Home Again

Our summer adventure has come to an end for now... We're back to work and enjoying life in Southern California.

Next month is the first annual Hoodoo 500 and we're super excited about that! We have a record number of participants for an inaugural race of this distance - which makes us very proud, and grateful for the support and enthusiasm for Planet Ultra events.

After the race we're staying in Utah for a few days and planning a hike down the slot canyon of the Virgin River trail in Zion. We plan to do the entire 22 miles in one day; and will definitely post photos and a report about that.

:-)

Tumalo Falls

About ten minutes from the center of Bend is one of the nicest mountain bike trails we've ever ridden. 18 miles of unbelievable single track (or more, if you have the energy, which we didn't) and breathtaking scenery. We followed the stream up to Tumalo Falls, and then meandered into the forest where we were treated to several more falls, and then out along the ridges with incredible views of the valley below. Awesome!

(The photos are posted in reverse of how I took them)

McKenzie River Trail

The McKenzie River Trail is considered a "must-do" mountain bike ride if you're visiting Central Oregon. Typically, riders shuttle to do this epic ride - but since we only had one car... We parked at the trails end, and pedaled 22 miles up the road to the trailhead. the road ride was beautiful. And when we finally hit the trail - Wow! We enjoyed 26 miles of incredibly scenic, and challenging, single track. Here are just a few shots from this very long day of riding.

Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway

Oregon is home to many National Scenic Byways. The National Scenic Byways Program is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. It's a grass-roots collaborative effort established to help recognize, preserve and enhance selected roads throughout the United States. Since 1992, the National Scenic Byways Program has funded 2,181 projects for state and nationally designated byway routes in 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The U.S. Secretary of Transportation recognizes certain roads as All-American Roads or National Scenic Byways based on one or more archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic qualities.

We spent the day exploring the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, by car and on foot. Although the brochure we found indicated you could enjoy the entire byway in a day - we covered about a third. Truth be told, most folks never get out of their cars; and if they do, they walk about 100 yards to whatever scenic thing is closest, take a peak, then leave. In our travels we find that once we venture beyond the first 1/4 mile, we pretty much never see a soul.

We hiked the mile trail along Devils Lake:

We strolled along Sparks Lake, where we really wished we had a tandem kayak or canoe!
Todd Lake was super close to the parking area, so we saw the most people here!
The highlight of the day was our 3 mile hike at Dutchman Flats - straight up to the amazing views of Mt. Bachelor.

Beautiful Bend, Oregon

Bend is one of our favorite spots in Oregon. It's recreation heaven - incredible road and off-road riding, endless trails to hike, lakes to swim, rivers to kayak. So much to do, so little time...

Thursday we rode the Deschutes River Trail, 35 miles out-and-back, of smoothe single track. The Deschutes River has sections of rapids and falls, as well as meandering river where you always see locals floating on every kind of raft imaginable...



Friday we went to Newberry National Volcanic Monument. Brian took his mountain bike, and I took my road bike. Brian's camera battery died before he could use it - so here are a few shots from the road:

Paulina Falls:

Sunday we rode from Tumolo through Sisters up McKenzie Pass to the summit and back, on the route of "Tour de Chutes," a super popular century that happens every July. The wonderful folks at Bend's Sunnyside Sports gave us a copy of their event route - and we loved every mile. If you're ever in the area in July, this is a must-do century!

Heading out of Sisters up McKenzie Highway

Lava Fields at the edge of Sisters Wilderness

The forest turned to barren lava flows just below the summit

A short stop at the top after a 14-mile climb

Proof that we made it to the top.

The roads back - farms and ranches galore!