Week Two

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Modoc National Forest (California)

Umpqua National Forest (Oregon) - Willamette National Forest (Oregon)
June 24 - July 1

We left Tahoe and headed to the Warner Mountains in the Modoc National Forest, then north to Oregon and their beautiful forests. It's amazing to me how many National Forests there are that I've never heard of, especially in my home state. They're almost deserted and full of fun trails to explore.

Hiking the Emerson Lake trail in the Warner Mountains

The dogs were rewarded for a long, steep hike with a mountain
lake swim. We had to be content with a sandwich.

How do we find all of these beautiful, remote campsites? Some day I'll take pictures of all the rejects we see before Dennis decides we've found the one. It involves several hours of exploring, 3 apps (View Ranger, MTB Project and Google Maps) and is limited by strict criteria: must have either a sweeping view or a water front, be close to good mountain bike trails, and have no other campers. I must do 10-20 multi-point turns going in and out of narrow, harrowing, rough dirt roads as we review all the available options. After 35 years of marriage, Dennis has learned just how far he can push me before I explode in some combination of frustration, fear, hunger and thirst (i.e. wine). And then once we find it, I always have to admit that yes, this is the best place, and it was a good thing that we kept looking for so long. But I always have a glass of wine in my hand when I say it.

We searched all over one mountain and finally found this
campground on the next one, deserted, on a river, with toilets!

Notice the happy face with the glass of wine

Our first campground in Umpqua National Forest...
pretty sure this is the birthplace of all the world's mosquitoes.

Morning coffee spot next to our site

These dogs are the easiest, most fun traveling companions.
They don't ever whine like some of us do (me).

Happy hour is so darn happy on a river!

Every campsite we've been to comes with firewood,
thoughtfully stacked and split. Who does this???

Livin' in a van down by the river...

There are excellent single track bike trails all throughout the Umpqua and Willamette National Forests. Typically we do a dog and wife ride for about 10-15 miles, and then Dennis will continue on with his training. It paid off in Tahoe when he participated in a local race.

3rd place competing against locals! Note the trophy in his
hand (beer mug), which tells you a lot about mtn. bike riders.

Dog and Wife Ride

Truth in advertising or simply bad marketing?
Turns out it was a little of both.

Unlike me, the dogs found nothing terrifying or dreadful about the trail.

Driving a large van with a 9'6" height can be challenging, especially with low hanging trees and unpredictable roads. You learn to read ALL signs, when available, before heading in a particular direction.

Either the national forest budget has no line item for road signs or they have very clever volunteers, but we saw lots of hand painted directions throughout all of the park roads. This one was my favorite - an early warning that something big was coming, followed by a beautifully highlighted pothole.

A pot hole with emanating sun beams for emphasis

(Unrelated side note: I heard there's someone in Portland who was so fed up with all the pot holes in the city that they started planting pot plants in them. Pot holes. Get it?)