PART ONE

In July of 2003, ten men and their machines set off on an epic adventure to ride "The Oregon Back Country Discovery Route". The group members were as follows:

By the time the ride had ended, the group of ten had become a band of brothers.

The Plan

The plan was for 9 riders and a follow truck driver to ride from the Southern Oregon border along the eastern side of the state up to the Washington border in 5 days.

Seeing as there were 9 riders we decided to break down into groups of three, this would give each group enough riders should a situation arise, plus it would help keep down the dust as riding in a group of nine is not easy to do over such a long distance, and we'd only be creating a dust cloud the size of Kansas. Not to mention Gary, Jeff and myself didn't want to get held back by the slower riders in the other two groups. I don't want to give any names as they might take that statement the wrong way, but he was the only guy riding an orange bike. photo below!
 

The Start

Our starting point was to be Goose Lake, on the Oregon / Californian border. After saying our goodbyes to our loved ones, we left them to make the return journey home in the transport trucks, while we set off to ride the OBCDR.

From Goose Lake, it's a short jaunt along some pavement heding east before picking up forest service roads in the Modoc National Forest.

Having never rode on the OBCDR before I was kinda anxious as to what to expect along the way terrain wise. I had heard stories of rock gardens that would swollow a rider and his machine whole, and of water crossings so deep that submarines used them as short cuts between the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean's ... Of course this was all myth and the truth was the OBCDR was nothing more than gravel / dirt roads with some rocky areas, sand, deep sand, deeper sand, and a few low level water crossing but still the name of our first stop (Dismal Swamp) did lead me to wonder.

After taking a few snap shots at Dismal Swamp. We head north on along some sweet fast smooth two track. Running at 50mph was not a problem in this area, the going was easy and views were great.

It was also about this time that another factor came into play, the HEAT !!! .. we didn't know it yet but the heat was to claim three of the riders on this trip.

Well north, south, east or west it didn't matter which direction we rode in, we were lost. Checking and double checking our GPS then cross referencing the co-ords to the maps didn't make any difference. Some how we had made our way to an area that shouldn't be here.

Scratching our heads we re-trace our own tracks until we find a way-point that sets us back on course.

Realizing we are begining to fall behind our schedule, and with more miles left to ride to the next camp stop than we want to admit, we pick up the pace as best we can.

Sadly most of the road signs have been removed from the OBCDR due to echo freek-o's wanting to keep this mainly public route off the maps. This was to cause us many a headache. Having said that though getting lost did in fact take us to some great view points that we normally wouldn't have seen.

 

Well moving along and watching the miles just tumble by, we eventually make it to the town of Paisley, Oregon. Hot, bothered and walking as if we no longer had any muscles in our legs, we stop to eat dinner before carrying on to Ana Reservoir, where we find the rest of the group already settling in for the evening.

Day two had arrived, and it was here we lost one of the riders in the group. The heat had kept poor Larry M, up most of the night, and he had a hard time keeping down any fluids.

Wisely he decided to pack up and head home.

After we waved him off and wished him a safe trip home we all ran over to his gear bag and started to rifle through it looking for any valubales. Alas there wasn't too much there worth taking but we did find a plastic tube with a rubber hand pump attached to the end of it .... What was that Larry ? :) ... I'm just joking of course.

Also Jeff A, from elite riders group had gotten a little too much heat but he decided to take alternative routes along the OBCDR.

 

THE PLAN

Well the plan for day two, was to ride from Ana Reservior into Christmas Valley, where we would skirt the eastern side of Fossil Lake before entering the Lost Forest and carrying on into the desert heading north until coming out along Highway 20 near Riley.

That was the plan, and it was a jolly good one !!!

But we don't like plans and so decided to rearrange the desert and find our own way to Riley.

 

Once gassed up Gary A, and myself set off to tackle the Valley of Sand. Everything was going great, we were on track, we were the first group into the desert, and we only had approx 58 miles of desert to ride as the crow flies.

Riding along without a care in the world, we make lots of stops to have a smoke break and take in some valuble fluids. About an hour into the desert section, we begin to start stopping more and more and try to find shade to help keep us cool.

As the day moves on and our water reserves begin to dwindle, we once again realize we are kinda off course.

By now the temps are hitting 106 degrees and riding in the ever thickening sand is becoming a problem and draining us of valuble energy. Checking the GPS back track feature we can see we have zigged and zagged ourselves across an area the size of LA, but we are still about 30 miles or so from highway 20.

 

Around 5 hours into the desert section with no water left we know we are in for a hard time. Basically giving up on the GPS waypoints Gary plots what appears to be the quickest way out of this hell hole.

WARNING

Even though I try and put humor into my ride reports. This portion of the ride was no laughing matter. We were lost in a desert with no water, and the sun was beating down with all it's might and fury. This could have been a serious problem.
If ever you go riding in the desert PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take enough water for 2 days.

Once our position had been worked out and the direction of where we needed to go, it didn't take Gary long to get us on some faster two track. We still had a long hot ride ahead of us, but at least now we knew we were gonna make it.

At last, after many hours of struggling in the heat and the sand we made it to highway 20. Instead of going north as the maps routed us, we went east to Chickahominy campsite, where we basically sat underneath the water tap splashing around with joy as if we had found gold.

After highway 20 the heat and dust continued for many more miles, but our first piece of eveidence that cooler elevations were soon to be visited was a plant in full bloom.

Totally exhausted both physically and mentally we arrived at Delintment Lake around dusk. I removed my clothing to reveal many skeeter bites that had been itching the hell out of me all day long. I called my wife (Kim) and told her I was done with the OBDR and wanted to come home. We arranged for her to pick me up the next day around noon.

On waking up, I felt slightly better and had a change of heart about quitting on the OBDR ride. This is something I had been wanting to do for over three years. So I called Kim, and told her not to worry, I'm carrying on, so no need to come get me.

Packing up camp I felt weak, but just knuckled down and prepped my bike for the days course.

The plans for day three were to ride from Delintment Lake, do a loop section and then on to Malheur Ford where camp site #3 was to be located.

Starting out I felt kinda light headed. The begining section was some easy gravel roads which offered no problems, but as soon as we hit some slightly rutted two track I lost all strenght and couldn't concentrate on the trail at all.

Snailing along I see the guys up ahead waiting for me. I tell them of my problems and decide to go home or risk serious injury. I had heat exhaustion and the OBDR was over for me this time for sure.

I do intend to go back and finish the OBDCR, hopefully in 2004. And when I do I will finish this webpage.
 

Thanks for taking the time to read this webpage.
If you have any questions or comments email imperial-4776@webtv.net
Dave
Salem, Oregon.

Everyone else finished and enjoyed the OBCDR ride.