Crushing Baby Heads

No. 55

Blaine and I bought our tickets to The Unrally— which is in the Alvord Desert. We decided to take a few extra days and ride some of the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route (OR-BDR) to get down there.

Blaine lives in Sisters OR, which happens to be where BDR Section 4 ends… so that’s where our adventure begins.

Paulina Peak sits at 7,984 ft above sea level. From here you can see the Newberry Calderas, the twin lakes (Paulina & East), and a large expanse of hardened lava.

“The Big Obsidian Flow” is Oregon’s youngest flow, which was formed 1,300 years ago.

The “Pine Mountain Fire” burned 2,589 acres of Deschutes National Forest —and technically speaking— it was still considered “active” while we rode through it (unbeknownst to us at that time).

At this point, I’ve been on this adventure for about 14 hours (realistically, with about 10 hours of actual riding-time).

This hill sucked to navigate! The fire really destroyed this mountain. It had loose dirt, little rocks, baby heads, roots, large ruts, dead trees, very steep, and a cliff on one side.

Blain pulled over to take a photo, and in order to not lose momentum, I kept riding up the hill. When I got to a safe spot to stop I waited for Blaine… but I never heard his bike coming. A few minutes later, he called and said his bike wouldn’t start!

I was about a mile up the hill when Blaine found his Main 30 Amp Fuse completely blown.

After a lengthy conversation, we decided to both stay put and get some rest.

I was sleeping next to my bike when I was woken up (about 10:30pm) by the rumbles of a truck coming down the hill. Luckily, these two guys were looking for a camping spot when they passed by me. I told them about Blaine, and they said they’ll try to help him. I went back to sleep and about an hour later, I was woken up again — but this time by the sounds of Blaine’s motorcycle.

Since I already had my “camp” setup, I decided to just go back to sleep. Blaine continued up the hill in search of Pine Mountain Campground.

No. 54

About an hour after Blaine waking me up, the truck with those two guys woke me up again — they were also heading to the same campground as Blaine.

They were able to wire up his bike and bypass the fuse to get it started. Their game plan was to ride/drive down the hill and buy some supplies at the auto parts store after some much needed breakfast.

I slept like shit and woke up with the sun. I packed my bike and rode up the hill to that campground first thing in the morning.

The two guys with the grey shirts are the ones that rescued Blaine. Hunter is a diesel mechanic, and Jack is an aviation mechanic for the USAF.

No. 53

Crack-in-the-Ground is a 2-mile volcanic fissure located in Christmas Valley, OR. It was formed by tectonic activity and lava flow. The rift (“crack”) is up to 70’ deep, and the climate is typically 20° cooler — which is refreshing when it’s already 90° out.

I was pretty cold and tired. This bar was “closed” although there were still people inside hanging out and drinking. I walked in the bar hoping to buy a rain jacket to stay warm and dry but they didn’t sell any merch. Instead, the bartender gave me his personal hunting sweater.

A double-shot of Makers Mark later, and I was back on the bike, and down the road.

No. 52

The Unrally is an ADV counterculture event held in the magical Alvord Desert. This is their 11 year anniversary — and my 2nd time attending.

The Unrally is a combination of self-guided scenic rides, rugged landscape, art installations, and self-expression, while building a community which revolves around motorcycles and grand adventure.

Alvord Desert is dry lake bed located in Southeast Oregon. It’s approximately 12 by 7 miles, and sits at the foot of Steens Mountain.

No. 51

Blaine and I had different plans for the day, so we parted ways in the morning. I hopped on the pavement asap and headed home, while Blaine rode some more dirt trails on his way back North.

No. 50

I’ve met Davin a few times at local bike events, although this was our first time riding together. It’s hard to stop for photos when you’re having a great time haulin’ ass on a trail.

We decided to meet up at a gas station in Estacada before hitting my favorite trail. This trail has water crossings, sandy mud, loose rocks, hard-pack, a large road wash-out, deep ruts, a fun gravel pit, and lots of amazing views!

No. 49

My buddy Jacob met me after work and we went on a little mid-week adventure.

We met up in Beaverton, OR and rode 35 miles West before we started trail-riding. The first portion of this trail was fast paced Forest Service Roads where I was one-handedly taking photos with my iPhone while riding.

The second portion of this trail was full of deep ruts, loose rocks, slippery mud, and lots of steep areas. At the end of this “technical” part is an abandoned trail tunnel.

“Tunnel 27” is an abandoned train tunnel located on the Tillamook Bay Railroad.

Large portions of this railroad were destroyed by a winter storm in 2007, and never fixed due to the high cost of repairs.

No. 48

As you may already know, every good ride starts with good coffee. And today’s ride started with a cortado from Never Coffee in Downtown Portland.

For me, prepping my bike entails lowering my psi, shifting my handlebars in an aggressive position, lowering my windscreen, and putting my knee pads on.

Sam brought his buddy Artur, and it was a pleasure riding with him and his DR650. Sam and Artur definitely make me miss my XR650L.

They say “if you’re not crashing, then you’re not pushing yourself hard enough”. I like to tell myself that in order to feel better about always dumping my bike lol.

I don’t know why, but I always think photos of people peeing is good story-telling content.

After Kilchis Falls and Triangulation Point, we decided to jump back on Highway 6 and ride 10 miles east to Browns Camp OHV for some fun single-track.

I like this sort of riding because it’s great for building skills; high speed stopping, hard accelerating, power sliding, body positioning, etc…

No. 47

Not much to write about this day of riding, other than it was much needed.

No. 46

I left work Friday afternoon and headed straight to camp in Mount Hood National Forest. I chose somewhere close (about an hour away) and familiar, since it was my first time camping in my new truck. I also didn’t bring all the creature-comforts, so I decided to grab a sandwich and chips from the Italian deli for dinner.

I filled up three garbage bags of trash from this camping spot, and I also built a little wood-holding area.