Black Butte

Short version:
Last ride at Bend - for now! - and Black Butte action

Long version:
We'd seen our first mountain before bed on that day of the beards, but it was gone again by morning. The trails weren't, though, so we broke camp and drove 400m to the main Phil's Trailhead, and set off for one last blast in the forest at Bend before moving on.

What a ride!

Rode up the original Phil's trail, which was a near-perfect up trail (and proved almost as fun on the way back down) then a forest road to the top of Whoops, which we'd heard about from our McKenzie River shuttling Canadians. Turns out their high praise and repeat runs were not unjustified, and we also rode back up the road for another crack at it once we were done on the first run. Such a sober description really doesn't do justice to the sheer fun of the trail - it was great! Big berms on really really fast sections, tabletop jumps, and more flow than I can adequately describe. At the top was a combination seat/structure, which was slightly too scary to ride, and full of locals reclining when we first saw it, but which proved comfy when we perched on it for a photo before heading down the second time... which was even better than the first run, as we knew a bit more about what was coming, so rode just that little bit faster. After the second Whoops we powered straight into Ben's Trail, which was flatter and faster and almost as good. Then VooDoo into Grand Slam, which gave us some technical rock-riding, and then back down Phil's to the trailhead.

The friendly locals - who seemed to have a penchant for hardtails and 29ers - were the first we've met who've offered opinions on US foreign policy as part of their idle chit-chat, and recommended a local micro-brewery, which we hit before leaving town. They gave us small samples of 8 different beers, which got Janeine slightly pissed, which meant she bought heaps of stuff. Nice sales technique! I'm not complaining though - I ended up with a fancy new "Black Butte Porter" cycling shirt to ride in.

We headed northwest through Sisters and camped in the woods at the foot of Black Butte itself, next to a massive orange-trunked pine. I believe the Amerikans call these "white" pines. The forest was very cool, and even more so in the morning with sun on it, once it had risen over Black Butte. Pancake breakfast and some trip planning then we set off up Black Butte to see what we could see.

What we could see, as it turned out, was lizards and mountains and burned trees and glacial valleys and historical structures and friendly locals (Hi Ron Ross! Hi William Bartholemew Coleman Horsell Jr VII!). The sun was out, and it was warm except where the alpine wind whipped across whichever face we were on. Awesome views from the top, with a bunch of the Cascade Range volcanoes showing their faces; Broken Top, two of the Three Sisters, Gnarled Butte, Belknap Crater, Mt Washington, Mt Jefferson, and even the top of far-off Mt Hood, where we stayed and rode what seems like an age ago. Lizards galore, big fat chipmunks*, and a bird having a bath in a puddle complemented the three ages of fire-watch structures, the need for which was evidenced by the large areas of burned forest visible both on and around Black Butte. Unlike NZ, where they're lit by subhumans, forest fires here are generally lightning-induced, apparently, which makes it seem less tragic and offensive than otherwise.

Back to the trailhead for noodles, then off to Oakridge to ride their apparently stupendous trails - hoorah!







* = For some reason, the chipmunks in and around the Bend trails were all tiny. And had a penchant for running out in front of bikes. Maybe the two are connected.