Oregon Backcountry Discovery Trail

[black89xj]

I just did a very small part of this trail this weekend. I did what would be a part of Section 4 of Route 5. I went from Dayton, Washington on Skyline Road south to the intersection of FS 65. From there, I went back into Walla Walla.

I was going to continue on FS 64 to Tollgate but it was another 25 miles. Next time....

very pretty route, is maintained due to manned FS lookouts. Nice road. I wouldnt mind continuing on from Tollgate to I-84.

--k

 

[1996cc]

I did route 3 over the weekend of the 4th. Did it in my wife's DD ZJ with 2" BB and 31"s. We only made it to Bachelor mountain area (started in Dorris, CA) before we had to head home. We severly underestimated the time it would take us. We drove (not counting getting to Dorris) about 2 hours the first day, 6-7 hours day two, 7 hours day three, and about 10 hours day four (not counting getting home). And don't forget we didn't finish. Another day would have been nice. We didn't stop much, just the occasional creek, and hiked into one waterfall, etc...

We had 4 rigs, except day 4 (only 3). It was VERY DUSTY (two rigs were open tops). 99% of it is gravel roads (and we did all the blue (moderate) routes). We did hit some pretty substantial snow drifts, but those should be gone soon. I made all of them, but I'm not afraid of the skinny pedal with the 5.2 V8. CB's should be mandatory (to keep vehicle distance for dust, you don't want to wait for everyone at each intersection.) You could cover most of the general areas with a good Oregon atlas, but it would be nearly impossible to follow the exact route (and the more remote roads) without the $35 map. Even with that, we had to refer to GPS coordinates on occasion. Chainsaw is also required. We ran into several tree falls that would have been impossible to pull/winch out of the way. Two is a good idea, mine didn't like the altitude (not proficient at carb adjusting), so we used another guys. The misquitos were TERRIBLE!!!!! 106 bites on my body (I just had to count). We snuck in under the fire restrictions, so if you go now, you'll have to use a designated camp site to have a campfire. But any earlier in the year, the snow may have been impassible.

There is SO much to tell, and so much in my head, that I've forgot to write here. I took about 100 pictures. Feel free to ask questions.

The pics are on imagestation (I know it sucks, but deal with it), so hopefully you can see them. (the rocky downhill section was the "4X4 required section" and was the hardest we encountered)

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2104484483

 

[sams88]

Sounds like you had a real fun trip other than the mosquitos. Didn't take your "off" lotion huh? I think I'll be hitting the section with Karl this next weekend hopefully on the northern end of it. Would be nice if you could post your pictures some how.

 

[90cherk]

Thanks 1996cc, answered my questions. Thanks for clearing the trail of those pesky trees. The other post about fire restrictions might limit the fun, forgot about the long fire season in Are-We-Gone.

 

[Sniggs]

1996cc,
Thank you for sharing. Those are some incredible shots! I gotta :repair: my aching back and hit the road now!


Mark