Instead of going to Oregon Caves, we proceeded to loop around the southern portion of Oregon and dropped back into California to visit Lava Beds National Monument. It was on our to do list for a while, and the last time we tried, we had to cut it out of our itinerary due to somebody wearing their rear tire to the threads until there was a literal hole in it. This time there were no more surprises, and the location proved to be even better than I hoped.
The campground was sparsely populated, the views were amazing, and the cell reception was better than in our old place in the Bay Area. California is full of contrasts that way.
The cool thing to do in this place is check out some caves – lava tubes. Just don’t forget extra layers, it gets really cold inside. One of the caves we went to was 1000 m long and had two entrances. So you come in through one, and exit on the other side. Inside was predictably pitch black, humid and cold, and there was a side tube which led to a balcony overlooking the main tube. Fascinating stuff. Despite it being a weekend, there were few visitors and we had that big beautiful cave all to ourselves.
The next thing we were going to do was enjoy some backroad discovery routes. Although it’s pretty early in the season, and most BDRs are better enjoyed mid summer or later, we figured the southern portion of the Oregon BDR should be doable. It’s not too far off from the Lava Beds, and this region was snow free even past 6000 ft.
I mapped out a route linking us to the start of the BDR, and after a flowing dirt track in northwestern Nevada, we popped back to Oregon and started on what we figured would be an easy and quick track. It was 2:20 pm. 150 miles to go. A promise of a campsite with hot springs.
The good news is there was no snow anywhere on the track. The bad news is there was mud. And some long rocky sections that would have felt better if we bothered to lower the pressure in our tires.
As it happened, I dropped my bike twice. Once in slick mud and once on a rocky ascent. No harm done, but it did take a bit of time to pick up that loaded bike (thank you, Alex). I also got stuck in the soft bog while trying to navigate a flooded section of the trail, requiring roadside assistance from AAA (Alex Alex Alex) to get it unstuck.
But the track was absolutely gorgeous. Rolling hills, flat plateaus, friendly cattle, distant rocky peaks, a patch of snow here and there in the shadows. It was not actually difficult, but somehow it took us over 5 hours to get through the meat of it and onto a wide gravel road close to Hart Mountain Hot Springs Campground. By that point my bike and gear were covered in enough mud that we thought it would make more sense to head somewhere with running water instead of rustic hot springs.
Now, the silly part is that when you enter that section from the south, there is nothing to stop you or warn you. From the north, there are multiple locked gates, and a helpful sign pointing the opposite direction declaring that the road is closed until June 15. One way to bypass a locked gate involved crossing a small log. This is exactly what Alex attempted, but perhaps he was too tired, or his tires too wet and slippery, but it all ended with the bike laying down next to the log. We had a good laugh and he proceeded to take an alternate route through a bit of grass. Underneath the grass was mud so saturated with moisture, it acted like quicksand. Of course, we didn’t realize that until he was stuck in it past the axle. This one was nasty enough that even working together we could not get the bike to move without first taking all the luggage off.
The cherry on top was yet to come. The road descending from Hart Mountain into Warner Valley had some of the most amazing views of the day (top 5 of the week, for sure), saturated in the golden colors of the setting sun.
Sure, the next day will have to start with the boring bits: cleaning our gear, visiting a car wash again, replacing some of the bolts that broke loose and escaped on the rocky trail. Lesson of the day: when approaching a dirt track, take a few minutes to adjust the tire pressure first, even if it does not look too rugged.
