Traveling the Santiam Canyon is a bit like traveling back in time. As you head east from the Willamette Valley, you ascend into the Cascade Range foothills—where the Santiam Canyon begins to envelop the Santiam River and its tributaries in basalt-strewn, old-growth forests of Douglas fir and mountain hemlock. These heavily forested ridgelines and valleys are home to the Old Cascades—a remote region that’s home to some of the most cherished trails along the whole Oregon Timber Trail.
The 143 mile, 14,500 foot circuit roughly follows Wasco and Wishram trade routes used by two namesake native chiefs to guide John C. Fremont's 1842 expedition through the territory. Sections of the route were already familiar to me, but I had never experienced them all together, let alone from a multi-day perspective. From a distance, the weather looked stable. We were two months into a historic drought. So when the forecast shifted to rain over our entire first day, I was a bit anxious.
What could go wrong?
Our world screams at us to see the differences in people – red versus blue, conservative versus liberal. So much energy is put into building walls and encouraging a low energy civil war. In reality, it’s not black and white, but shifting shades of grey mixed with feelings, fear, and desire for connection. A shared love and responsibility for our public lands is a place to start building bridges.
Each year we ask the people out riding the Oregon Timber Trail questions about their experiences and themselves. This data is not only interesting to look at, it’s also great to see the parts of the experience that people highly value and also exposes what we need to improve along the trail. By and large you all have had an excellent experience: 98% said they’d recommend the OTT to others!
As far as Singletrack is concerned, the almost 10 mile descent from Crescent Mountain to the primitive Shedd Camp, was the highlight of the trip for me. Fast, flowy, all rideable, and completely isolated, when you ride this section, you have it completely to yourself. Miles and I both were all smiles as we called it a night at Shedd Camp.
At each resupply (except for Chemult and Sisters), people we met were very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the OTT. People in Paisley, Silver Lake, Oakridge, Idhana, and Parkdale all asked us what they could do to make the OTT experience even better. These small communities benefit from tourism, and really seemed to love having bike-packers come through. Feeling so warmly welcomed in each of these communities contributed very positively to our overall enjoyment of the route.
When Kim McCormack and Sam Clark rolled their wheels into the refreshingly cold waters of the Columbia River, they had set the stage for the “OTT”, an iconic route that will be launched in January of 2017. Worthy of adding to any mountain biker's bucket list, this inspirational route covered a variety of climates, communities, ecosystems, roads, jaw-dropping landscapes. In the future, enthusiastic mountain bikers will enjoy their own Oregon Timber Trail adventures. Some will tackle the route in segments while others might ride it in its entirety and follow in the wheel tracks of Sam and Kim.
When Sam Clark and Kim McCormack dipped their wheels in Columbia River last Friday August 5, becoming the first two people to complete the Oregon Timber Trail route, they were ecstatic, relieved, and…..hungry! After riding for two and a half weeks with only one rest day, the duo was ready to dump their gear-loaded packs and celebrate with some serious calories.
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The Oregon Timber Trail Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
Our EIN number is 82-5018544
