So the trip idea started after Aron bought a BMW F800GS Adventure and I just happened to buy my KTM 450EXC. After we found out about each others purchases, we started doing
local rides in the gravel and small connecting trips around Portland. Then it came up, "Let's do the OBCDR". It was on. I had done section 5 in the past in my Jeep so I
was familiar with some of what we wanted to ride and I knew it would be much more fun on the bike. We set the time, July 16-20, one of the hottest times in the desert!
We both spent months planning and getting our bikes and gear ready. Soon it was the morning of the ride. This is what was in my head
Rt 3 -> Rt 2 -> Rt 5 to Seneca -> Rt 4 to Sisters
We took off from Hillsboro at 6:00am to make good time on the slab to Sisters where we would pick up the trail.
Riding back roads to Sisters
We arrived in Sisters and gassed up and grabbed some quick breakfast.
I had to tighten my chain a bit as it was slapping all over. A few miles outside of town we hit the trail.
It was dusty and the trail started to get smaller and steeper with a fine deep dust covering rocks. On one of the first climbs, Aron's 800 gets stuck on a rock up the climb and we
had to push it off. It was hot already and the day was not starting as we had hoped. Slow riding and blocked trails.
We eventually were able to get past the blocks and hit some nicer gravel to make up some time.
We road through lots of burned out forests and logging. For some time, we followed a logging road that had been recently graded and the Cat tracks were still fresh. That with the
deep dust made for tough, slow, dusty riding.
The views were pretty good though.
Back on faster gravel and I needed to stop to dump in my one gallon Rotopax gas and we still weren't sure I would make it on the trail to Chemult. My KTM has a 3.1 gallon tank plus
the 1 gallon extra but we were looking close to 240 miles off road. That coupled with my very sore back, we decided to find the fastest way to Hwy 97 for gas.
At that point, I convinced Aron to slab it to Chemult for a hotel with AC so I could try and get my knotted up back to feel better.
Up early the next moring we headed east towards Christmas Valley. The roads were much faster this morning and we made good time through the forest.
Section 2 has nice views.
Soon we started the dreaded rock road into Christmas Valley. We stopped a few minutes in to get some water and I decided to lead for a bit. Well I should have been more careful
as I took off and was standing on the pegs and failed to look down at my GPS. I took off up a very rocky climb and waited at the top to assure Aron could get his GS up here.
After about 5 minutes of nothing I headed back down to find him. At that point I realized that I missed a turn and was not trying to catch Aron who was thinking he was trying to
catch me. I was racing down this terrible rock road and almost ate it and decided that it would be worse if I crashed and he did not know that I was behind him. I slowed down and
after about 15 min, saw him down in the dry lake bed wating for me.
We rode together through the rest of the dusty, rocky, hot road into Christmas Valley for gas and food.
We left there around 2:00, the hottest part of the day. It was about 95F out and we were headed for 60 miles of sand, rock, and sagebrush into Riley.
As we entered the sand dunes, my bike started surging and was running poorly. I finally pulled over in one of the few shade trees to look at my air filter. I had already removed
the filter skin I was running and the filter was pretty dusty. We tried to clean it with some gas and let it dry to see if it would help. It didn't.
I was leary about going into the desert with a poorly running bike but that is how good stories start. Anyway, I had Aron with me so we could always get out.
Ran into two other ADV'ers out here! Sorry I did not write down your names so I forgot but say hi if you read this!
Stopped again to drain the float bowl in hopes it would help. It didn't.
It ran ok under full throttle so that is what I did :) I was pretty far ahead of Aron and waited by an intersection for 15 minutes or so. I started to get worried and geared up and went back to look for him.
I found him riding and he told me he had a little get off in the deep sand. He was riding at a pretty good clip when one of the sand pits slowed him down and his bars turned and through him over the bars!
Luckily he was fine and the only damage was a bent rear brake lever which he straightend out. Pretty lucky.
We continued on towards Hwy 20 so we could gas up in Riley.
After we gassed up, we found out we could camp there at the gas station in a nice grassy area. Perfect! Access to cold beer and bathrooms! I could also get some stuff to work on my poorly running bike.
We set up camp and got some cold ones! They had some nice cold Angry Orchard so I was very happy. Took apart my carb the best I could with the tools I had. Drained the bowl and had some dirt in the bottom of the needle area which I
cleaned with starting fluid (all they had in the store). Also cleaned the No-Toil filter and let it dry over night and put on my last oiled filter skin. Made a big differnce and now the bike was running great!
Cooked up some Mountian House Stroganoff and drank some beers. Good day!
Rode back 15 miles to pick up the trail the following morning after fillng up some Gatorade bottles with fuel as this may be a long day. The trail was rocky and sandy for about 20 miles and it was slow going. 5-6 tough rocky climbs that
Aron had to be careful on as he dented his front rim yesterday pretty good.
Finally, we hit fast gravel and nice dirt roads. It was a relief.
As we got closer to Seneca, the area changed and had more green valleys and trees. I was liking this.
Had a small tree to get around
Aron blew by the famous Baby's Grave but I stopped to get some pics.
Quick rest stop to take in the views.
Headed for Delintment Lake for lunch. Such a beautiful lake and a great place to cook up some lunch and relax. We spent about an hour there just chillin.
Back on the road to Seneca. Wanted to get there before the gas station closed.
The next part was a bit slow going. Dry, rutted out roads and tight woods riding. It was pretyy fun on the KTM but the GS was a little more work.
Got a bit turned around up my Yellowjacket Lake but figured it out and were soon headed in the right direction.
The elusive forest cow. They can be a bit tricky to ride around especially if they have a calf.
Finally, Seneca! Gassed up and ate at the diner. Good burger and a well deserved beer. I was beat and dusty.
Camped in the local park. Again, access to beer at the store and flush toliets in the park.
Made some friends that night.
Next morning headed west finally! We were told that we may have issues heading into Sisters because of the forest fires. We picked up the trail a few miles outside of Seneca and soon found out it may have been an old track. A rough, overgrown
track with incredible views ended with a fallen tree. We used my hand chainsaw thingy to cut part of it away.
But were soon faced with this
We backtracked down to Paulina Hwy were we slabbed it for about 20 miles to pick up the track. My tire after the slab.
Great, fast, gravel and nice dirt took us almost to Paulina where we ran into a Forest Service Ranger who told us our route was closed due to fires.
We had to head back down to Paulina Hwy and head towards Prineville. It was so boring and my ass and throttle hand were killing me. We stopped in Post, Or for lunch and a Red Bull and then did a nice job in racing through the pass to Prineville.
Gassed up in Prineville and headed towards Sisters. Back on the trail.
Very scenic and pretty easy riding which we needed after the past few days.
It was a suprise when Rt 4 had a lot of pavement headed towards Cove Palisades but it was fun. Stopped outside fo the park to talk to a sheriff who told us the forest west of here was closed. She gave us an alternated route which ended
up being our route anyway so that worked out.
After a bit of fast gravel and slow sand we arrived back in Sisters!
We gassed up and rested for about an hour before tackling the 150 miles back to Hillsboro. We did miss a bit of Rt 4 due to fires but it gives us a reason to go back
in the future.
What a great adventure with good company and great views. The KTM did great besides the carb issue and handled the hwy pretty well. 1200 miles in 4 days is a lot on a dirtbike and my ass is still feeling it. All of my gear was great
and I cannot say enough about the Wolfman luggage. The E12 saddle bags did great as did the roll top dry bag.
We are already planning on the route from Walla Walla down to Seneca. To be continued.
nate
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Subject: OBCDR 2014 
7/22/2014, 2:24 pm
