Northwest Trip Reports

Something I've seen in the CO and CA boards are regular trip report threads where everyone can dump cool trail updates/anecdotes/pics/vids from each time out. Helps keep everyone up to date on trail conditions when not going on group runs and provides some good motivation to use the truck. And it's a lot easier to sort through than the whole of the BS threads.

Anyhow, didn't see one for the NW. So here we go.

 

MEMORIAL DAY '19 IN DESCHUTES NF:
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Memorial Day is the first of my "Big 5" extended camping weekends/weeks (translation: one of the five main 3-9 night annual trips), and is always a really mellow and nice way to get back into the groove after the months of snow camping and trail closures that January through May (or later) bring to every state west of the Dakotas.



This year I spent the extended weekend in Central Oregon's Deschutes National Forest. Friday night was perfect.



Saturday morning I whipped up a classic breakfast and was ready to move on to find another site.



I collected some stuff that I thought would work well for a fuel base or further processing and headed out.



There was a bit of moisture already present, so there was a bit of mud about. However, it also helped keep the dust down.



Didn't find anything in the way of technical terrain, sadly. But I guess there was some chop to at least make airing down worth my time.



Punched my way north with no real plan in mind other than trying to find a good place to get some conditioning in.



View was nothing to shake a stick at.



Settled on this butte for a quick ascent. It was all soft sand on the way up, and it cooked my quads and calves extremely effectively. Mission accomplished. Pro tip: don't pull deadlifts and do lunges the day before a climb like this unless you're punishing yourself or a masochistic idiot like me.



Saturday night the weather decided to stop cooperating.



Kept up through the morning.



Decided to head outta the China Hat area and go to one of my usual haunts near Suttle Lake. Stopping in for coffee stouts at Three Creeks was a nice detour.



Cleared up a bit Sunday afternoon.



Broke out the saw and axe. Quickly realized I'd mounted the new chain backwards. Unfucked it, then got to work.



Made a good pile.



Stuff was still saturated, so the coal bed was gonna be a bit of a wait. Built two fires on either side to speed things up.



Dinner came out pretty decently. Rained again last night, and then it was back to civilization today. Headed out west this upcoming weekend, so drop me a line if you're on 33s+ and wanna wack your skids/sliders a bit on some technical stuff.

 

Very cool pics and descriptions, thanks for sharing. I see you enjoy montucky cold snacks also

 

Yeah, buddy. Cheers.

 

Good li'l weekend warrior run. Took University Highpower to Cedar Tree, then looped back around to run Firebreak from the start. Highpower is fun, but only has one section that requires 4WD. It's a good way to get into the 'mood'. CT has two spots I can think of that you'll probably wanna throw it in 4. It's more a workout for your suspension than your driveline. Lots of stuffing those tires. The challenge is that both of them get VERY tight in between the trees and around the bends. Something like a 3rd gen Taco could realistically need to pivot off a slider in some places, due to the length hindrance.
Last was Firebreak. I really underestimated how technical this trail would be. The writeups and videos I'd seen didn't look very intimidating; I'd even seen Tacos on 32s doing it on YouTube. But I think the 37"+ gang has rearranged its guts pretty heavily. With a spotter and good line work, you could probably get 33"s through there still. But doing it solo, I needed every last bit of my 35" meat, and my locker was essential. If you wanted to cheat it, there are plenty of rocks you can stack to get through the two bigger dugouts. Those are what will really hold you up.

If you do Firebreak, you need sliders, and you want real skids. If you stacked rocks, you could do it open diffed, but with any meaningful amount of moisture or a natural line, you need a locker too. The first hill climb is through a more mellow rock garden that's not particularly difficult, but the 2nd obstacle is the bear.

CEDAR TREE:





FIREBREAK FIVE:







CAMP:

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what camera are you shooting with? amazing picture quality

 

Thank you. It's a Nikon d5300 with a prime 35 lens (about a 52 really, given the crop sensor).

 

Nice! I shoot with a d5300 as well! 35mm is my jam, but I've been messing around with my 55-200mm lens lately. any post photo editing?

 

Where are these trails? Also could you do any of them with stock sized tires?

 

I do color corrections in Lightroom. I also have Photoshop CS6, but don't know how to do anything with it other than add a watermark, lol. My pics are usually pretty unmolested, other than correcting the haze and wash out.

These are over in Tillamook. There's a point at the crest of a hill on Firepower that I can't imagine stock tires getting through, and it has no bypass. Cedar Tree maybe, if you have decent ATs or knobbies. But if you don't have skids/sliders, you're probably gonna do some pretty healthy damage in the process. Would not recommend. Not a snowball's chance in hell on Firebreak Five. From what I saw last weekend, the big boys have chewed those trails up over the last few months and made them a lot harder than their listings on TrailsOffroad and the like.

There is, however, plenty of space to cruise around and some mild trails like Ginsberg/Hoodraiser that would be doable.

 

Headed over to Hood River for a beer and a burger before doing a two night stretch in the national forest north of Mt Hood last weekend. Nothing too outta the ordinary on Friday night other than hearing a nighthawk making its thrush sounds for the first time. Very cool. Did the 2 mile run up Mt Defiance, where you also gain 1600 ft of elevation. Ended up getting sick of the spinning and hopping in 2WD, so I just threw it in 4L and walked up. Should've aired down if only for the sake of keeping my fillings from rattling out. Took a break to hike to a lake with footpath-only access and took a nap on the shore. Then rolled north and found some more water features before camping on a ridge.

Conditions are good; no snow on the trail to be found. It was wet enough from Friday's afternoon downpour to keep the dust down all weekend.

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What lake is that???

 

I went Still Creek Rd from Trillium to Rhody and it was a nice little drive (12 miles)... nothing spectacular but I would recommend going from Rhody to trillium. Seems like it would be a much better drive with a bunch of elevation gain.

 

Nice pics @TACO ROCKO ... I was up off Lolo Pass running Powerlines Yesterday. Not nearly as good as your picks but here’s a couple shots from the phone, killer day tho!

 

I think I passed you on 26 as I was going home

 

Nice, man. Looks like a beautiful day.

 

Hey I was up in the Deschutes NF camping on Memorial Day Weekend as well. Didn't do anything too crazy as i was babying my new to me 97 taco back to portland so i could get to work on it. Funny enough the radiator went to shit after leaving on Sunday in Sisters. Looks like you're having some great trips!

 

Had five nights out for the holiday week, working on the road M-W, then going into full beer-swilling, skid-smashing mode through Saturday. Started in Siskiyou just north of the CA border Monday, then cut north to the Umpqua/Rogue River NF boundary on Tuesday. After that, I moved on towards Bend and popped into Deschutes NF just west of the Volcanic monument Weds night. On the actual holiday, I stopped for beers at Three Creeks Brewing, and then hit up the Santiam OHV area for some hard wheeling before retiring lakeside that night. Friday I went up into Willamette NF east of Detroit and camped on an amazing ridge. Saturday I slept in 'til 9:30, finished reading an Abbey book, and finally returned to civilization for a shower and some social interaction.

Weather was fantastic in central and southern OR. Trails were all in great condition, no fire bans, and not a crazy amount of traffic outside of the RV and brodozer traps. Some highlights:

INDEPENDENCE WEEK, FROM ASHLAND TO PDX











https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIFRmut-ni4​

 

Went up into WA and zipped around in Gifford Pinchot NF this weekend. Pretty standard stuff; I go up there pretty regularly 'cause it's so close and easy to find a quiet spot. Bit dry up there, so burn bans may come into effect, depending on county. Trails are dusty AF as a result. Only real gripes about the southern end of that forest is that there's not a lot of good tinder, nor a great deal of healthy pine deadfall to cut. And the lakes near Mt Adams are a bit low and murky as well. But it's really hard to make a real complaint about being outdoors, so it's all good.

 

Wow.... that's all I've got for now.... Wow