OCVA to Bend, day six

OCVA to Bend, day five

Three-Fingered Jack

Love Bigger

We got to the big hall, where breakfast is served at 8. Young people were queued up, and the kitchen was busy with workers. I spoke briefly with the director of the Big Lake Youth Camp, Les. He's a very nice guy, welcoming, and an outdoors person. Everyone was very kind and friendly. I got to the serving part of the line and I answered every question with "Yes, please." :-) I was handed a plate with scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, and a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar. Adam and I walked outside and a woman about my age said "Come sit over here. Tell us about your story." Her name was Tricia, and she was sitting with her lovely mom, Maggie, and her friend and fellow volunteer, Lisa. Tricia is a Masters of Social Work (MSW) school counselor, and she'd be training the young people before camp started, the following weekend. All the young people were college-age staff. Tricia specialized in counseling child abuse victims, and she'd be training the counselors. Lisa is a nurse practitioner, and she'd be volunteering at the camp. Both women looked and acted like sisters. We had a very nice conversation. Adam and I told our stories, and the told theirs. It was delightful. I was feeling like a human again. I told Tricia that my daughter was studying to be a therapist, and she insisted I get her contact information, so she could talk to Lulu about her career path. She was also tickled with my daughter's name. I think she said her daughter is a Lulu, short for Lauren. 

Tricia and her mom Maggie

PCT thru-hikers from France and Germany

We met a few more thru-hikers, one from Germany and one from Spokane. We pushed off, and while I was still slow and very sore, I was better, and I was able to communicate. Adam assured me we'd take the easier way. I've adjusted the route to show the way we went, he chose a flatter, lower, more direct route. I think that, if I'd slept OK, his earlier route would have been fine, and I would have been a better companion.

Sand Mountain road continued to be challenging, but it was mostly rideable. We stayed on the Santiam Wagon Road for a while, before diverting onto a forest road that had some very rocky descents. This was the one section of the entire ride where I was really glad I had something approaching a mountain bike. It was mostly downhill to Hwy 242, which was very quiet and clear, and paved! We rolled into Sisters, which is a quaint little town, seemingly devoted to tourism, where we ate lunch at a place Adam's friend Cody recommended, Boone Dog Pizza. I can heartily recommend the food, and beer. I was very biased; it was good food at the tail end of a week's tour, and I'd had some sleep.

Mount Washington above a regenerating forest

those look like mountain lion prints to me

Mount Washington, and I think one of two of the Three Sisters, from NF-500

Adam, praising the sky above, on Hwy 242, west of Sisters

Entering Sisters

lunch at Boone Dog Pizza, as recommended by Adam's friend Cody

clean plate club

the Three Sisters, from Sisemore Road

Adam and Katie at home ❤️

Adam and I rode together to his house, where I had a visit with his partner Katie. We have been friends since they lived in Oakland. We had a nice chat. My brain and speech were better, but I was tired, and I know I gave that impression. We said our goodbyes, I texted my wife "I'm 20 minutes away, riding to you. Love you. See you soon." She relied "love you too. i have to leave here by 4:20/4:30. hopefully you'll be here by then!"

I hustled, if that was possible to where she was, my phone showing a google maps route under the elastic cord laced on the lid of my front pack. As I rolled up, I saw our Sprinter van driving through the parking lot. I hailed her, she pulled into a spot, and we kissed. She was just preparing to leave. A few people said, "Is that Morgan?" Word had gotten out that I'd ridden to the conference. I shook my head "No." :-) I got a keycard, said goodbye to her - she was heading to the welcome party for NICA National Conference attendees - and went up to our room. A shower, change of clothes, and a few texts with friends got me to the welcome party, as well, and one time of my life segued into another.

me, arriving in Bend, at the River House Lodge, photo by Lauren

me, arriving in Bend, at the River House Lodge, photo by Lauren

me, arriving in Bend, at the River House Lodge, photo by Lauren

Final Thoughts

My Hudski Dualist, with a rigid carbon fork and 2.4" Vittoria Mezcal tires, with 'trail casing' did admirably on some proper chunk. I seated them with a floor pump, after putting generous servings of Orange Seal sealant in them, just before this trip, and I never needed to add air, running about 27psi rear and 24psi front. I have a creak, somewhere in the bike, but I'm also just over 1000 miles since I bought it, and the last 316 or so were on sometimes dusty Oregon dirt roads. I used the SQLab 411 2.0 Innerbarends and SQLab 710 2.0 grips were comfortable, when I needed to alternate hand positions. The Monē Light Bars put me in the right position. This entire route could have been done on my gravel bike, faster, and with a bit more ease. I probably should have put 50mm Gravel Kings on the Hudski. The thing about a dedicated bikepacking bike is, I'm loathe to put other bikes into service for a trip. The Hudski is always ready to go, has the dynamo lights and racks, and I don't need to mess with things like gearing or racks or bags. 

I have been experimenting with riding in wool boxers. So far so good. I did use a bit of Body Glide in my saddle area, and some Vagisil for chafing. (I got that, and the idea to buy an Alpha Direct hoodie from SlingFin Tim's Sub-20 Day Tour Divide Bike Check.) I spent most of this trip in Icebreaker and Ornot boxers, until I lost my Icebreaker boxers in Oakridge. The trick is to keep them clean, washing with biodegradable Camp Suds whenever the opportunity arises. I would dry them in the elastic cord webbing on the top of my front pack. (I also lost a Paul bandana on the McKenzie River Trail, and a little tiny bottle of Camp Suds somewhere in the PCT Center.) As usual, I lived in a Patagonia Capilene Daily Hoody. I love this thing. I dunked it in rivers a few times, washed it once. It never smells, keeps the sun off, is cool on hot days and warm enough on cool days. Get one. Club Ride riding shorts, starting to come undone, and a belt I bought in Durango, before one of my Colorado Trail trips. 5-10 shoes, Handup Gloves, two pair wool socks. The weather was warm and dry, so puffy jacket, Houdini shell rarely came out. 

I'll never take Diphenhydramine again. I'll sleep naturally. Cheating at sleep doesn't work.

The Nemo quick patches for their mattresses work, but one rubbed / peeled off the second night. I will replenish them, and do a proper patch. They provide fabric patches, but not the cement. I learned to be more careful with site selection, preparation. I could have patched the mattress properly, I was carrying cement for TPU tubes, and super glue.

I could have lived with a bivvy, but the Durston X-Dome 1+ tent was delightful. I slept in a 15-year-old Marmot Hydrogen 30º bag, with a Nemo Fillo pillow. I had both the tent (without stuff sack) and the short Durston carbon poles, along with my Nemo pad in a Rockgeist Ultra PE Dry Bag - Double Opening wrapped in the Armadillo Dry Bag Protector strapped to my Mica Rat Tail rack. I had Wolftooth Morse Cargo Cages on the legs, with old Salsa Anything cage dry bags. I could have left those cages and dry bags home, in hindsight. One side had individual serving Skratch Labs hydration mix, which worked really well for me, two per 34oz bottle, as well as individual packets of bone broth. The other side had some dehydrated meals from Luxefly. I really like Luxefly's meals. I had Pretty Great coffee, oatmeal packets and various snacks in and on the bike. Haribo gummy bears FTW. I bought a new Revelate Mountain Feed Bag, after using my original Mountain Feed Bag I bought in 2009 in the interim. It's really nice, great for one-handed operation, trash goes in one mesh outside pocket, lip balm and roll-on sunblock in the other. My new Bags By Bird front pack had its first big trip, and wow, was it good. Totally sold. Thank you, Jay. Sleeping bag, puffy jacket - which I only wore once - and pillow went in a new-to-me DCF Dry Bags by Bonfus, as well as other clothes, cooking kit, spare fuel, mini sit pad and whatever I wanted to stuff / grab. (beers) In the side pockets I had electronics in one, water filter, .5L bidet, extra 2L bladder and a pocket knife in the other. Rockgeist, in matching material to the handlebar bag contained toiletries, tools/spares, food, cup, spoon, you name it. I had a Spot for my family to watch my progress, and if I needed an SOS. The pass-through charging; SON 28 dynamo hub -> Sinewave Beacon -> Nitecore NB10000 -> phone worked well. I used a 1.5' coiled USB-A to USB-C cord to route electrical charging from the Beacon on the front of the front Rawland Rando rack, keeping my phone and powerpack in the same pocket containing electronics. I had most of the electrical stuff in a little Bonfus DCF dry bag. I got some inexpensive Ditty Storage Sacks by Gossamer Gear, and they now house my tools/spares (small) and toiletries (big). I like them. 

Thanks to the Big Lake Youth Camp. Thanks to Adam, Jev and Grant for their patience and companionship. Thanks to Ryan Francesconi for a great route. I'd like to ride it again, this time all the way to Portland. Thanks to my wife Lauren, for working my trip into her plans.

The conference was a success, but I'll tell you, I didn't sleep that first night in the hotel, either. Same thing; pounding, fast heartbeat, awake, feeling hopeless. I didn't take anything. But every night after that I slept hard. I skipped a lot of the conference rides, finally riding Saturday, three days after I'd arrived in Bend. It was an easy ride with my wife and one of her co-workers, in the Phil's World trail network. My legs were sore! That tour left a dent.

Riding the Oregon Cascades Volcanic Arc (OCVA) bikepacking route to Bend, Oregon