The Oregon Timber Trail basecamp on Winter Rim was epic

If I don’t write these hiking journals while I’m on the trail life intercedes and it gets away from me. It’s been 2 weeks since my Section 7 hike and in between I helped lead trail crews for bikepacking route, the Oregon Timber Trail, of which the ODT shares 50 miles of single track in the Fremont-Winema Forest, and then led trail work for a group of Oregon Natural Desert Association volunteers in the Badlands Wilderness for National Trails Day, and now I’m down near Denio, NV scouting a way around the brushy and fantastically frustrating bushwack in Denio Canyon and meeting with some landowners in the area.

Whew. This is my job!

I stayed the night at the Running G Farm near Denio Canyon with an awesome couple, Katie and Garrick. They rent out a bunkhouse to hikers and others, and as I found out, that stay may come with a steak fed from the grass right outside the window. So delicious. (check out the town guide I put together for info on the farm and a ton of other places to stay and visit in SE Oregon http://www.onda.org/OregonDesertTrail it’s on the Plan a Trip page under Trail Resources)

Also the Diamond Inn in Denio is open again. It’s been closed about 6 years, but Jeff the owner just got it going about 2 weeks ago. I felt welcomed right away when I stopped in, and before I knew it the rest of the patrons were buying rounds and filling me in on some local history.

I missed seeing Dirtmonger by a few days on his Mexico to Canada Desert Trail hike (the Desert Trail overlaps with the Oregon Desert Trail in the Pueblo Mountains and Steens Mountain). He will be the second person to ever thru hike this route that’s been around about 40 years.

Lots going on, and when trying to decide what I wanted to do for my birthday this weekend, I think instead of the usual camping trip or outdoor adventure I might just play it close to home and have a Bend birthday. When I’m out all the time for work. It’s a luxury to be home!