Nick, Alan & I spent a cold-ass weekend on the eastside getting after it with the fatbikes. We’d originally set the weekend aside for something bigger - an overnighter on the coast or something south - but the weather and time constraints left us with few options. We made the best of things by heading east to familiar territory. We camped at the Deschutes Rec Area - the best winter/spring camping spot around (note: no running water available in winter) - and day tripped into the White River Wildlife Area and Dalles Mountain.
White River is prime fatbike territory. Only a few roads provide vehicle access to the area and all are closed during the winter, so you’ll have the place to yourself. There’s also a maze of old roads that no longer get any vehicle traffic and are well on their way to reverting to game trails. We parked at the old one-room-schoolhouse-turned-community-center in Friend, which quickly leads to the White River area. You can make a nice loop out of it with lots of side roads to explore. See Nick’s writeup & photos and GPS data for more info on fatting in the White River.
Day two brought the need for warmth and sun, so we headed across the river to Dalles Mountain to check out several doubletrack trails that had potential. They turned out to be nothing more than powerline access roads, but we managed a nice loop and enjoyed a short day out before fighting crappy weather back to PDX.
Packing up in Friend:
Nick’s Pugsley:
Nick and his monocle (or monocular, or whatever…) - he never leaves home without it.
Mid-ride Surly beer break…
Cool dog - cooler gun rack:
Post-ride beer break…
Elk horn collector in Dufur:
Dalles Mountain: