Touring - gonesh9's tour de John Day & Ochocos

Well, I had a great time on my short 5 day tour of the unbelievably beautiful John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and the Ochoco National forest in mid-Eastern Oregon. Here are some of the pics:

This one was of a stranded, crying baby deer who let me get a few inches away to take the picture.
http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/bambi.jpg

This is right before I took off- it was raining, so I covered my gear in a garbage bag...

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/beginning.jpg

This was on the first climb up out of Service Creek towards the shelton wayside camp where I was to meet Mike.

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/service_creek3.jpg

Another up towards Shelton Wayside.

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/service_creek2.jpg

Yet another, looking back down at my 10 mile climb.

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/service_creek1.jpg

I met Mike and camped at the state park- the next morning it was cool but not raining.

Here's me, then mike getting ready for the day.

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/casey_taking_off.jpg

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/mike_taking_off.jpg

the cows tried to chase us.

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/running_with_the_cows.jpg

Mike consulting his map...

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/mike_map_rock.jpg

Taking off into John Day

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Mike cruising

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We rode a lot of dirt paths to keep off the highway and enjoy the serenity.

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/day1-3.jpg

Beautiful countryside

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Coming round the bend... Still really overcast, but only had to endure 1 hail storm for about a 1/2 mile.

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/day3-001.jpg

Into the mystic...

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My bike and I next to a confusing sign...

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Mike pondering

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Entering into the painted hills area.

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The amazing painted hills.-

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Just past the painted hills, we found a nice spot to camp for the night.

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Mike meditating near the groovy rock formation at our camp.

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Taking off the next morning out of a wonderful camp inside a national monument.

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Stopped for lunch at Mitchell park. Cool little place.

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/day2-05.jpg

We climbed 15 grueling but wonderful miles out of the canyon valley east along HWY 26.

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/day2-06.jpg

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Someone had painted encouraging words along the entire climb, like "You call this a hill?" and "Piece of cake!". At the very top, they left a very appropriate "YES!"

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/day2-08.jpg

You know you're out in the middle of nowhere when the only towns in each direction are not even towns at all.

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We cut off the HWY and started heading into the Ochoco National Forest.

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/day3-00.jpg


Nice to see these big trees in Eastern Oregon.

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/day2-10.jpg

We camped in a giant meadow high on top of the Forest along the ridge. The next morning we took back off along the ridge heading east.

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/day3-01.jpg

Dropping out of the Ochocos.

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Last picture before the camera stopped working :(

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/day3-04.jpg

There were still 2 days of sights, but I'll have to leave them up to my memory as I wasn't able to get pictures going through picture gorge or up along the John Day river.

It was a remarkable trip, and I would suggest it to anyone looking for a truly magical exprience.

Beautiful photos, looks like it rained a bit. Tour report coming?

Netcelt

Beautiful photos, looks like it rained a bit. Tour report coming?

Netcelt

Yes, I'm compiling my journals for a tour report that I will also include on my website and the zine I am putting together.

So, noone besides Netcelt was impressed by the pictures? I know I'm not that great of photographer, but this type of countryside is just beautiful to me. To each their own I guess.

awesome pics - can you post a map of the area with your route?

Beautiful sceneries...... too bad your camera konked out... would have loved to seen more...... now I can understand your post tour withdrawals.....

Mmmm... Very nice! Can I come on the next one? :)

Nice post Gonesh, thanks for the inspiring pics!

I'm wondering what the gearing setup is on your bike? MTB standard triple, or road triple? Cassette? thanks again!

~Steve

Very nice! I really need to go out and start touring.

So, noone besides Netcelt was impressed by the pictures?

I was, it just took me 14 hours to get around to seeing them. Very nice. So where is that exactly?

Thanks! Great Pictures! Made me wish I was there! Thanks for sharing!

Nice post Gonesh, thanks for the inspiring pics!

I'm wondering what the gearing setup is on your bike? MTB standard triple, or road triple? Cassette? thanks again!

~Steve

I've just got the typical road triple (105's) gearing setup that came stock on the Trek 520. Not sure exactly what ratios they are. I went over 3000 ft passes with my bike weighing around 85 lbs and didn't have any trouble with the gears. I think people make wayyy too big of deal about the 520's gearing. There were one or two instances where I sort of wished I had a lower granny on the steepest part of the hill after 2 hours of climbing, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? :)

I was, it just took me 14 hours to get around to seeing them. Very nice. So where is that exactly?

Oregon is a pretty big place for a state.... You've got coastal rain forests with the coast range, then the Willamette valley which includes Eugene, Salem, Corvallis, Portland, etc. Then east of that you have the Cascades, which includes Mt. Hood, Jefferson, 3 Sisters, etc. High peaks and really rugged terrain. Once you get east of the Cascades, there are hundreds of miles of more arid sage brush desert, pine forests, rolling hills, highland deserts, etc. This is considered central Oregon, with Bend being the main town. The John Day area is Northeast of Bend a bit, and includes hundreds of miles of land like in my pictures- canyons, rock cliffs, grasslands, sage brush fields, etc. If you go east past that, there is Eastern Oregon, which is also very beautiful with the Strawberry Mountains and the Blue Mountains, which are often referred to as Oregon's Alps.

map please! looks awesome.....

map please! looks awesome.....

I'm going to try to scan my forest service map tonight for a lot more detail, but here is a map which shows the general area I was riding:

http://data2.itc.nps.gov/parks/joda/ppMaps/MapJODAarea02%2Ejpg

Basically started on HWY 19 near Fossil, cut through primitive side roads south past the painted hills and Mitchell, then kept going south a bit more (off of the map now) into the Ochoco National Forest. We then rode the ridge east to the South Fork of the John Day river (directly due south of Dayville, again not shown on map). Then we rode along the river north to Dayville, up through Sheep Rock, up HWY 19 into Kimberly, then Spray, then back up towards Fossil.

Again, I'll try to get a better map scanned soon.

Holy Cow! Those are extremely beautiful pictures! The scenery is superb and I also wonder, was it naturally so colorful or did you use a "vivid" colors effect?

Thanks, you definitely accomplished a lot.

Looking good Gonesh9! congrats on a safe and beautiful journey. I just got back myself and hear ya on the withdrawl, though happy to return to the daily showers :D

I've just got the typical road triple (105's) gearing setup that came stock on the Trek 520. Not sure exactly what ratios they are. I went over 3000 ft passes with my bike weighing around 85 lbs and didn't have any trouble with the gears. I think people make wayyy too big of deal about the 520's gearing. There were one or two instances where I sort of wished I had a lower granny on the steepest part of the hill after 2 hours of climbing, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? :)

I'll Second that Gonesh!, Loved the pics, nothing wrong with them (wish there were more)Just finished my trip also with NO complaints about gearing.

Sounds like a great tour for early in the season. I bet the rain was better than the temps if you had to do it in the middle of the summer. Super idea for a spring getaway.

Thanks also for the map!

Thanks also for the map!

Well, I've been trying to get a better map scanned in, but I think it's still pretty hard to read. It's from the DeLorme Oregon Atlas and Gazetteer. Each color represents another day. Let's see if it works...

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/map-complete-copy-web.jpg

Holy Cow! Those are extremely beautiful pictures! The scenery is superb and I also wonder, was it naturally so colorful or did you use a "vivid" colors effect?

Thanks, you definitely accomplished a lot.

Thanks Inoplanetyanin! I didn't use any color effects at all, there wasn't any need to as it was naturally so beautiful. It's a unique area as it is a generally arid climate, but there are still several rivers throughout it that help to keep it green.

P.S.- I also really enjoyed reading about your tour. Good stuff.

Well, I know we all like pictures, so I'm posting the panoramic shots I took that I've just stitched together.

This one was of a typical scene on the first full day of the trip:

http://img22.photobucket.com/albums/v66/gonesh9/tour/pan1.jpg