Oregon Outback-Day 1/2 A Long Drive and a Short Ride

I was over to Enterprise to pick up the car at about 7:45. My goal was to get on the road by 8:30. It took me awhile to get Billy into the Dodge Journey. I finally just took his front wheel off. Everything was loaded, and I pulled out of my driveway at 8:35. So, I was close!

The drive to Klamath Falls took longer than I expected. There were intermittent periods of construction along the majority of Hwy 58. I don’t know which was better, being at the front of the line waiting for the flagger, or coming up not too long before the line started moving. At the front, once I was through, I could get back up to speed quickly. At the back, I would inevitably get stuck behind a truck. 

Considering the distance, and the construction slow downs, I guess I made pretty good time. I arrived at Enterprise in K-Falls just a bit after 4:00. So 7 1/2 hours. I only stopped twice at rest stops, and in Eugene at Costco to get gas. Have you ever noticed when you rent a car, the tank is never full? It’s always about 3/4. I think this is how Enterprise (and probably others too) cheats you. You have to return the car with at least what it started with, otherwise they charge you an exorbitant amount to fuel it up to 3/4. Today, filling up in Eugene, I managed to make it to K-Falls with 3/4 of a tank left! No gratuitous fuel cost for me!

I hauled everything out of the car. I need to remind myself that the easiest way to put Billy’s front wheel back on is to flip him over. Could have saved myself some time…

Billy ready to go. The white car was my rental. 

I rolled out at 4:35. All I had to do to get to the route was cross one busy road, ride one block, turn left, ride one block, turn right, and there was the OC&E Trail!

This was a little singletrack connector to…

The paved path. 

A trestle over a canal. Don’t know what or where the other trail went. 

The OC&E was paved for the first handful of miles. While it was nice, there were cracks every so often, so it made it kind of annoying…bump bump. It went behind neighborhoods for awhile, slowly working its way out of town. 

Getting out into the countryside now. 

I came to a road crossing (actually, there were several) where the pavement ended. 

It widened out just a few yards along. 

The surface was mostly good. It was a little bit sandy in places, and there were often ruts. I can see where if it was wet, it would probably be a no go. 

This was a pretty good spot. 

I had decided I would try to ride close to 20 miles, or until close to 7:00, then find a spot to camp. I had brought plenty of water with me, so I could dry camp. I found a little side clearing at about 18ish miles and 6:45. I decided to call it good for the day. I can hear kids playing at their house, but I can’t see them (and they can’t see me). Should be a peaceful night. 

The view from my campsite. 

All set up for the night. 

Tomorrow, I’ll aim to get to the first POI campsite on the route. It’s supposed to be nice. Should be about 45 miles or so. 

Oh, and I saw one snake, but it wasn’t a rattlesnake. Saw lots of gophers and ferret-looking critters, as well as one giant something (it moved too fast for me to get a good look at it).