We made it across the Cascade divide, although much of the Santiam Wagon Road was not open to vehicle traffic, so we had to re-route, but the tracks were all pretty good. The first photo is of Three Sisters. Sorry but most of the photos have a dust haze/patina, once we rolled off the pavement, it was three hundred plus miles of dusty gravel, dirt, double-track, single-track, and trail blazing. Friday, we rode north out of Sisters towards Lake Billy Chinook and Balancing Rocks. We crossed an old burn with some great views. The Suzuki DR 650 SE was a great bike for this style of mostly forest roads, two-track, and some old overgrown road trail breaking. The mighty Yamaha TW 200 was near perfect except for the highway passes, which put the little bike at its limit. Still, it kept up with traffic. We rode home on Hwys 20 and 22 since we wrapped up after 3:30 pm and after we got some lunch, we were faced with about 6+ hours of dirt riding to get back over the Cascade Crest. We had been putting in about 7-8 hours per day of solid riding, and we had about 6 hours under our belts on Friday when faced with another 6-hour touch ride, so we decided to opt-out and rode the tarmacadam back home. A bit later on the Friday ride, we encountered miles of baby head rocks, not smooth but mostly geometric rocks made from the lava or basalt in the roadbed. Sorry, I did not take photos of that road; it was technical and hard work. We made it up to Balancing Rocks with Mt. Hood overseeing our trip. The rocks are interesting, and Lake Billy Chinook looks inviting in the background. We were tired from the trail, and it was a good chance to take a break and a stroll. The Balancing Rocks are small boulders sitting on top of softer material. The rock hats protect the softer material from erosion and create tall columns that the rock hats balance upon. Many of the non-volcanic Buttes in the area are made the same way. After Balancing Rocks, we rode down towards Black Butte. The main Forest Development Road was gravel, which was dusty and dull. We tried to take a few of the smaller forest roads, but they were either too overgrown to see the old road or had serious washouts. We eventually found a few routes and eventually found our way to Green Ridge Forest Lookout. The photos are from near the gate, which is about ¼ mile from the lookout/repeater station. The photos below are from Green Mountain Forest Lookout, one of the most beautiful spots in the Cascade range. Mount Hood, Mt. Jefferson in the distance, Mt. Jefferson up close, Three Fingered Jack, Mount Washington, Three sisters in the distance, and Three Sisters up close. Again sorry for the lense dust, but...
The ride home was long, although longer since we were so tired from packing 8+ hours of riding per day. That is a lot of dirt riding, and neither of us was in top shape for the long rides. But we had a great time. I am not sore, and I wasn't after the first day, just tired of all of the work. I cleaned up the bike, washed the dirty laundry, ate some dinner, and sat in my favorite chair, exhausted, but content. I can't implore you enough, get out in the wild, you will be rewarded for the time you take. I've always taken time for my kids by doing things they like doing. Son has adopted moto riding as a serious hobby. He has created a motorcycle club of fellow riders down at school. He loves everything about riding. I, too, like the sport, which makes it the perfect way for me to do something we both like and create a bond that would not otherwise exist. Get out and get some!
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