High Rock Explorer (s36o)

[Mike]

Day before yesterday, my friend Ed and I went out to the Mt Hood NF for an overnight camping trip. We ended up exploring an incredible FS road to access High Rock. We rode out of Portland via the Springwater Corridor and then took Hwy 224 out to Estacada. Just before the entrance to the Mt Hood National Forest, along the Clackamas River we hooked a left up FS Rd 4610. The road began with a big steep paved climb. As the road mellowed out it changed to dirt. Once we made about 7 miles up the road we saw no more cars or people. The road was great but challenging in parts due to it kicking up in spots and being hard to get traction. It was also hot. We ended up staying at an abandoned campground that was in quite a state of disrepair but as good a place as any to camp. The mosquitos went to town on me and I was bummed about not bringing a tent. The next morning we were up early and still headed to High Rock. It was slow going due to our leisurely pace, the terrain and the fantastic views we got from the road looking south to Mt Jefferson and the Willamette NF. We finally go to the base of High Rock where we enjoyed a great view of Mt Hood. We started to head off East with a plan of doing a big loop around Timothy Lake and returning down to the Clackamas River. We ended up cutting our route short and took a gravel road down to Timothy Lake and then returning to the Clackamas River via Anvil Creek, Rd 58 then Rd 57. From there we pedaled back to Portland with another stop at the taco truck in Estacada. It was really a great ride but far too short. I would have loved to have stayed out for an extra day. 

I realize the road names and numbers might not mean anything to folks but I put them in there for people that are in the area or might come through here. This route encompassed some of the best roads for cycling in the Mt Hood NF and I encourage folks to check them out. They're great for day rides or bike camping.

Neither of us were riding Riv bikes but there was plenty of cloth tape, MUSA clothing and other Riv components and accessories on board to qualify for posting here.

Pictures proved it happended, right? Here you go:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41335973@N00/sets/72157630981119440/with/7744528390/

--mike

[Brian Hanson]

Nice report and pics, Mike!  Envy...

Brian

Seattle, WA

--mike

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/90DCft6M19EJ.
To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.

[Andy Smitty Schmidt]

You people with days off in the middle of the week disgust me. --Andy

[Manuel Acosta]

I was told Mt.Hood was the place to be for strawberries. Need to plan another trip to Portland soon. Thanks for the pictures.

[Anne Paulson]

I rode up through the Mt Hood NF on my Sierra Cascades trip. I'd love
to try the fire roads, but even the paved roads we rode on were
deserted and fantastic. We took Road 46 (West Cascades Scenic Byway)
from Detroit, and then unmarked Road 42 (Skyline Road) to Timothy
Lake. On Road 42 in particular, we might as well have been on a fire
road for all the traffic we saw. At Timothy Lake we had an enormous
campsite right on the water, with our own private beach for swimming.
It was the best campsite of the entire two month trip.

As we continued past Mt. Hood and down to Hood River, I didn't see
any strawberry farms, but cherry trees, peach trees and apple trees
were much in evidence. I had a fantastic peach milkshake (with fresh
peaches) at a fruitstand on the road down to Hood River. Another
fruitstand at a family farm provided wonderful Bing cherries.

One of the best things about bike touring is farmstands. Another is
roads in National Forests.

--
-- Anne Paulson

My hovercraft is full of eels