Bikepacking Overnights: Billy's Playground Modified

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.

Bikepacking Overnight: Sisters to Smith Rock

One of my bikepacking besties has a goal to ride every single Oregon Scenic Bikeway and so I designed a mixed gravel route that incorporate the Sister to Smith Rock scenic bikeway for her birthday! This was party pace bike riding in its finest, complete with a coffee/beer stop at Redpoint Climbing in Terrebonne and easy resupply just miles before camp so you don't have to carry much food if you don't want to.  

Sunset was magical, the company was the best, and sometimes the adventures closest to home are the ones we need most.

Dirt roads heading out of Sisters.

Sometimes short people need a help from their taller friends!

Survived and getting ready to climb out from the creek.

Rolling into Smith Rock state park.

We stretched our legs and walked the rim at Smith Rock.

Bivouac camping area! It was cold!!!

Alpaca joy!

The paved road home.

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• If you do this route in the Spring, make sure to check the Wychus Creek water gauge to get an idea of what that water crossing looks like and if it is feasible. Under 160 CFS is about 18" deep with a moderate flow and is pretty safe for most folks (I am 5'2" so it was easy for my friend and harder for me as it was up to my knees). Over 200 CFS, would not recommend! 
• Camping is ample in the Smith Rock bivouac ad I'm told they will not turn away bike tourists. 
• Ani scored some mini creamers from the gas station!

Bikepacking Overnight: Klickatat Maryhill Loops (Not Recommended)

While I have gotten pretty good at route planning, sometimes, I get the intel wrong for all my best intentions and research. I am posting this SOLELY because I did not find much on the private property closure on the top of Maryhill Loops and I had seen other trip reports where people minimized the risks of trespassing.

Ani and I were craving Spring Columbia River Gorge wildflowers and the Klickitat trail was also on our bucket list. So off we went. We braved 25+ mph headwinds, 14% grades, and navigated some challenging conditions.

This is a route that I would NOT recommend as designed for several reasons. Trespassing at the top of Maryhill loops have clearly become an issue. The residents have put up a lot of signage and we did not feel comfortable with others who decided to just jump the gate. 

If I had to do this again, I would camp at the Maryhill State Park and do the Maryhill loops as a day ride and not incorporate it into a bikepacking trip. I'd also be curious to re-route this counter-clockwise and find a different way to do the loop!

Some gnarly doubletrack straight up a hill.

Gorgeous views!

Peak flower season on the Gorge!

We got to push this button on the road to go through the tunnel... its a take the lane situation sharing with cars.

Klickitat trail joy!

Our sweet dispersed campsite right on the water. Our neighbor? A goat. Like the guy brought his goat out camping.

Maryhill loops!

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• The Canyon Market in Klickitat is a gem and the staff were super nice!
• From what we could tell by other cyclists we saw, people tended to ride the Klickitat trail the opposite way we did.
• While the wildflowers in the Gorge in April are magical, holy crap the wind is not to be f*cked with!
  
• We camped out Friday night at the Deschutes Recreation Site (one of our favorites), and then did the mad dash on the highway over the river. It also has free parking vs paid parking at Maryhill State Park.
• If you do want to bike Maryhill loops, check out their website to make sure it isn't closed for a special event (e.g. they do a longboarding event there!) - https://www.maryhillmuseum.org/outside/historic-maryhill-loops-road. 

Bikepacking Overnight: White River - Wamic Loop

2024 shaped up to be a pretty dismal year for bikepacking. While we were able to get the whole crew together for a big camping weekend with mountain bikes, we got rained out of two bike tours. As we neared the end of bikepacking season, wildfire smoke settled into Central Oregon unseasonably late, and then much needed rain threatened the last trip we had on the calendar. But in the end, the OG crew of Ani and myself made it happen and had a blissful -- if hard -- two days out relishing the fall colors.

We rode the Dirty Freehub "White River Loop - Wamic extension" as mapped and camped at the Bonney Crossing Campground, which boasts this lovely one-star Google review:

Neither of us had ridden much this year, so it felt a little extra hard... but just note that riding it this way puts the vast majority of the climbing in the first day!

From wide farmland views, clear looks at Mt. Hood (Wy'east), golden oaks, larches, and the best of all the fall colors, we ended this bikepacking season with a commitment to get bigger badder bike rides for 2025!

Farmland art.

Me on a bike!

Windy dirty roads.

Dropping the descent into the Wamic River... not as fun as we wanted cuz it was pretty washboarded and loose.

Just another gorgeous river crossing.

But the fall colors and party hat can't be beat.

Mt. Hood (Wy'east) with a dapper cloud hat and sweet lenticular clouds.

Wamic coffee stop to get us up the last climb.

Bonney Crossing Campground is a gem of a primitive campground... no one but us and another bikepacking duo that came in after dark.

We relished the last of the golden rays of sun in fall colors on the trail across the road.

Morning moon and pink skies.

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• We hit this at just the right time after bow hunting season had ended but before the regular hunting season at peak fall color!
• While not marked on the Dirty Freehub map, there is a great dispersed campsite next to the Wamic River if you don't mind starting the day with a steep climb. And, I'd be a little weary of the water due to the agricultural runoff on each side of that canyon, which is why we happily opted for the Bonney Crossing Campground, which gets its water from the nearby wilderness area.
• There are some great food options in Wamic (a bar that serves food and a cafe with coffee, ice cream, breakfast, and wraps) and Tygh Valley (Molly B's diner). 

Bikepacking Overnight: Pine Mountain Observatory

Memorial Day weekend is a notorious shitshow of people -- a lot like me -- trying to get out into the woods to commune with nature in tents, RVs, and everything in between. Somehow, miraculously, we managed to find a route that we could ride straight from my front door, with zero mosquitos and almost no people (an empty campground on Memorial Day!? yep... but we saw a few folks walking around and one paraglider).

We modified a route from Bikepacking.com, which did not take into account some very aggressive private property owners who don't like to share with others (aka there is a pretty sweet network of dirt canal trails in and near Bend... some property owners have given our parks and recreation department an easement so others can enjoy them, and some are jerks and zealously stand guard over the trail). There are two sections, one near the Nottingham neighborhood and another near Stevens and 27th that I would stay clear of, lest you do what we did, and get in "trouble" with a gentleman who apparently has nothing else to do on a Sunday morning than harass people on bikes. The route below is modified (a) to start near my house, (b) to avoid those canal trail sections, and (c) to stop over at a brewery and food carts at the end.

This route has a fun Type II mix of pavement, gravel, singletrack, sandy doubletrack, and everything in between! Since there in no water at the campground, we went real heavy and packed in all our water -- but be careful -- this route is pretty exposed, so it was also hotter than expected and some people forgot to take into account water needed at camp after the riding was done, so they didn't pack enough water. Luckily, I am a water camel and had also schlepped up enough to share and we made it back with just enough.

Well, we may have gotten turned around by a meanie meanie bo beanie, but look at those views!

The only shade for miles = best snack spot before the big climb.

Chris investigates what Elisa calls the murder shack.

Sandy doubletrack.

Even a well graded gravel climb can get steep... Elisa has a rule if she ends up pedaling slower than 3 mph, she is allowed to walk. This time she found some help with her bike!

Just a couple dorks having happy hour in a hammock at camp!

Walking up to the observatory to watch the sunset.

Sunset joy... after we drank all the whiskey, wine, and beer!

The way down was real fun... sandy, rocky, but still rideable!

A magical lemonade stand at just the right time on the way back into town. Essential after Chris and Elisa ran out of water!

A few tips for bike tourists:

• The Pine Mountain Observatory is only open a few weekends from the summer into early fall. It is open late into the night, which means for those few weekends, I imagine the campground is a lot more full.
• The Pine Mountain Campground is a free BLM campground, and boasts a single pit toilet and no running water. It is otherwise a lovely campsite with big sites, lots o' trees, picnic tables, and is walking distance from the observatory and the 360 views from the summit.
• You'll need to pack all your water in -- Patrick and I carried a combined 12 liters. Elisa and Chris carried a combined 9 liters, which was not enough -- they woke up to just 1/2 a liter for the ride home. Patrick and I were able to give them 2 liters so we were fine, but the moral of the story, take more than you think you'll need!
• The sweet spot for this ride is pretty dang short. You have to go early enough that the sandy bits aren't too sandy, and late enough that the snow has melted out. Typically, this is late April to early May. This year, with a late spring, we did the ride just about as late as I would want to, with some of the lower sections being pretty sandy. The singletrack at Horse Ridge wasn't as sandy as I expected and Horse Butte was pretty magical. 
• I highly recommend riding this loop clockwise like we did... it makes for a wonderfully graded climb on a good gravel road at the end of a long day, and the road down is loose, sandy, and rocky enough I would have had to walk a decent amount. It was way more fun slippin' and sliding down!
• There is a section of singletrack that has a fence between Horse Butte and Horse Ridge that is an informal unsanctioned trail, but it has been used for years by local Bend riders. Folks will have to lift bikes over the fence, but we've never had enforcement issues there.
• Chubby tires recommended... we had everything from 700 x 43 to 650b x 50.

Bikepacking Overnight: Klamath Cascade-Siskiyou Loop

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.

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.

Morning vibes in the tent.

Morning sun makes Bill happy... especially almost getting hypothermia the day before.

Crazy morning tortilla cheesy eggy thing makes LeeAnn happy, especially when it doesn't stick to the pan.

Cat's ears with sleepy morning visitors also makes LeeAnn happy.

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.

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.

Bombing down.

Oh look, it's the Klamath River.

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.