For the most part, bikepacking helps me reconnect to the little moments in life that bring joy, the kindness and humanity of people in far flung corners of time and space, and a healthy level of discomfort. Some routes I ride are highly curated from resources I trust or are the product of someone else's well written trip report. And some, like this trip, I completely made up, did the best I could with my research, and hoped for the best.
Planning only takes you so far, and even the trips that look like they will be the best on paper can be thwarted by bad intel, someone getting sick, bike mechanicals, or in our case... shitty local residents putting up "private property" and "no trespassing" signs on public roads and then being threatening about it. This is where getting good at having a healthy level of discomfort and the tools to problem solve come in handy!
Our original beautiful route from the Klamath area, up into the Cascade-Siskiyou, and finish through Copco Lake.
What we ended up actually doing...
Bill and I have got to be pros at rolling with whatever a bikepacking trip throws at us... especially Bill because he has been on exactly three bikepacking trips and all three had some kind of thing to overcome. This trip was particularly bittersweet for me because it was supposed to be an epic couples bikepacking trip with Aparna+Jamie, Elisa+Chris, Ani+Jordan (standing in for Mark), and Bill+me. But the weather kept us on our toes and we kept trying desperately to find somewhere in Oregon it would not be raining.
One by one, folks decided not to go due to timing, family emergencies, weather, and everything in between. Bill and I decided to try to do an overnighter over the two days that looked the least shitty. I redesigned this route half a dozen times, as it was originally supposed to be a 3 day/2 night trip... and eventually turned into an overnighter. And even with all that, we had a blast, managed to find one of the most beautiful campsites, found a newfound appreciation for each other, and also bagged a high peak on two wheels.
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| We barely took any pictures the first day due to the rain, hail, cold, and shitty residents along Copco Road. So here's when we got to camp. |
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| Morning vibes in the tent. |
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| Morning sun makes Bill happy... especially almost getting hypothermia the day before. |
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| Crazy morning tortilla cheesy eggy thing makes LeeAnn happy, especially when it doesn't stick to the pan. |
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| Cat's ears with sleepy morning visitors also makes LeeAnn happy. |
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| My lawyer brain going into full swing as we figured out that the road being blocked is PUBLIC and getting all the information to make a report to the Oregon State Police. |
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| Buuut, without those assholes, we never would have made the jaunt up to this lookout with 360 views of the Cascade-Siskiyou. On bikes. Ouchie climbing legs. |
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| Bombing down. |
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| Oh look, it's the Klamath River. |
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| Also, there are ticks. Check yourselves. We think this one visited my helmet overnight and then embedded behind my ear while riding. |
A few tips for cycle tourists:
- Google Maps, RWGPS, and may other mapping tools will allow you to map through areas officially designated as federally managed Wilderness Areas. It is important to note that bicycles are not allowed in them, even though Google Maps will actually try to create routes for both cars and bikes through them on what may have been old forest roads. We discovered this the fun way when looking for an alternate route and ended up going in circles and then back the way we came.
Would love to hear if you get any traction from your inquiries with OSP. Some how I think they may not consider blocking public access a crime worth fighting. It is the state of Jefferson down there.
ReplyDeleteI'll be honest, not sure anything will come of it, but the entire area was managed under a cooperative agreement amongst a private timber company as well as state and federal agencies to allow recreational and hunting access. I wonder if the timber company and/or those who support hunting would push back... and OSP is a slightly different beast than local county sheriffs.
DeleteThanks for helping to protect our public land rights. Very interesting about the coop agreement. I'm wondering if the state or federal resource agencies would be more interesting in protecting access. Were the agencies listed on the sign? I would think Oregon Fish & Wildlife would be interested for sure.
ReplyDeleteThe map we picked up of the cooperative travel management area (which was basically a replica of the sign) had specific directions to report any violations to OSP, as OSP is the enforcing agency for Oregon Fish & Wildlife. I was invested enough to file the report, and hope for the best, but not going to do much more unless they reach back out to me.
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