Bikepacking Overnight: Cascade-Siskiyou Scenic Bikeway (Extended!)

There are some corners of Oregon I have explored less than others and with summer escaping altogether too quickly, I made a last minute decision to check out a new-to-me Cascade-Siskiyou scenic bikeway near Ashland. This tour had an immense range of geological diversity, wildlife, opportunities to jump in lakes, sweeping desert landscapes, fragrant ripe blackberries and thimbleberries, wooded alpine views, and tiny lodges with delicious food scattered throughout. It also had some soul crushing climbs and swooping huge descents. All in all, I would count this as an underrated gem of Oregon.

Violent volcanic landscape.

Sweet snack spot with southern Cascades views.

Sweet pee spot with southern Cascade views.

I don't know who this Banjo Bill is, but this was a very clean section of road.

With joy, I prepared myself for 9 miles of "wheeeee" (and some trepidation knowing it goes up that much on the other side).

A view into the Rogue Valley as I zoom down from over 5000 feet to about 1000 feet of elevation...

HAIRY FUZZY COWS!

Miles of roadside blackberries from Ashland up the east side of this route. So many blackberries. So distracting for a hungry cyclist. So many in my belly.

A quick rinse in Emigrant Lake before I attack the climb out of the Rogue Valley.

Late afternoon sun shines down on the desert-like views of the Rogue Valley as I climb slowly and painfully out. Spring... spring would have been a great time for this tour. I chose August. Nearly 100 degrees...

Little lending library in the middle of nowhere.

Exhausted, skin full of salt/sweat/grit, feeling slightly nauseous, and a long abandoned road manifests itself and leads to a magically flat wild camping spot just off the Pacific Crest Trail.

I had just enough energy and light to get my tent up in a protective cove of pine trees, throw some food together, and then I passed out. I woke up a few times and peered at the stars... it was a perfect summer night with clear skies. It's times like this that I love bike touring by myself. It took me a long time to feel comfortable sleeping under the stars by myself and while sometimes I still feel a little unsettled hoping no one sees me sneaking off the road to a wild camping spot, for the most part, I can relax and just enjoy my freedom.

The Green Springs Inn is a gem at the summit... mostly because it gave me an excuse to stop and buy a 2-day old pastry.

And, they have an outdoor water refill station!

The Hyatt Reservoir was quiet, peaceful, and full of all the birds (well, mostly geese). I spent a fair amount of my morning here just enjoying the peace and quiet.

Flowers and mullein.

And my favorite... bumblebees getting drunk on pollen (aka tiny flying yellow pandas).

After one last punchy climb, I made it to the Lake in the Woods resort. It's a lovely place to treat yourself to a leisurely lunch and a swim. I say leisurely because while the service is good, the kitchen is slow. It took me nearly 40 minutes to get by food, but boy was it good. 

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• Parking at sno-parks or trailheads is a great way to know your car will not get towed or will generally be fairly safe when off on a weekend tour. I started my adventure at the Great Meadow Sno-Park. 

• My route was about 88 miles with over 7000 hot sweaty feet of climbing... and the way I rode it put most of the climbing on the first day. Since the official scenic bikeway is only 50 miles, I did some research and extended it because even for a lazy bike tourer like me, 25 miles per day just isn't enough. 

• The most trafficked part of this route is Highway 140, which, at least for the part on this route, has beautiful huge smooth shoulders. The rest of the route is lower speed and less traffic, unless you happen to visit the area while a huge all ladies motorcycle campout is happening. Then you get to share the road with a lot of badass lady motorcyclists. Which was still pretty awesome because they were very respectful passing me. 

• There is plenty of wild camping on the west side of the route due to it being in National Forest Service, however the east side of the route tended towards being surprisingly populated and much of the National Monument is also a wildlife preserve. There are plenty of established campgrounds, cabins, and lodges to make this a less rustic experience than the one I had and those with a good eye for wild camping will find a nice spot just about anywhere. Except the section between Emigrant Lake and the intersection of Tyler Road. There is just about nothing there but steep cliffside.

• If you plan on camping at Hyatt Reservoir, make sure to check the BLM website. As of August 2019, there was no running water.  

Bikepacking Overnight: The Havana Nights Edition

Life has been a whirlwind of trying to squeeze the most out of my summer days and trying to grow a consulting company while working full time. There has been a lot of running straight from Point A to Point B to Point C and then collapsing. Lather, rinse, repeat. This year, it seems like I have not spent nearly enough time on my beloved Kung Fu Panda and we have been blessed with no wildfires... so I promised myself I would get out before my community's good luck ends.

My friend Nicole, who came to my bike touring talk last year and adventured over the McKenzie Pass for her first bike tour with me, is also a latin dance fanatic. She and her husband host a now famous private Havana Nights party at their property located between Tumalo and Sisters. The night promises magic under the stars well past midnight on a gorgeous lit outdoor dance floor. Dancing and teaching salsa is one of my passions that I have let come and go throughout my adult life, but these days, has been feeding my soul more and more. As luck would have it, I had the weekend mostly free and so I decided to ride my bike to the party, camp out overnight, and then finish the ride to Sisters to meet up with another friend to go huckleberry picking.

The route I mapped was a combination of quiet paved roads and good quality dirt roads and is a lovely way to ride from Bend to Sisters. There are constant views of the Cascade mountains and as you leave Bend, the traffic becomes basically non-existent. To maintain the privacy of where my own abode is as well as my friend's, I'll just provide the map from the center of Bend to Sisters Coffee Company.

Love the empty dirt roads between Bend and Tumalo Reservoir.

Lush green by the Tumalo Reservoir.

The historic Tumalo dam... circa 1915 according to the sign!

The magic fairy house set in the woods with views of the Three Sisters and twinkly lights that illuminate the night.

There is also a pond with a pagoda.

The pagoda made for an excellent "camping" spot. I didn't even need my sleeping pad because they had a futon set up in there. Probably in my top 5 bike touring camping spots ever.

Morning views from my "bed."

Taking a minute to soak in the views before heading the rest of the way to Sisters!

Brisk air, empty dirt roads, mountain views.

Selfie in the morning light with the nearly full moon!

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• Sisters has a great little $5 hiker/biker spot at the Creekside Campground that is walking distance from all the amenities of town. A little further out of town off the historic highway 242 is the Cold Springs Campground if you prefer a quieter setting. I also highly recommend Sisters Coffee Company for great coffee, breakfasts, and bicycle parking out front. 

• The moral of the story is that no matter how busy life gets, there are always ways to sneak in a sub-24 overnighter. This was just 25 miles total and made for a perfect break!