Aim for the Open. An adventure across North America.

[ridefruita]

Aim for the open!

Last summer I took off on a trip of a life time. Not the last, not the first. I blogged about it while on the road, but I got so much inspiration from the Expedition Portal Community I thought I would share the adventure here. My blog is aimfortheopen.blogspot.com



Summer 2013: I was at a point in my life it was time for a change. I was bored in my job, and ready for a new professional challenge. If I was going to change jobs, I was going to take a break in between. What better time? I was 34, single, no kids, and had very little dept.

Winter 2014: I moved out of my condo, moved in to my Mom's house, and started to save money, preparing to hit the road. Moving out was the toughest part of the entire adventure. I lived in an amazing condo with ocean views, riding and surfing right near by. It was also the emotional starting point of the adventure. A commitment to making a change, the begging of some thing wonderful.

May 15th 2014: I gave notice at my job, and hit the road June 1st. The plan was to explore North America, specifically Canada, the ultimate destination St. Johns Newfoundland.

I love to mountain bike and had recently picked up Fly Fishing. I wanted to be comfortable on the trip, but keep costs low so I chose to base my travels out of my 2003 Chevrolet Silverado. I have owned it since new and have taken the best care possible of it. It had 185'000 miles on it when I left, and when I finished the journey it turned over to 200'000. I purchased a used shell, off craigslist for $125 that suprisingly matched my truck! I then built out a sleeping and storage platform, keeping the bikes on a hitch rack.

My truck on the day of departure.



A glimpse of the interior.

 

[ridefruita]

Aim for the Open, Week one. Southern California to Hood River

The adventure began June 1st, with a family trip to Johnsondale, CA for some relaxing and fly fishing. I quickly learned that I had some things along that I didnt need and sent them home with family.

This picture is from 9 Mile Canyon Rd, dropping in to Highway 395, just north of Ridgecrest.



The first campsite of the trip Goodale Creek Campground. One of the nicest BLM campgrounds I've ever been to.



After camping for the night I stopped in Bishop for a few supplies and things that I had neglected to get, like a plate and utensils! Then I was off to mountain bike the Rock Creek Trail. Good times!



On the way to Mammoth after riding. I had lunch in Mammoth and reviewed my options. Lake Tahoe here I come!



Good Morning Lake Tahoe!



I goggled Mountain Biking and Lake Tahoe, and landed on the Coral Trails. TAMBA has a great web site. http://www.tamba.org/trails/



The riding at the Corral Trails was truly amazing, Bike Park Quality trails.



From Tahoe it was off to Crater Lake National Park!

 

[ridefruita]

Socal to Hood River Cont...

From Crater Lake it was off to Bend for some great Mountain Biking and Beer and then off to Hood River for a week of Socalizing with friends, Riding, and Spectating the Hood River Enduro.

The Map of Phils Trails in Bend. I was having too much fun riding to take any pictures. Guess I will have to go back.



The View of Mt. Hood as I dropped in to Hood River.



Arriving in Hood River, my friends bike shop Dirty Fingers. Monte, the shop dog greeted me with his normal ambivalence.



That was the end of week one. More to come soon.

 

[Kiriesh]

Looks great and a path I'm definitely interested in. Can't wait to read more!

 

[dar395]

Looking at the bike's you must have taken the Ms, I love the low budget, get on the road, have fun trips! Hats off to ya we'll watch for more!

 

[ridefruita]

After taking a week to get to Hood River, I spent the next week riding, socializing, and exploring the Hood River area.

I arrived on Enduro Weekend. The Oregon Enduro Series is a set of races mountain bike races all over Oregon, and my friends a Dirty Fingers were hosting the Hood River Enduro the week I was there.

First ride, Post and Pint, Oregon Enduro Style. We shuttled Post Canyon, so that the racers could preride the weekends race courses.



The next day I took a solo spin for some classic Hood River Single Track







And then it was time for the Enduro Race! We donned costumes, packed up a keg, and hit the trail to cheer on the racing!





Heres a video of the weekends race action.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/oregon-enduro-series-hood-river-video-2014.html

After that it was time for a big back country ride in Washington.





Next stop Canada! Whistler!

 

[ridefruita]

Canada! This was my first time crossing an international border in my truck. It was nerve wracking for about 30 seconds. I crossed the border at midnight, right outside Bellingham, WA. No lines, super simple, and I was in Canada.



My phone stopped working at the border, and I use it for maps. Oops!

I stopped and bought a map of BC and was good to go. I drove through Vancouver that night and I am glad I did as I got lost a few times, and it would have been stressful with lots of traffic around.

I slept for the night in a parking lot for climbers outside of Squamish. I woke up the this view:



The next 4 days I rode the bike park in Whistler! Amazing! If you mountain bike, you've got to ride there.



One of the days I took a little time out to ride the Peak to Peak Gondola. It was amazing.





From Whistler I drove across BC, on my way to go fishing in Montana.

 

[4xchinook4]

Way cool thread bro. I hope to follow your footsteps soon but come on no hits in the big CO? what!?! C'mon... !)

 

[4xchinook4]

Soon to come though I imagine from your first picture of your map