Well, I didn’t get any tips via this thread, but my boots on the ground intel provided some good suggestions.
Friday I landed and was picked up at the airport by the dealership, a couple of hours later I drove away with the new rig. I threw my duffle bag with my camping gear and headed out to explore Eugene. I ran across Tacovore which was an amazing place to eat. I loved the unique taco concoctions. I started up a conversation with a guy riding a well ridden BMW GS. He pointed out a couple places and I was on my way to hang out with my friend Mike in Albany.
I had a great time visiting with Mike and his family and after a very late start on Saturday I started east across the mountains towards Bend. I had to delete my mountain detours and my visit to Bend since I had to get to at least Prineville by the end of the day. I took 126 from Sisters to Redmond and headed north to Smith Rock, one of the tips from the GS rider. I was lucky to arrive at the magic hour for light. The place was completely packed. Although I wasn’t able to really hike and explore that beautiful place, I was able to get some great photos that will remind me to get back there and do it right. I’m thinking mid-week since it was cold, windy and partly cloudy but that wasn’t stopping people from crawling all over the place. It was cool to see several hikers carrying out bags of garbage to keep the place clean. Respect.
From there it was to Prineville where I stopped at the Ochoco Brewery for dinner. Had a decent meal and a good beer. I asked the bartender for recommendations where to camp for the night and she brought over one of the local guys and I bought him a beer and he gave me the rundown of places nearby. He recommended to drive up the road the Stein’s Pillar which I did. Found a great little spot by the creek. It was getting late so I didn’t bother with a fire and just folded down the seats, blew up my pad and hit the sack. I woken up around 3am and it was incredibly bright out and cold. The clouds had cleared and a full moon was so bright. That morning I slept in until the sun woke me up. I put away my gear and hit the road back down to the highway stopping at Stein’s Pillar for a couple photos.
Along the way I ran across a sign pointing to the John Day Fossil beds and the Painted Hills. Of course I had to take that detour to see what that was all about. I was starving, but my curiousity overruled my stomach and some jerky was going to have to suffice. I was so glad I did. The Painted Hills was amazing! I roamed there taking in the sights and photographing them then headed to the town of Mitchel to find some breakfast hoping that someplace was going to be open on Easter.
I lucked out and found a comfy little cafe. The local pastor was there with a couple of local ladies having coffee. We had a nice conversation about the history of the town and they offered more suggestions for my path before I headed out.
I attempted to get to a couple places they suggested, but the trails there were still snow bound. There were tracks, but I was on stock tires with no recovery gear and by myself so I decided it was best not to tempt fate. I decided to head directly to Palouse Falls. The road there was curvy and passed through some great high desert landscaped dotted with juniper and some tamarack before settling into the rolling hills and finally the scablands. Palouse Falls was amazing and again I arrived at dusk and didn’t have time to hike down and explore, but was able to get some photos. From there it was a straight home for me.
It was a great trip logging 650 miles. The 4Runner was nice, but the tires and suspension I think need consideration as it was not confidence inspiring on the curvy sections on the road. It felt like the tires were rolling over and the nosedive during braking is not awesome. This weekend I had e-rated K02’s put on and that has helped firm up cornering a bit, but the nosedive persists. Debating digging into the suspension...
Check out my instagram for pictures from the trip. @dgriechen
