270 miles of Central Oregon, Bend to Wagontire and Back

[brad21]

Jim shows up at my house a few minutes early, just as I was headed out to the gas station to top off my bike. Oh well, he can't bitch about me not being ready. I mostly was. Today will be long and we'll need just about all the gas we can carry.



This was to be a "dry" run, so to speak as neither of us have really camped on bikes. We figured a one nighter would be a good test for upcoming longer trips this summer, kinda figure out our gear, luggage set-ups and camping stuff, what to leave at home, what we forgot...

So we head east with Wagontire, Or. as our intended destination. Last trip I took out here in the fall me and Wachs got skunked on food and gas, even though we had called ahead. I called ahead this time, twice, just to make sure we're good to go. Hoss assures us we'll have gas and food.



We're getting a relatively late start so we don't explore too much. We're basically following a GPS track from the last time out here. Rocks will be plentiful, and I'm packing 20lbs front and rear in the DRZ's tires. Chasing Wachs last time I flatted the front.

more...

[RideAbout]

[brad21]

We're making good time, lots of high speed cinder road takes us around the south side of Pine Mountain and down past Fox Butte. Once we bust out of the National Forest things will slow down and get a bit trickier. Jim knows all to well about the embedded and camouflaged Central Oregon rocks. This was the outcome of his last battle:



Not pretty, and he took quite awhile to recover from this digger.

It's a beautiful day, almost hot, the jackets are stored in our gear bags and we're still sweating. On our way to the Lost Forest we pass right by the Christmas Valley sand dunes. Typical Memorial Day weekend clusterfuck. We stop and both buy sodas from this special kid:



He didn't have Mountain Dew though. Bastard! I was in definite need of some re-caffeinating. Pepsi will have to do.



more...

[GB]

[brad21]

Jim discovered an uninvited hitchiker:



Onward into the Lost Forest. It's called the Lost Forest because nobody knows how this forest grew in the middle of the desert. Hmmm... Jim doesn't care:





Soon we bust back out into the open desert:





And it gets rocky. Now we've got at least 30 miles of pummeling coming.



I told Jim last year that this ride was the most demanding ride I had ever done. I don't think he really believed me until about now. There are very few reprieves. Rocks followed by playa followed by rocks. Repeat.



And we are really "out there" now. Jim said something like " I think this is about as ADV as it gets."

Ahhhh... Playa.



more...

[brad21]

Please dear God don't let me get another flat. I've taken several good hits by this time. I think we're at about mile 95 of 133 here. The shadows are getting longer.





Lots of cows out there, and lots of fences to open and close. Gets a bit tedious, but better than them having a Private Property sign hanging there with a locked gate or some shit.

This one was already open:



We're getting pretty close to our destination now. I'm starving. Hoss is waiting and we're pretty much right on time.

This is a view of the valley that Highway 395 passes thru. You can see it just to the left of the white spot almost in the center of the screen. Wagontire is right on the highway.



Jim, taking his own photo of the valley:



A little different view:



Lo and behold we pop out onto the highway and make our way to the grub.





And here's Hoss (that's his real name and he is an honest to God cowboy) fixin' our steaks.



Now put on your gravely voice and best limp and you'll be doing a Hoss imitation. Great guy, okay cook. Ha!

Buckaroo Beans with a twist (spaghetti noodles):



Main course:



We even got some blueberry pie, no pic though...

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[8Superman]

Great report and pics!!

[brad21]

So now we're fat and happy. It's about 8pm and it's time to find a spot to camp. We passed a few spots back up the road the way we came in. Hoss offered up a spot in the RV park, but we passed and decided to "rough it" a little and find a place away from the highway. Not that it would be loud or anything, it's pretty lightly traveled here, but the solitude was calling. We backtracked about 3 or 5 miles and found this:



A little cow pie slice of heaven! And we could see Wagontire down below:



We set up camp, me in my spacious Eureka Tetragon 5 and Jim in his REI Fart Tube. Holy shit Jim can you roll over in there?? I followed the ADVice and went for a two man tent. I like to be able to take a few things inside with me.



Now this is the part where a couple of chairs would've been a good call. Hell, a couple of good sized rocks would've worked. We broke out the booze.

Mmmmm.... (warm) beer....



Didn't Hoss look to you like he had tipped a few in his day? Well he offered us Pepsi, water or... Mountain Dew! So I dipped into my pathetic stash. Jim had some Absinthe (wtf??) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe and I had a flask of Maker's Mark and Pendleton that I combined together. Am I going to hell for this??

We started a fire, about the same time the gunshots started. Huh??



Lots of dry juniper lying about and in no time we had a ripper of a fire. And then the wind came up. It was warm anyway.

Note to self: Taking pictures of people taking pictures next to a fire usually leads to crap pictures. Also, get a chair.



Another crappy one. I'm the catburglar. And we are men with hands on our hips.



More tomorrow...

[wachs]

so you guys put it together? EXCELLENT! let's see the rest of it!

[brad21]

Here's a bump for mine and Dave's ride last fall while you're all dying with anticipation:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174031

And we will return after a word from our sponsors.

[EMrider]

Excellent trip report and pics.

Do you know what setup Jim used to put side bags on the Husky? I'd like to get a similar setup for some moto camping trips.

R

[brad21]

Originally Posted by EMrider

Excellent trip report and pics.

Do you know what setup Jim used to put side bags on the Husky? I'd like to get a similar setup for some moto camping trips.

R

Ha! You will have to ask him about that.

James??

[wachs]

ah c'mon Jim!


let'see yer shots!

[KMA]

Truly a mini Epic ride for me at least. 290 miles when I rolled into the driveway.
Bacon on the move

Look who we ran into in EFR, freakin Leisure Club(Greg)! and his Dad who had a flat

Brad somewhere in the middle of nowhere

Again

Seriously, Brad is actually so hungry he is eating at Superman speed


Back at Camp Happy Hour it's Brad with the Whiskey and me drinking my favorite, Absinth, and no I did'nt hallucinate


Probably 1/2 way home


Must sleep now, bye..

[KMA]

Originally Posted by brad21

Ha! You will have to ask him about that.

James??

In reference to the 450te rack question-
Just buy the subframe that the 510te comes with, it bolts right on. Then drill the four holes through your fender and mount your customized Milk Crate (no I'm not kidding)