North Umpqua Single Track Photos

[Veronica]

This is a really amazing trail. We did the ride as part of a tour, but if you had enough friends and could rig shuttles it could be done from a single campground. I'd suggest Horseshoe Bend - it was the nicest one we stayed at, had a store right up the road and is in the middle.

If you want to be pampered - Western Spirit did an excellent job of providing the pampering. Good food, lots of it, quick repairs when needed, tons of encouragement and coaching on the trail if you asked for it.

We found the trail a challenge - especially the Dread and Terror section which only this year has been opened to bicycles. It follows the Umpqua through a narrow gorge - absolutely beautiful, but tough for us who had about 5 miles of singletrack experience prior to this trip. Fortunately, with all the climbing we do, stamina was never an issue.

I definitely learned a lot and my skills improved over the week for sure.

You can see photos and a few details at our site.

North Umpqua

V.

[DirtDiva]

Wicked! Some fantastic photos in there. I lived in Oregon for four months; it really is a beautiful state. All the ferns in your pics made me think of home.

[SadieKate]

Sounds like you had a terrific time. I'd been thinking of you all week (mostly being jealous ).

What's next on the fun and games agenda?

S

[Jo-n-NY]

What huge trees!! Your vacation looked like lots of fun. Are you mtn biking or road biking in Maine? I would love to hear about that vacation also.

~JoAnn

[yellow]

Very nice, V (and Thom). Jealous is right!

We were discussing just yesterday some sort of a steelhead/mt biking trip up that way... Since he grew up there, DH knows that area like the back of his hand. Hmmm...could we schedule this on a long weekend? It only takes 7 (7.5?) hours to get there from here !

[Veronica]

What's next on the fun and games agenda?

S

you mtn biking or road biking in Maine? I would love to hear about that vacation also.

Next is a week in Maine - mainly to be spent with family. We have two free days with no plans yet - we're hoping to rent road bikes for at least one day, although I'm leaning towards getting them for the week. I ALWAYS gain a few pounds when we go to Maine. Getting in an hour or so of riding every morning would be nice.

I've printed out two rides from that site Denise suggested - one is a Lighthouse tour, the other follows the Saco River and goes through our home town of Hollis Center. I'd like to do at least one of those.

V.

[Veronica]

We were discussing just yesterday some sort of a steelhead/mt biking trip up that way... Since he grew up there, DH knows that area like the back of his hand. Hmmm...could we schedule this on a long weekend? It only takes 7 (7.5?) hours to get there from here !

I think it would need to be like 5 days - 2 to drive, 3 to play.

V.

[Veronica]

This is what Thom posted to the iBOB list about our trip.

V.

We just got back from 5 days of single track MTB with Western Spirit
Adventures. We traveled a good part of the North Umpqua River Trail
in Oregon. Most bikes were fully suspended, but there were a couple
of hard tails (including ours) and a couple of riders using platform
pedals. Camping every day, with the van hauling the gear and the
guides doing the cooking. Menus included things like salmon for
dinner, tiramisu for desert, antipasto plate for snacks. Camping with
mom and dad was never like this. Highly recommended. BYOB for the
cooler.

I got to share in part of the platform pedal experience when I lost a
bolt in one of my SPD cleats early on day 3. Had to take the cleat
out and ride 10 miles of intermediate single track clipped in only on
one side. It made me very glad that I never got around to switching
to eggbeaters. That would have been ugly. As it was, I just paid a
little more attention to my position on the bike and was glad that it
didn't happen the day before when the trail was really technical and
wet in places.

URT runs through along the river, some times at river level, but often
100+ feet above it. The section called "Dread and Terror" (that is
what it says on the map) was very technical and at times offered the
chance to fall/slide to your death or serious injury if you were not
paying attention. Very exciting. One rider was so intent on the trail
that he didn't notice the 60-foot waterfall he went by. That is what
I call "Focus", Grasshopper.

Of the 11 people on the trip, I think all but 2 crashed at least a
couple of times. Some of the crashes were quite dramatic, including a
couple of endos, riding off little wooden bridges into streams and
slips down the slope at blown switchbacks. I had my share of run offs
and a couple of near-endos. Happily, there were no injuries, just
lots of bruises and scratches from the ferns. One woman had a perfect
set of bruises just above her knees where she hit her handlebars as
she went over. Tube socks and Tecnu provided a defense against poison
oak.

I had broken my arm 5 weeks before the trip (mountain biking). When I
asked the doctor if it was OK to ride, his advice was, "Don't crash
and you should be fine." Thanks Doc, I'll make a note of that. As it
was I had seriously reduced grip strength for the first couple of days
of the ride. Not good when it is your left arm and you can't use your
front brakes much. I walked down a few sections that I wasn't sure I
could negotiate with limited brakes. Heck, I walked up a few sections
that I just couldn't climb.

As it was, we skipped a couple of the afternoon sections because we
were a bit drained or my arm hurt. Being tired made it more likely
that we would make a mistake and take a nasty fall. Every day ended
at a campground with an option to swim in a lake or the river. At
Horseshoe Bend we had a view of the water out the foot of our tent and
the sound of the rapids to lull us to sleep.

The trip was a blast. We averaged 10-15 miles of single track per day,
with a just a few miles on the road to get around trail closures. The
guides were very accommodating and the food was fine.

Day 1 - 2 hour van ride from Medford to Lemolo Lake. 13 miles of
single track and jeep trails. Difficulty: 2 ½ stars. Swam in the
lake. Salmon for dinner.
Day 2- Dread and Terror – 14 miles of tough technical single track.
Lots of water crossings, with and without bridges. Usually riding on a
hillside, with steep slopes to the river. Difficulty: 5 stars.
Skipped about 4 miles after lunch because my arm was sore and we were
tired. Camped at Toketee Lake. Swam in the river. When asked if the
water was cold, I replied, "It was really cold until my legs went
numb".
Day 3 – 10 miles of moderate single track, 10 miles on the road.
Several of us skipped a very tough section after lunch because we
figured that last few miles would have been brutal. Difficulty: 4
stars for what we rode. Watched the salmon swimming up stream from a
viewpoint 100 feet above the river. Camped at Horeshoe Bend. River
water seemed warmer. Cold watermelon for a snack, then antipasto
plates and chicken fettucine alfredo with freshly baked brownies.
Day 4 – Got something in my eye while packing the tent. Took the van
to the next campground. My eye cleared up just after arriving, so I
jumped on my bike and rode back along the trail to meet the group. I
got in 10 miles of double and single track. Everyone else did 14
miles of single and double track, 4 miles of road. Difficulty: 4 ½
stars for single-track sections. Swam in the river. Took photos of
the impromptu belly flop contest.
Day 5 – Several of us skipped a 12-mile very tough section before
lunch. Rode in the van to the end and then went back on the trail to
meet the advanced riders. Our section was 10 miles of lush, gorgeous,
mostly smooth relatively wide trails. Difficulty: 3 stars. First day
we saw anyone else on the trail, because we ended at the Swiftwater
pull out, near civilization. Swam in the river, loaded in the van and
rode to Medford.

In a couple of weeks we are riding Bryce to Zion with a different
company. Should be interesting to compare the rides.

[mtnmunch]

Wow that looks like a lot of fun. Great write up, and great pics!

The trees are huge