It's been a hard year and I am determined to get out bikepacking more and stay connected to my friends. When our country feels like it is falling apart and having a job that is meaningful but heavy, sometimes the activation energy seems almost like too much. That's when I am grateful for having some backup routes that I can pull out. This one was based off a Dirty Freehub route called Billy's Playground. I like to take some of their bigger gnarly rides and turn them into overnighters... and this one was fantastic. I would highly recommend this one to anyone!
The dirt was fast, the climbing was mostly reasonable for an earlier season ride, the company impeccable, and we scored a gorgeous walk in tent site.
 |
| Fast rolling dirt out of Sisters. |
 |
| Lake Billy Chinook Village Store and its GIANT chair! |
 |
| Views of Lake Billy Chinook before a big descent. We were sad cuz we had to pedal downhill into a headwind. It is worth doing the short hike out at this pullout to see the rock umbrellas. |
 |
| Our sweet campsite with water views! |
 |
| Patrick is the only one who braved the cold water... the clouds made it cool down real quick. |
 |
| Group photo on day two before leaving camp. |
 |
| The gnarly climb out! |
 |
| And more climbing up to Green Ridge. So much climbing. |
A few tips for cycle tourists:
- We parked at the Sisters City Park which has free parking and allows overnight parking. We like their bathrooms for changing and proximity to delicious food post ride.
- Early season (aka early June), Perry South campground was really lovely and has nice bathrooms, potable water, and wood for sale. We were lucky as fire bans were not in effect for this campground, and since the campground was only about half full, it was also pretty peaceful. I had researched in advance and saw there were still plenty of sites left a few days out, so wasn't concerned. We had the Monty Campground as a back up, but that would have required one more climb that day. We were told that once it got hot (aka by July), reservations would be absolutely needed.
- The Lake Billy Chinook store is pretty limited in what it has. I was glad to have brought everything I needed, but they do have a strong drink/beverage game, and so I was happy to buy a cold single serving margarita there.
