We rode the steep climb up the Rock Garden Trail to the Palo Duro Canyon Rim. The climb was filled with rock, boulders, and gravel – a rise in elevation of about 900 feet. Several places I got off and pushed the bike up the steep inclines, trail switchbacks, step ups, and rock structures. Had one fall near the top of the climb to the canyon’s rim. There was a large boulder encroaching onto the side of the thin singletrack trail along the canyon wall’s edge. My handlebars hit the boulder and I fell downhill into some bushes. I was thankful for the bushes – I landed on them (rather than on hard rock) and I was able to grab hold of them to keep me from tumbling down the steep slope of the cliffside. I extricated myself from the bushes, checked for injuries (minor abrasions on my lower legs), collected my bike and rode upward. I was glad for the cloud cover during the ride, keeping the temperature relatively cool (mid-80’s F) for most of the morning. We reached the rim about 10:30 am and rode the relatively flat Rylander Fortress Trail along the rim’s edge.


Then we headed back down the Rock Garden Trail from the canyon’s rim to the canyon floor. The ride down was technical and fun, riding both brakes to slow the descent speed, negotiating the trail’s switchbacks, step downs and rock structures. I got off the bike a few times to walk a few of the tougher obstacles.

We returned to camp, ate lunch and recovered from the morning ride. David and I rode Rojo Grande Trail, Paseo del Rio Trail, Givens Spicer Lowry Trail, Lighthouse Trail and returned to camp via the Rojo Grande Trail. I rode about 23 off-road miles that day.

We ate dinner, visited, showered and went to bed. I went to sleep thankful for good friends, grateful for the health God has given me, and amazed at all that God created at Palo Duro Canyon!

The next morning we awoke, packed up and left Palo Duro Canyon for the drive back to Plano, Texas. If you get a chance to ride Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, Texas, it is worth the trip.

 

My Great Big Bend, Oregon Mountain Biking Adventure

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Last week (July 2016) I finished a mountain biking trip in Bend, Oregon. The trip included seven days of riding, camping in a hammock, and exploring the town of Bend.

It was a spectacular trip!

I biked 277 miles, rode 18 of the trails in the Bend area (just a small fraction of the mountain biking trails in the Bend area).

The trip was filled with spectacular mountain trails, high desert landscape, challenging climbs, and thrilling descents. The entire week was a refreshing break.

Here is what I learned…

  • Bend, Oregon is one of the best places to ride in the USA. Hundreds of miles of well-marked trails and a large number of rainless days allow for a wonderful mountain biking ecosystem. In my seven days of riding, I only rode a small fraction of the vast number of trails available in the Bend area.
  • People in Oregon are kind and helpful to visitors. I always received a kind greeting and a helping hand wherever I went.
  • God gave me good health and allowed me to the encounter another small slice of the vast universe he created. I am thankful to God and acknowledge his wonder, power, and creativity. It is his world, and he allows me to live in it.

Below are my daily experiences, filled with photos, maps, and descriptions of my rides. I hope that you use my experiences to gain a perspective about Bend and that you benefit from my experience …

Day Before the Bend Mountain Biking Trip

Day One – Eugene to Bend

Day Two – Into The Wild

Day Three – Mountain Biking is Art

Day Four – Moving Day

Day Five – Dirt Paths of Life

Day Six – Marianne and Houdini

Day Seven – Easy Day

Day Eight – Last Day (Perfect Day)

Day Six – Marianne and Houdini

My bike is named Marianne. The bike shop from which I rented names their bikes so that renters in groups may easily identify their bike when many bikes are parked together. Marianne is a Specialized  Rockhopper 29’er. She is a hard tail (meaning front shock/suspension, but no rear shock/suspension),  29 inch wheels, 24 speeds, and hydraulic disk brakes.Marianne has been a good bike – handling the stress of up and downhill riding, clattering over rocks and roots, carving S-turns through banked berms, braking my speed with disc brakes, flying off earth mounds through jumps into the air, complete with bone-jarring landings.

Marianne – the Specialized Rock Hopper hardtail 29’er mountain bike.


Woke up at 7:30 am, temperature was about 55 degrees F when I left the hotel and will go to 82 degrees F today. It is a beautiful, sunny day. Began riding at 9 am.

Rode out of Bend on the Cascade Lakes Highway towards Mt. Bachelor. Took about 3 hours to climb 18 miles to the Swampy Lakes trailhead at 5,800 feet altitude. I was exhausted by the time I arrived at the Swampy Lakes trailhead (the altitude gets me every time). It was noon, so I ate lunch (granola bar, trail mix, and water), laid down in some mountain grass, and took a nap in the sun.

After a brief nap, I mounted up and ascended Swampy Lakes trail (2.1 miles) and hit 6,000 feet altitude. Took several wrong turns, backtracked several times, and finally found South Swede trail (3 miles of up and down). Then i connected with Sector 16 trail (3.3 miles). Then i rode down Upper Whoops trail (2.1 miles), followed by the super-fun downhill Lower Whoops trail (1.8 miles). The last trail for the day was downhill on fast and flowy Phil’s trail (6.1 miles). I was beat from all the riding and was dehydrated, even though I had been drinking all day.

Ate dinner at Taco Salsa on the route between my trail’s end and my hotel. Drank four huge glasses of a cold soft drink – hit the spot as I was feeling dehydrated.

Rode to the town park (Drake Park) and laid down in the cool, green fescue grass and enjoyed the evening sun.


Lots of teenagers and young adults were walking thru the park looking intently on at their phones. They would walk a certain direction, then look at their phone and change direction. I asked if they were geo-caching. One girl answered, “Kind of – we are finding Pokemon characters all over the park – geocaching for 90’s kids”.

A brown rabbit hopped up to me while I was at the park. He hung close to me for about 30 minutes. His owner came by and told me the rabbit’s name was Houdini. Drake Park in Bend is a happening place!

At dusk I rode back to Motel 6, showered, and cleaned up, and fell asleep. It was another good day and I fell asleep feeling blessed.

I rode 42 miles today, ascending from 3,500 feet to 6,000 feet in altitude (and back down again).

Day Seven – Easy Day

Day Five – Dirt Paths of Life

Woke up at 7:30 am in the Motel 6 – what a luxury (compared to camping in a hammock)!

Did not eat breakfast – just geared up and got ready to ride. It was 54 degrees F outside when I began riding.

I saddled up and hit the trail for another day, cranking up the mountain towards Mt. Bachelor. I’ll use all my 24 gears on today’s ride – another day of adventure!

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“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” ― John Muir

I wonder what John Muir was like many years ago – perhaps he would be a mountain biker if he lived in this day and time! I am privileged to take his advice on this day, following some wonderful dirt trails on my mountain biking adventure.

It is another great day. I am thankful for the exquisite beauty that God made in his creation. The way the sun rises to warm my skin, the way a tree grows and extends its shade, the grace of a bird in flight on the mountain updraft, the symmetry of a bright flower’s bloom, the thundering rush of a stream over a waterfall falling at its base and running downstream. God’s hand is everywhere I see, hear, and feel – and in everything I experience.

And I am grateful for the health with which God has granted me. Due to health issues, many are not able to ride mountain trails as I ride them. And my health is not taken as granted – I consider health a gift from God each and every day.

So I started the day thankful and amazed at what God had in store. I rode out of Bend towards Mt. Bachelor, on the Cascade Lakes Highway, headed for an epic advanced/difficult trail called “Tiddlywinks” (7.2 miles long).

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Sign on Cascade Lakes Highway – near Bend, Oregon

The climb was gradual for the first few miles out of Bend. But the elevation grade kicked up soon. I geared down and kept cranking. Many vehicles headed out of Bend on the highway carried mountain bikes, road bikes,  kayaks, paddle boards, and other recreational equipment. Many bikers passed me as we cranked uphill. Most of the bikers  going up and down that highway were road bikers. Each had an encouraging  word as we passed. I saw a cross country skier with poles and roller blades going up and down the highway – he was training seriously in the off season (summertime).

With stops to rest and to check navigation, it took me about 3 hours of ascending 13.5 miles to get to the Tiddlywinks trailhead. I stopped and ate lunch (granola bar, trail mix, and water) near the trailhead.

Tiddlywinks trailhead, near Bend, Oregon.

Don’t let the trail name Tiddlywinks confuse you. This is one epic mountain biking trail, not some fru-fru trail. The trail begins with a mile, or so, of relatively flat downhill. Then some climbing to a ridge. After this things get interesting – multiple danger warning signs on the trail – see the “skull and crossbones” on the pink sign below.

Some serious. steep downhill trail after the signs. I rode down multiple switchback curves through the trees – the trail was similar to a motorcycle motocross track with MONSTER banked earth berms and deep ruts.

Switchback curve and banked earth berm on Tiddlywinks trail – near Bend, Oregon.

Switchback after challenging switchback took me downhill. It was a big drop. I thought the curves would never end. It was mountain biking heaven! I was riding the brakes most of the way down, using both front and rear brakes to check my speed. In between the curves were earth mounds and rocks for launching jumps into the alpine air.

I took multiple jumps and had my only fall of the entire trip. I saw another earth mound, let go of the brakes to gain speed, and launched into the jump, only to discover a rock outcropping out of sight, but visible as I launched past the mound. Mountain rock embedded in the landing zone (LZ) is not what you wish for. My front tire hit one of the rocks in the LZ, and my front wheel slowed. The rear-end of the bike kept moving forward with my momentum, and my speed forward launched me over the handlebars. This move is called an “endo” (short for end-over-end). My bike and I tumbled to a stop just off the trail. I was still clipped in to the pedals. When all the tumbling stopped, I was located upside down (and sideways) in some low bushes, with the bike on top of me. I think my backpack took some of the impact of my falling body when it hit the ground. And my helmet did its job protecting my head. I lay there for a minute, letting the adrenaline and the shock of the crash subside. During that time I was doing a self-assessment – was anything broken or bleeding? No visible injuries. Then it took a few minutes to get the bike off of me, to untangle myself and the bike from the bushes, and to right myself.

Relieved that I had no injuries, I rested. Then I got back in the saddle after a few minutes and rode the rest of Tiddlywinks trail downward to a trail called Storm King (4.1 miles). Storm King was a fun, downhill, flowing trail. Then I hooked into Catch and Release trail (2.5 miles). Then I rode the Deschutes River trail (4 miles) back to Bend, following the Deschutes River. Stopped next to a place upriver of Bend called “Lava Island” and ate a snack. It was sunny and 82 degrees F.

Lava Island, Deschutes River, Oregon.

Then I rode streets of Bend to get a snack at Taco Salsa. I thought it would be a snack – I ordered a bean and cheese burrito – and they delivered a monster burrito that became my dinner. It was delicious and hit the spot at the end of a full day of biking.

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Eating outdoors at Taco Salsa.

It was early evening, so I biked to Bend’s town park (Drake Park) on the Deschutes River and enjoyed the green grass and relatively cool temperature.

I biked 39 miles today and hit 5,500 feet in atitude.

I took several dirt paths today – like John Muir suggested. It was a good day and I was grateful for the blessing of this adventure.

“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” ― John Muir

Day Six – Marianne and Houdini

Bikepacking Trip Day 6 – Steamboat Falls to Oakridge

Tough day of climbing ahead – climbing from about 1,500 feet elevation at Steamboat Falls to 3,900 feet elevation at the Calapooya Divide. A real grind.

Woke up at 5:30 am, eat breakfast (dried fruit and nuts), break camp, pack gear on bike, saddle up, and head out about 7:30 am.


Began climbing up Steamboat Creek, following the creek’s path as it flows down the Calapooya mountains. No fishing or mining is allowed in the Steamboat Creek valley – it is spawning grounds for the Umpqua River steelhead trout population. Many signs posted along the route remind the public that fishing is not allowed and or mining is not allowed (in order to protect the steelhead trout spawning grounds). Beautiful, happy purple flowers are in bloom along the road.

The creek diminished in size as I climbed higher and higher. Eventually the creek disappeared and the real steep inclines began. I felt the effects of a bike loaded with 35 pounds of gear, the going was slow. Cranked and ground up gravel roads that lead over the Calapooya Divide near Bear Bones Mountain in the Calapooya Mountains. I made it to the top and enjoyed the view of the valley of the Middle Fork of the Willamette River below.

Handlebar view of the morning sun.

The view down into the Middle Fork of the Willamette River valley in the Calapooya mountains in Oregon.

The sun had risen high in the sky and baking the temperature into the 90’s. The elevation near the ridge below Bear Bones Mountain was 3,916 feet. It was generally downhill from there to the Middle Fork River at about 2,000 feet elevation. The ride down was fast. I rode the brakes most of the time.

Looking down the valley of the Middle Fork of the Willamette River in Oregon.

 I passed over the Middle Fork River at about 2 pm and was near my planned campground for the night (the Sand Prairie campground near Hills Creek Lake. But I decided to push hard and ride to Oakridge, where I began the trip. The lure of a burger, a cold drink, and a shower drove me to push on. Also, if I get back a day earlier than expected, I can ride some of the local Oakridge are mountain biking trails like a regular mountain biker – without the 35 pounds of bikepacking gear.

The day was blazing hot, the heat cooking off the blacktop road to Oakridge. I was running out of water, and I was hurting from the climb over the Calapooya Mountains. The sun beat down on me. I was overheated. I stopped on the shores of Hills Creek Lake to get water from the lake and to wet my bandana. Met a family camped there at the lake for the weekend. They kindly offered me a cold Mountain Dew. I had never had a Mountain Dew, but it was cold and wet, so I drank it while visiting with the family. I thanked them for the cold drink, wished them well, got back on the bike, and pushed on.

Arrived back in Oakridge at about 5 pm on Day 6 of my bikepacking ride. I rode to the local Dairy Queen for a cheeseburger, fries, a shake, and glass after glass of of ice water. I sat inside enjoying the shade and the air conditioning. Lots of people at the DQ getting cold drinks and ice cream on this hot day.

I found the Oakridge RV Park, my camping spot for the next two nights. Unpacked, hung the hammock and rainfly, and hit the showers. That night I had pizza and iced soft drinks at the local pizza shop. I camped next to Salmon Creek, with the sound of river rapids whispering all night long.

I rode 215 miles in six days, completing my bikepacking trek through the Oregon Cascades.

Day 6 mileage – 45 miles.

Rough map of Day 6 ride.

 

Day 7 – Local Rides in Oakridge, Oregon

 

Adventure Cries Out!

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There is something inside all of us that cries out for adventure. Each of us has that something inside us that drives us to explore, to create, and to navigate the universe beyond our known world. It is that something that drives me to take this bikepacking trip to the Cascades.

And for each there are those voices saying, “take care, stay home, and don’t venture out”. But I don’t listen to those voices, instead exploring beyond my day-to-day world. The spirit of adventure says, “Bring it on”.

And it is in those moments of exploration that I find out about myself, find out about others, and gain a new respect for the world God created. I discover wonders and miracles in new places, gaining experience and finding new insight. I find growth in the challenge. It is when I go outside my normal, when I travel uncharted territory, when I get outside my everyday experiences – that is when I grow.

May each find his own adventure, be blessed, and grow during the journey.