Oregon, Ochoco NF: June 14-17, 2012

[Bill Beers]

Day 1, June 14, 2012.

Route.

Last spring, my cousin Brian called me and asked if I had a weekend free in June over which we could do a camping trip in central Oregon. I had forgotten that it was five years since our last camping trip to the Ochoco National Forest. We picked a weekend, and I started planning a route. Since our last trip, the Ochoco NF has implemented the use of a MVUM, (motor vehicle use map.) In a nutshell, it means that if the road isn't on the map, you may not drive on it. I called the Bend NF office, (541-383-5300,) and they mailed me the Deschutes and Ochoco MVUMs. They ended up not affecting my propose route too much.

We added three more to our crew, so when we set off after work on Thursday, two of us in a F150, and the remaining three, (plus my dad's dog, who I was dog-sitting,) in my Landcruiser. It was seven o'clock when we finally got out of Portland, which made it pretty darn dark when we got our overnight spot above the Prineville reservoir. This is all private property, so make sure you get the landowner's permission to camp if you decide to stay up there.


Brian and I "quickly" set up the tent trailer, while Rod, Pat and Dave set up their tent/cots.

We hit the rack so we could get an early start the next morning.

 

[Bill Beers]

Day 2, June 15, 2012

Route.

We woke up early-ish to the sun shining on the Three Sisters off to the west a bit.

We hiked south east over the crest until we could get a good look at the Prineville Reservoir.

Brian, Dave and Rod, heading back up to camp.

More sun now on the Sisters.

Breaking out the breakfast-making gear.

To include the humungous frying pan, (which is really handy when making huevos rancheros w/chorhizo for five!)

We packed our gear up, and headed back to Prineville to gas up before heading into the forest.

We had beautiful weather the whole weekend, high 60's to low 70's, and no rain. It could get a little dusty at times for the second vehicle in our little convoy.

We took a very circuitous route through the NW corner of the Ochoco NF, stopping at some point to make sandwiches and check my Garmin.

Eventually, we crossed US-26 heading east, and stopped at Steins Pillar, a 350' basalt fist punching up from side of the valley.

We continued east on FS-2630, which follows along the southern border of the Bridge Creek Wilderness. I don't know when this burned last, but man did it look recent! These pictures are from FS-2630, (one of the bright red dotted line roads in the Benchmark Oregon Atlas that generally denotes a pretty primitive road,) as it climbs up the north side of Mt. Pisgah.

We took the turn-off, and climbed up to the top of Mt. Pisgah, where we were able to get out and stretch our legs. I even had cell coverage there, and was able to check in with the Mrs.

The lookout tower was locked, but could be climbed up to the last landing.

Big Summit Prairie to the south.

Still some snow on top, at 6816' of elevation.

Suzie surveying her new surroundings.

We drove back down FS2630, and checked to see if there was room at Scott's Camp, (there wasn't,) and so continued on just a mile or two before finding a nice, well-used, dispersed camping site for the night.

It was nice getting off the road in the daylight. Plenty of time to set up camp and relax. Pat made us killer steaks, and we stayed up around the fire.

Next: Spanish Peak!

 

[Bill Beers]

Day 3, June 16, 2012

Route.

After breaking camp, we continued east on FS-26 and encountered our fist mud of the trip. We got out and walked the stretch, poking at it and picking out a route that we though wouldn't get us stuck.

The actual driving through of the puddles wasn't as bad as we thought it might be.


Just past the muddy section, we passed the Broadway Lava Fields.

Pat was able to get a picture we saw of some elk with their antlers in velvet.

Eventually, we ended up on FS-38, headed for FS-200, (Spanish Peak road.) I think we were the first to head up to Spanish Peak this year, (at least on four wheels, the advrider.com guys could have ridden around this log easily.)

We kept climbing up until eventually we had to stop.

We could see the top, but decided not to attempt to claw over the drift.

Nothing left to do but back down.

I decided that backing down w/trailer would be a major league PITA, so as Rod and Dave backed down in the Ford to go make lunch, Brian, Pat and I disconnected the trailer and turned it around.

When we got down to a spot I knew well, Dave had hot dogs ready to go.

We ate, and I let the dog run around a bit. Please note how the trailer is not broken at this point. This will change about a mile down the road.

After packing up the grill, we headed back down to the main FS roads, looking for a place to camp for the night. A mile or so away from our lunch spot, I heard what sounded like dragging coming from behind the truck. As it turns out, I was right, we were dragging something. I can just hear Dave saying "Well there's your problem!"

We were able to splint it back into place w/ratchet straps and carry on. Man I love those things! I wrote a little more on the tongue breaking, field fix, and permanent repair here.

While Rod and I worked on repairing the trailer, the rest of the guys saw about re-packing the back of the Ford to help spread out the load of the stuff that was previously on the trailer. Brian also broke out the map to find us A, the quickest route back to pavement, and B, a campground on the way.

Pat found this memorial marker on a rock while we were messing with the trailer. I haven't been able to find any info on the web about James L. Sexton, 1935-1996.

With the trailer fixed, we headed for Cottonwood Campground. Since I'd cleverly used the wing support bracket for the tent trailer to splint the tongue, Brian and I had to spend the night sleeping on the ground.

Next: Headed Home.

 

[Bill Beers]

Day 4, June 17, 2012

Route.

The next morning, we packed up a final time and headed north on FS-12, which eventually turned from gravel to tarmac, and brought us to US-26. I climbed under the trailer to check our handiwork, and everything was still as tight as a tick. We turned west and headed toward Mitchell.

I can't remember the last time I drove by the Painted Hills and didn't stop, and this trip was no exception.

We took US-26 back over Mt. Hood and got back to town with an afternoon to enjoy Father's day.

Brian calls the Ochoco NF "Oregon's best kept secret," and I'm inclined to agree with him: I've been planning the 2013 trip since we got back!

 

[compactcamping]

Thanks for posting, been thinking about heading over to Ochoco in the Spring. Looks like there is a number of old mines worth visiting, http://www.brian894x4.com/OchocoMinesTripOne.html

Bummer on the tongue, did it just bend or also break mounts points off?

 

[Bill Beers]

...
Bummer on the tongue, did it just bend or also break mounts points off?

Just bent the tongue. Mounting points were fine. Thanks for the link. I'm going to read some of those tonight!

 

[compactcamping]

Interesting on the tongue, hopefully Lifetime settled up quickly when you sent them the bill for replacing the tongue.

 

[Airmonger]

Thanks for sharing. Looks like and awesome area.

 

[teddyearp]

Wow, nice report! Harkens back to a trip I took in the area in 2011:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...gon-road-trip-backcountry-adventure-June-2011

Now I might have to visit again this year!

 

[Xterabl]

QUOTE: "In a nutshell, it means that if the road isn't on the map, you may not drive on it."

Hopefully you obeyed your overlords. it's for your own good, afterall.

Also, very nice pics!

 

[F350]

Nice trip and photo's. The Ochoco's is a great place to spend some time. I was up at Wildcat near the Steins Pillar this summer also. I picked up a few maps in Prineville and was dissapointed in where I could and couldn't go in my rig and quad.