Oregon Trail Tour

"We're just as naïve as the pioneers," I said to (my brother) Nick. "Nobody really knows what it takes to drive a team a thousand miles anymore. We've got to reinvent that ourselves. This is our trip, our responsibility. We're just going to have to fix our problems ourselves as we go along". This became our creed, almost a religious faith. Rinker Buck, "The Oregon Trail"

Rinker and his brother performed the audacious feat of taking a mule-powered covered wagon two thousand miles along the Oregon Trail in 2010, the first people to do such a thing in over 100 years. Buck's book is phenomenal, and I was thinking of him tonight as I sit in the Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City, OR - the same hotel the Bucks stayed in when they completed their trip.

Like the Bucks, my life on the road is one of improvisation. I've been struggling with my new saddle. It keeps wiggling into the wrong position, becoming quite uncomfortable over the course of the day. I tried taping it in place today - didn't work. But my second attempt, to just crank it down REALLY TIGHT, beyond the recommended level - well, it worked this afternoon. Hopefully I don't hit a bump and crack a seat rail tomorrow. I heard an odd squeak from the rear wheel - the rack mount had misaligned and was rubbing on the wheel, would have ultimately blown the tire. My motto on this trip is the Bucks: we just have to fix problems as we go along. Echoing Parkman "utter contempt for what the future might bring forth!" #OregonTrail!

My first night's stop in Vale, OR was my entry point into The Oregon Desert. We think of Oregon being green, full of pine trees (like the one on their license plates). But much of eastern and central Oregon is desert, filled with alkali flats. In the early 1900's, the Federal government incented homesteading of this area, but the harsh reality was that even with free land, you couldn't grow enough crops to make a living. Today this land sits empty aside from a few scattered ranches with access to water.

Vale (pop. 2,000) leans hard into its Oregon Trail history. Downtown is filled with murals, depicting both pioneer stories and its more recent cowboy and ranching heritage. I've put a shot below showing pioneers enjoying Vale's hot springs - an unexpected respite from the typical dreariness of Trail life. I must confess, Vale feels like a town scratching out a hardscrabble existence from ranching at the edge of civilization.

I spent the first fifteen miles today riding east back through Treasure Valley because the original trail north from Vale is nothing but tumbleweeds and rough, dirt roads not fit for a touring bike. Despite that, today felt like an authentic Oregon Trail experience, filled with unique challenges. Once I turned northwest, I picked up the line of the original Trail, now paved over to become I-84. Given the lack of people and industry in the Oregon Desert, for much of trip to Baker City, my stop for the day, I-84 is the only path - so I would get my first experience riding on an interstate highway (yes, it is legal in Eastern Oregon). It was also my first chance to see if I could get a loaded bike up a serious climb - once I left the Snake River, I'd spend the next 30 miles (much of it on the interstate) gaining 1700' of elevation, climbing into a 15-20mph headwind. #OregonTrail!

The first half of the trip went by quickly. Riding the interstate provided many vistas, I took advantage to shoot some photos. I crossed into a new time zone, the first time I have ever done that on a bike. I enjoyed the pioneer stop of Farewell Bend, so called because it marked the point where the pioneers turned west, away from the Snake River Valley that they had followed for several weeks.

Leaving Farewell Bend, I felt well ahead of schedule. Then - the climbing up through the Burnt River Canyon (so named because native tribes burned the vegetation for fire management). Halfway up, a highway rest stop told me my experience was not unique. I've put the tableau in the photos, but what took me five hours took the pioneers six grueling days. Their quotes: "The most difficult road we have yet encountered". And "Oh, when will I view once more a verdant landscape". Welcome to the Oregon Desert! At least I had my paved shoulder of I-84 to myself.

I finished the climb several hours behind schedule, but was in a good mood on the ten downhill miles into Baker City, enjoyed a massive meal, and considered it a successful day. The only downside of the day was a lack of opportunities to meet people. Huntington (pop. 500), my lunch stop, was the only town I went through the entire day, and the cashier at the general store wasn't in a mood to talk. There's always tomorrow :)