My story from last week

[Dirtyhip]

he week started with looking for a campsite, before the assholes settled in for the eclipse. We were at 97%, I believe. Not ideal but decent amount of show and eerie light effect at the moment of truth. We found a sweet spot, but it was a little far from the riding. Our usual spot was not available. Again, we had a spot right on a river, Salmon Creek. It is pretty big for a creek.  Seems like a river to me.

Anyway, Salmon Creek is lovely.  The water is clean and the forest that it sits in is lush and beautiful.  This looks more like classic Oregon.  Tall trees, moss, fern and thick brush grows fast in the warm wet climate here.  This is something that Clammy lacks.  There isn't a nice clean water source to hang out at, in Clammy.  You can drive to Crater, or the high lakes regions around and that water is great.  The water in Clammy is mostly warm water with algae and leeches. Yuck.  

We spent the week shuttling rides for coasting and a couple XC days.  The trails there are long.  The climbs are way harder than where I live now.  Clammy is flat in comparison to this hilly paradise.  Most of the trails in Oakridge are side cut trail and the drop offs the trail are real and hold real consequence factor. When riding in this place, one thing holds true...NEVER LOOK DOWN!  If you hate heights, you will not enjoy the trails here.

When we were not riding, we looked for property.  We found a nice subdivision where only stick built homes are allowed.  Some property we are looking at, backs up to Salmon Creek.  I could literally walk out our backyard and fish Salmon Creek. They stock this creek with trout.  The fish hatchery is about a 10 minute ride from the property.   We can scoop up some change and ride down to feed the trout.  This is outdoor paradise, folks.  

There are drawbacks. The grocery store is kind of sad and expensive.  Good news, gardening is great here. They call it one of Oregon's banana belts.  Bad new, all soil will need to be trucked in. The soil is all riverbed.  So, raised beds for this property, if I want lettuce and things like that.  

The smoke was horrible.  There are fires all around in the forest.  This is something that will become more of a serious problem, when we move there. We may have to flee from time to time.  Smoke is bad all over the West. It is August.

The riding is everywhere around us in Oakridge. Just looking at trail forks gets you excited too paint the canvas.  We rode Heckletooth, yesterday. I got my ass kicked. When they tagged that trail a black D, they meant it.   It has been a while since I walked my bike so much.   There is much work to be done to get stronger.  My local trails will look like this soon.

 

[Dirtyhip]

This trail is a short drive for us. About ten minutes and mountain shuttle or a very hard climb.