Crushing Baby Heads

No. 58

Greg and I usually do an annual bike ride between our birthdays. This year’s trip was a 4-day adventure exploring the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, which borders Oregon and California.

The Dutchman Peak Lookout was built in 1927 and is the last remaining cupola-style lookout (a “cupola” is a small dome-shaped structure built on top of a building’s roof).

After Dutchman Peak, we rode south into California to Donomore Cabin; this cabin was built in 1935.

After 70+ miles of trail-riding we were on the hunt for food. While we were cruising along Scenic Route 238, a deer jumped directly into my leg… flipped and spun in the air… fell into the ditch… then got up and limped away! Luckily there was no damage to me or the bike. Unfortunately for the deer, I don’t know if he lived much longer after that.

Ok, this photo above is pretty interesting! What you’re looking at are fossilized steam pinnacles from what used to be Mount Mazama. Mount Mazama was a volcano that erupted about 7,700 years ago, and is now known as Crater Lake.

Those little “hills” in the background are what’s left of Mount Mazama — that’s the bottom of the volcano/mountain!

This island is called Wizard Island and is actually a volcanic cinder cone that rises 755 feet above the surface of Crater Lake.

Crater Lake is 1,943 feet deep, which makes it the deepest lake in the United States.

Since this month marks one year of having this blog page, I thought I’d share some thoughts on the experience.

I really like the blog platform more than I thought I was going to! It’s been fun thinking of photography with more of a journalistic approach, rather than searching for that “one perfect photo” to post. It’s also weird how hard it was in the beginning to photograph the little things I’d normally skip over. Now, every time I take a photo, I’m thinking about how it fits into the story. I’m still figuring out where I want to take my photography and storytelling, but I feel like I’m getting closer with every post.

No. 57

The ADV Goonz had been scheduling and rescheduling a trip for well over a year before the stars were finally aligned. We planned this trip as a 4-day adventure exploring the Mount Hood National Forest; I was pretty excited to show Blaine, David, and Mike “my backyard” since they’re all from outta town.

Unfortunately for us, a large forest fire started a few days before our trip. We still decided to go, despite the uncertainty surrounding trail conditions.

I apologize in advance for the long post.

DAY 1 (Thursday)

David and Mike both rode south from Seattle WA, via some dirt trails in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Blaine rode north from Sisters OR.

At the time of me writing this (August 4th), Oregon has officially broken all annual fire records. There’s currently over 2 million acres burnt this year, and there’s still two months left of our typical “fire season”.

The Grasshopper Fire is approx 48,000 acres and happens to cover some of OR-BDR Section 7 — which is what we originally intended on riding.

---

DAY 2 (Friday)

Here’s a little background story: In September of 2024, Mike and I quickly became Instagram friends. After a few short months of conversation, we decided to plan a bike trip with some of his friends — Blaine, David, and @PokeyMoto. That trip changed my outlook on what adventure riding could look like!

We planned a trip to the Olympic Peninsula called the “Grip Twister” (blog post No. 19). Grip Twister is a 550+ mile, self-guided, motorcycle tour that closely encircles the Olympic National Park in Northwest Washington.

That ride was life-changing for me because not only did I make new friends, but I’d also consider it my first real ADV Trip. After the Grip Twister, I was fully obsessed!

It was also on that same trip that after a long night of laughter and debauchery, we coined ourselves the “ADV Goonz”.

After much consideration of the fire and smoke, we decided to skip Section 7, and ride Section 6 southbound instead.

While heading south to Timothy Lake, I seen a sign that said “High Rock” (which is my favorite local ride), so without hesitation I suggested a quick side-quest.

The four of us raced down a Forest Service Road lined with beautiful Douglas-Fir trees, about 12 miles in, we rolled up to this amazing view. While everyone was taking photos in awe, I told them it gets better, as I rode up a technical dirt trail to the top.

I got to the top first, which was cool because that gave me time to see everyone’s reaction to this breathtaking spot.

We were originally planning on camping somewhere around Timothy Lake, but that changed as we talked about how cool it would be to camp at High Rock instead.

One-by-one, everyone started finding flat spots to set up their tents. I was the “last” one to choose, although unbeknownst to them, I had already made up my mind that I was going to set up my tent on the ledge!

Of course everyone’s tent location seemed pretty lame once they saw my choice — so they all happily joined me.

---

DAY 3 (Saturday)

After Olallie Lake we took the “hard alternate” option of Section 6 to Detroit Lake. This section had lots of baby head sized rocks, deep ruts, and tight switchbacks on a steep unmaintained trail.

Although I don’t have any photos of it, after that section, there were lots of large panoramic vistas that reminded me of a postcard from the Colorado backcountry.

Blaine lives less than an hour south of Detroit Lake, so he headed home from there while we started making our way back north toward Hood River.

We hopped on OR-BDR Section 7 at FSR-44 to avoid some trail closures. Unfortunately, that meant we bypassed the iconic views of Section 7 — which means they’ll have to revisit some time.

Day 3 ended at this great campground in Hood River called Tucker Park County Campground. Although I typically prefer dispersed camping, this campground was a refreshing way to end our trip. Soft grass, a fully plumbed bathroom with showers, a river, friendly camp hosts, and the smell of freshly baked s’mores.

---

DAY 4 (Sunday)

Day 4 was a short one. We woke up… packed… grabbed coffee… filled up with gas… and parted ways. Mike and David headed north, back to Seattle via WA-BDR Section 1, and I headed west back to Portland.

The red line was our track — 462 miles of mainly dirt trails.

No. 56

Alex and I met up Saturday morning for some coffee before starting our camping trip in Mount Hood National Forest.

No. 55

Blaine and I bought our tickets to The Unrally— which is in the Alvord Desert. We decided to take a few extra days and ride some of the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route (OR-BDR) to get down there.

Blaine lives in Sisters OR, which happens to be where BDR Section 4 ends… so that’s where our adventure begins.

Paulina Peak sits at 7,984 ft above sea level. From here you can see the Newberry Calderas, the twin lakes (Paulina & East), and a large expanse of hardened lava.

“The Big Obsidian Flow” is Oregon’s youngest flow, which was formed 1,300 years ago.

The “Pine Mountain Fire” burned 2,589 acres of Deschutes National Forest —and technically speaking— it was still considered “active” while we rode through it (unbeknownst to us at that time).

At this point, I’ve been on this adventure for about 14 hours (realistically, with about 10 hours of actual riding-time).

This hill sucked to navigate! The fire really destroyed this mountain. It had loose dirt, little rocks, baby heads, roots, large ruts, dead trees, very steep, and a cliff on one side.

Blain pulled over to take a photo, and in order to not lose momentum, I kept riding up the hill. When I got to a safe spot to stop I waited for Blaine… but I never heard his bike coming. A few minutes later, he called and said his bike wouldn’t start!

I was about a mile up the hill when Blaine found his Main 30 Amp Fuse completely blown.

After a lengthy conversation, we decided to both stay put and get some rest.

I was sleeping next to my bike when I was woken up (about 10:30pm) by the rumbles of a truck coming down the hill. Luckily, these two guys were looking for a camping spot when they passed by me. I told them about Blaine, and they said they’ll try to help him. I went back to sleep and about an hour later, I was woken up again — but this time by the sounds of Blaine’s motorcycle.

Since I already had my “camp” setup, I decided to just go back to sleep. Blaine continued up the hill in search of Pine Mountain Campground.

No. 54

About an hour after Blaine waking me up, the truck with those two guys woke me up again — they were also heading to the same campground as Blaine.

They were able to wire up his bike and bypass the fuse to get it started. Their game plan was to ride/drive down the hill and buy some supplies at the auto parts store after some much needed breakfast.

I slept like shit and woke up with the sun. I packed my bike and rode up the hill to that campground first thing in the morning.

The two guys with the grey shirts are the ones that rescued Blaine. Hunter is a diesel mechanic, and Jack is an aviation mechanic for the USAF.

No. 53

Crack-in-the-Ground is a 2-mile volcanic fissure located in Christmas Valley, OR. It was formed by tectonic activity and lava flow. The rift (“crack”) is up to 70’ deep, and the climate is typically 20° cooler — which is refreshing when it’s already 90° out.

I was pretty cold and tired. This bar was “closed” although there were still people inside hanging out and drinking. I walked in the bar hoping to buy a rain jacket to stay warm and dry but they didn’t sell any merch. Instead, the bartender gave me his personal hunting sweater.

A double-shot of Makers Mark later, and I was back on the bike, and down the road.

No. 52

The Unrally is an ADV counterculture event held in the magical Alvord Desert. This is their 11 year anniversary — and my 2nd time attending.

The Unrally is a combination of self-guided scenic rides, rugged landscape, art installations, and self-expression, while building a community which revolves around motorcycles and grand adventure.

Alvord Desert is dry lake bed located in Southeast Oregon. It’s approximately 12 by 7 miles, and sits at the foot of Steens Mountain.

No. 51

Blaine and I had different plans for the day, so we parted ways in the morning. I hopped on the pavement asap and headed home, while Blaine rode some more dirt trails on his way back North.

No. 50

I’ve met Davin a few times at local bike events, although this was our first time riding together. It’s hard to stop for photos when you’re having a great time haulin’ ass on a trail.

We decided to meet up at a gas station in Estacada before hitting my favorite trail. This trail has water crossings, sandy mud, loose rocks, hard-pack, a large road wash-out, deep ruts, a fun gravel pit, and lots of amazing views!

No. 49

My buddy Jacob met me after work and we went on a little mid-week adventure.

We met up in Beaverton, OR and rode 35 miles West before we started trail-riding. The first portion of this trail was fast paced Forest Service Roads where I was one-handedly taking photos with my iPhone while riding.

The second portion of this trail was full of deep ruts, loose rocks, slippery mud, and lots of steep areas. At the end of this “technical” part is an abandoned trail tunnel.

“Tunnel 27” is an abandoned train tunnel located on the Tillamook Bay Railroad.

Large portions of this railroad were destroyed by a winter storm in 2007, and never fixed due to the high cost of repairs.