Following an incredible first year on the job MAKING A TRAIL (still a dream job after a year!), I wrote this letter for some papers in the high desert. It’s no joke, the people I meet on the way are a huge reason why I hike. We may be a divided country on a lot of fronts, but it always seems like we have lots in common when you meet a stranger in the backcountry and start telling stories.

I floated past Ron and his grandson Gavin on my packraft trip in the Owyhee this July

Successful Season on the Oregon Desert Trail

I’ve lived in Oregon for over 12 years, and have enjoyed spending time hiking, packrafting, and exploring the public lands of the high desert. This year I spent almost seven weeks walking across Eastern Oregon along the 750-mile Oregon Desert Trail. In addition to the wildlife, wildflowers, and incredible desert skies, I encountered countless acts of generosity from the people I met along the way. From a handful of fresh cherries, to a ride back to my car, and ice cold water on a hot July day, these gifts from chance encounters are a big reason I love putting on a pack. I can’t think of a better way to learn about a place than to share a beer and a story or two with someone, and hear about some of their favorite places to explore.

Four other hikers completed the entire route this year in addition to countless others who spent a day or two hiking in the desert; they all had similar stories of generosity and chance encounters. All were safe and successful in navigating the route in what is a series of trails, old two-track roads, and cross country hiking. It’s a challenging route as there are no physical markers on the ground, but that didn’t deter those backcountry navigators from enjoying and exploring the high desert.

Thank you to all in Bend, Christmas Valley, Summer Lake, Paisley, Lakeview, Plush, Adel, Frenchglen, Fields, Denio, McDermitt, Rome and Adrian, and all those in between.

—Renee Patrick, Oregon Desert Trail Coordinator

Rudy Giecek has been a supporter of Hikertrash for a while, that’s how we first got acquainted, and he’s been producing the Cascade Hiker Podcast recently. He asked me to be a part and here’s the first episode about my hiking experiences.

Next week I’ll be talking more about the Oregon Desert Trail.

Thanks Rudy!

He shared this video with me about Addison’s scale that separates rapids or rivers into ratings based on the difficulty, danger, and exposure. Based on this rating boaters can get a much better picture of the true risk involved in a rapid or river.

For example, with the trip I just completed at low flow on the Owyhee, there wasn’t too much difficulty in the rapids, definitely some maneuvering and scouting, so I’d rate it a difficulty of Class III. The danger – risk of injury or death, was also in the realms of 3, however I think some of the portages may have been 4, getting around The Ledge, Half Mile, and Widowmaker involved some serious rock scrambling, lifting and lowering of the boat, climbing…even being very careful I slipped and cracked my tailbone good on one portage. Risk can be high, so I’m inclined to go with a 4. As for exposure, you are far far away from help on the Owyhee. If I had to hike out it would be days to help. I had a Delorum Inreach beacon, so that could have brought help to me, but that could take at least a day as well. So for exposure I would give the Owyhee a C rating. So for the Owyhee at low flow I give it a Class III-4-C rating.

Now for my gear list. I definitely had some extras that I should have brought, 4 pairs of socks??? Don’t know how that happened. I brought 2 throw bags, didn’t need 2. So below is mostly what I brought, but leaving off the extraneous things that I regretting bringing.

I left the comfort of my cabin about 7 this morning with the plan to have one last meal at the Frenchglen hotel. I had indulged in dinner last night. ..Cornish game hen, rice pilaf, artichoke and spinach casserole, salad, rolls, and pumpkin bunt cake…I wasn’t sure I could eat again this morning. I started the 3 mile walk over there and the mosquitos were so bad I sprayed myself all over with poison (I’m carrying some natural bug spray, but it doesn’t last very long, so I got some of the strong stuff yesterday). Dawna drove by on her way to work and picked me up. Thank you! !

Eggs, bacon, and toast later I put on my pack and started the hike up and out of my little oasis. The bug were nuts. I broke out the bug condom and put it up over me and my pack. It was hot and I was soon soaked through and through, and that made the mosquitos even hungrier. On the hike up I saw my first rattlesnake. He gave a quick shake while I was still about 10 feet away, so we were able to avoid eachother. I expected to see more today, but he was the only one.

About 5 or 6 miles out the landscape dried out and the mosquitos finally left me alone. Most of the day I walked along gentle undulations of land with occasional glimpses back at the Steens. For some reason the mountain seemed to get closer. Hmm.

Late afternoon I could see the sky darkening behind me, and I started to hurry to my next water source and then camp. I hurried to put up my tarp realizing I had managed to lose one of my new titanium tent stakes. Doh! I used a sharp stick in place, we’ll see if it holds.

The rain didn’t come, so I made dinner and got myself situated.

Then, the lightening started. I could hear the thunder getting closer and closer, and when I peeked outside my tarp, it looked like it was coming straight for me. Now anyone who followed my CDT hike last year knows I HATE lightening. I tried to go to my happy place and wish the storm away.

The first one passed and left behind a brilliant sky, but I can hear another one coming. And it’s getting on night time, so it will be what it is. I’m sure glad I had good weather for all that ridge walking last week. There are no trees around now, but I’m in a lower spot in some sagebrush that’s almost as tall at the tarp, so I’m hoping that will protect me.

I’ve been immersed in working on the Oregon Desert Trail for about six months now, and it’s finally time to head out and hike! Starting next week I’ll be section hiking the trail in three chunks.

First up is a 300 mile section from Anderson Crossing at the Little West Owyhee River to Plush, which will take me over the Trout Creek and Pueblo Mountains, to the Alvord Desert and the Steens Mountain (there will be snow! Not San Juan Mountains snow, but snow!), through Frenchglen to end at the base of Hart Mountain at Plush.  I’m taking a little over 2 weeks to hike this section and will be investigating a few alternate routes along the way, and of course taking inventory of water sources…and I’ll get to spend my birthday hiking! Turning 39 shouldn’t be so bad, right?

In July I’ll be hiking/packrafting as much of the Owyhee River as I can (might be bloody hot, that’s why I want to stick to the water…still may be too hot!), and in September will hike the first 300 miles of the route from Bend back to Plush.
I’ll be writing daily and will post as much as my cell service and data will allow along the way.
Much thanks to the companies supporting me this year including Six Moon Designs, Oboz Footwear, TOAKS, Backpackers Pantry and Gerber Knives, and of course ONDA which made it all happen!! It’s my job. Still pinching myself.
Thanks for coming on the adventure!

I feel like I’ve woken up from a deep sleep and don’t know quite where I am.

Kirk and I spent almost 2 weeks in Utah, and a solid 7 days rafting the San Juan River for a level of immersion I can’t remember having in a long time.

It was 7 gluttonous days of more food than we could eat, more beer than we could drink, and more red rock cliffs than the eye could take in.

And what set this apart from my 5 month CDT adventure last year was the total disengagement. No phone, no blogging, no route finding, no food stress. I slept better and deeper last week than I can ever remember. It was a float of body and mind…the current pulling our boats and thoughts along, drifting from eddy to eddy.

When we got back to Bend I couldn’t remember which way the door lock worked; which light switch was which. Kirk said, “I forgot how the house works.” We were in so deep the past few weeks that it feels like I am seeing home with fresh eyes.

5:30 at Crows Feet Commons, April 27 in Bend. Come hear about my CDT thru-hike last year!

I went back to where it all started last year. The Continental Divide Trail Kickoff in Silver City, New Mexico.

I printed some hikertrash to wear for the weekend.

and set up my booth in the Big Ditch for the vendor fair on Saturday.

I met the Reynolds, some blog readers of mine last year!

And went on a hike with some of the folks from Silver City I met on the same hike last year.

It was nice to spend a few days with Allgood who started his CDT hike the next day, and meet Julie from TOAKS, and Spirit, who was also setting off on her thru-hike.

I passed on the CDTC Trail Ambassador torch (or hiking pole) to Allgood.

And caught up with some hiking friends from last year, like Race.

It was a real pleasure to attend the event, get some closure on my thru-hike, and reflect on the challenges and successes of the hike last year.

CDT, it’s been real!

I’ve given 5 presentations this month on the Oregon Desert Trail around Oregon, and hope to get out on many more trips to help spread the word. It’s always going to be a route for the more advanced hiker (to thru-hike that is), but I can see lots of people getting out for sections.

I had the opportunity to write a post for the popular blog Appalachian Trials recently, and decided to talk about what it’s like to create a trail from a thru-hiker’s perspective. I met Zach, the website’s founder (and book author) a few years ago at the Outdoor Retailer show. We seem to run into each other there often and since he is looking to expand the scope of Appalachian Trials to some of the other long trails, it was the perfect opportunity to draw some attention to what we have going on in the West.

Getting to Know the New 750-Mile Oregon Desert Trail

I‘m one of those backpackers who set foot on a long trail years ago, and haven’t been able to tear myself away from the freedom of a good long hike. It got to the point that after my PCT thru-hike in 2006, I decided to ignore the fact I had just gotten a master’s degree in design, and focus on finding a job where I could get paid to hike. That’s the dream, right?

Well, I tried leading trail crews, guiding, teaching light-weight backpacking courses, leading wilderness therapy trips, working for Outward Bound, and finally after years of earning enough to barely pay my bills (and hiking a few thousand more miles), I decided to settle down in a regular job. Truthfully, I had to find a way to save for my next thru-hike. I still found time to get creative with my passion though, and founded Hikertrash with friend and fellow thru-hiker Brian Frankle. Fast forward to the end of 2015; I returned home to Bend, Oregon after finishing the Continental Divide Trail (and Triple Crown!) and found myself spiraling into the despair of life off trail. But out of the depths of discontent came the dream job: managing the new Oregon Desert Trail. Getting paid to hike!

Origin Story

The origin story for this 750 mile trail started with a thru-hiker’s sleepless night. Brent Fenty, Oregon Natural Desert Association’s (ONDA) executive director, lay awake one evening imagining a way to connect the highlights of Oregon’s high desert, a desert you may be surprised to find covers almost half the state. For this avid outdoorsman (and former PCT thru-hiker), a trail seemed the natural solution to this idea. By connecting the remote and stunning regions in Oregon’s high desert like the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, the Steens Mountain, and the Owyhee Canyonlands with a trail, hikers could be immersed in the very land ONDA has been striving to protect for 25 years. Perhaps by introducing more people to these amazing landscapes, the Oregon Desert Trail could help foster a sense of responsibility: responsibility to help protect, defend, and restore Oregon’s high desert for generations to come.

2011 kicked off three years of inventorying and ground-truthing the route, and through the thousands of hours of volunteer and staff work, the Oregon Desert Trail (ODT) emerged as an immersive desert experience that can be explored through cross-country travel, old roads, and existing trail.

What’s in the Middle of the Desert?

By nature, the Oregon Desert Trail is a remote backpacking experience. The desert in this part of the country is sparsely populated, and one will be much more likely to see herds of pronghorn antelope and the well-camouflaged sage grouse than other people. On the flip side, the remote nature of south eastern Oregon boasts one of the last uninterrupted night-skies left in the country. No light pollution means unparalleled views of the Milky Way and stars you could only dream of in the city.

Volcanos and plate tectonics play a big part in what makes this part of Oregon unique. Hikers will walk among 80,000 year old lava flows in the Badlands Wilderness, and brush the edge of the largest fault block mountains in the country along Abert Rim and Steens Mountain. Active faults also mean hot springs! The trail passes near the developed Summer Lake Hotsprings and Hunters Hotsprings, as well as Hart Mountain Hotsprings, Alvord Hotsprings, and several soaking pools in the Owyhee Canyonlands. There is nothing better than a soak after a long day of hiking, and the ODT provides!

This ain’t the PCT

There are challenges to a trail of this type. At this stage, Oregon Desert Trail hikers need to be experienced with map and compass and/or very comfortable using a GPS device as the route is unmarked and contains quite a bit of cross-country travel. However, for those looking to break free from a traditional trail experience, this is the hike for you. There is freedom in the desert, freedom to make your own routes, to explore a near-by peak or canyon, and truly immerse yourself in a trail that isn’t quite a trail.

As many of the long trails in the country are getting more and more popular (I’m looking at you Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail) you are almost guaranteed solitude and a true wilderness experience on the Oregon Desert Trail. We’ve had 5 thru-hikers finish the route. Yep, we’re still in the single digits. This will probably always be an experience for the seasoned thru-hiker, but as our first fall thru-hiker Huck Finn shared, “Perhaps the biggest highlight is the freedom I felt. The fact that the ODT is currently an idea more than anything else is awesome. I found any lack of structure/signage to be a positive. The fact that most of the people I met (which were few) had no knowledge of it was great. No one can say, ‘Well, that’s not the trail,’ or ‘Huh…you’re doing it wrong.’ I love that it is a ‘choose your own adventure.’”

Water (or lack of) in the Desert

Water can be quite elusive in this part of the state, and hikers need to be prepared for long distances between water sources, or to cache water for themselves. Water availability is perhaps crux of the hike on the Oregon Desert Trail. But never fear, there are plenty of resources available to figure it out. All of the folks that have headed out on the trail so far have hiked from west to east (or from Bend to the Owyhee Reservoir) and four of the five hiked in late May/June/early July. Lots of the water is seasonal and much more available in the spring than the fall, but it’s still doable. Just be prepared to carry more water if you decide to go with this option. Summer is bloody hot out there, so it’s probably best to stick to the shoulder seasons. And speaking of water, the last 200 miles of the trail are primarily in the canyon of the Owyhee River. Wading, a bit of swimming, and crossing back and forth to find the best route of passage is to be expected. Or if you are like me, you can packraft it. Going downstream in this case is probably much easier than trying to walk or paddle upstream, but if you like a challenge maybe you can be the first person to hike from east to west!

So How do I Hike it?

The first thing I did when starting to work on the trail was give all the resources a good once-over from a thru-hiker’s perspective. Because I haven’t hiked it yet, I approached the task like I was embarking on the most detailed planning of a hike ever. I know if I can get the materials in the shape I would want them before setting off for 750 miles, they would surely be helpful to others wanting to do the same.

• Maps – The trail is broken down into 4 regions, with each region spanning about 160-200 miles. In those 4 regions we have 25 sections, each with detailed maps indicating the type of tread (cross country, trail, or road), waypoints, mileage between waypoints, water sources, trail town info, and declination information.
• Databook/Waterchart – I love a good databook. I immediately went to work creating one based on the observations and feedback from our 5 thru-hikers, data found on the maps, and info included in the first version of the ODT guidebook. In addition I included a water chart which ranks water sources from reliable to questionable to unreliable, and color coded them to match the maps. I’ve included historical data from the past 5 seasons hikers have been inventorying or hiking the trail, and have a column for this year’s hikers to include their information on water sources. Better yet? It’s a Google Sheet; hikers who like to use their smart phones can download and update the chart electronically when they are hiking. Once connected to data or Wifi again the info will update automatically for the next hikers.
• Guidebook – It’s nice to have a play by play account of what you will encounter in each section of the trail, and the guidebook will tell you to “take a left at that tree,” or “look out for pictographs around the next corner.” It references the waypoints on the maps and the databook and includes a bunch of helpful information on planning your hike.
• GPS Waypoints – You don’t NEED a GPS to hike this trail. Huck Finn did just fine last year without one, but they sure are helpful. We have downloadable waypoints you can use however you like to “hike your hike.”
• Hiking Project Website & App – This is the age of the app. I loved using Guthook’s CDT App on the trail last year, if only to reassure myself from time to time that I was going in the right direction. We’ve teamed up with the Hiking Project to get the first 160 miles of the trail on their website and free app (and are aiming to include the rest of the miles by the end of the year). Included are elevation profiles, a slimmed down version of the guidebook, and a real-time view of where you are on the route at all times. Important junctions between cross country and trail sections are marked, as well as water sources…and all match up with the waypoints and info you will find in our other ODT resources. And yes, it can be used on airplane mode!
• Water Cache Guidelines & Maps – So the first 160 miles of the trail isn’t doable without caching water. But luckily the hikers who have already completed the trail gave us detailed notes and maps on where they cached their water. We also drafted some caching guidelines because caching can be a tricky thing if you’ve never done it before. Now depending on how many miles you like to hike a day, you may want to cache more than what is suggested, and as time goes and more people head out into the desert we should have more and more information available.
• Town Guide – I’ve identified 16 communities along or near the trail that could provide important services to hikers along their journey. Town can be a generous term in some cases as many spots along the ODT consist of a single store/gas station/restaurant/bar/post office all in one building. I’m in the middle of creating maps of each town with a directory of where you can eat, resupply, sleep, and more. As Huck Finn mentioned, not many people in these desert communities know about the trail or the “crazy” people who want to hike it, but I have been and will be visiting all of these places to spread the good word and let them know some dusty, tired hikers will probably descend on their towns to clean them out of nachos, pizza, and beer.

Future of the trail

I’ve got LOTS of plans for this route. A few things I’ve been dreaming up include exploring other ways people might like to get on the trail like bikepacking, packrafting, skiing, and horseback riding. Parts of the trail can already be biked like in the Fremont National Forest near Paisley, and we’ve started scheming up a way to create a parallel bikeable route for the whole trail. I’ve already mentioned you can packraft the Owyhee River, and other rivers like the Chewaucan and Donner und Blitzen river are floatable certain times of the year too. How about a ski tour? The Steens Mountain could offer some stunning terrain for your next winter adventure, and horse packers will love the remote and beautiful country.

The ODT passes near some caves which hold traces of human DNA dating back 14,000+ years. There is an incredible amount of human history in this area of the world, and don’t be surprised to find arrowheads, pictographs, and old hunting blinds. I’d love to develop some resources so hikers can learn more about this area…that also includes the incredible geology of the area and the rich wildlife that can be found among the sagebrush seas. Perhaps we’ll hold some educational hikes, or suggest what reading materials to carry with you so you can learn all about the place you are walking through.

Just on the other side of the Cascade Mountains from the western terminus of the Oregon Desert Trail is the PCT. Maybe we can link into that trail, and connect to the Idaho Centennial Trail in the east. Maybe we can make a loop in northern Oregon that could take hikers through the equally impressive Wallowa and Blue mountains.

Anything is possible!

I’ve only been on the job for three months, but like I said: DREAM JOB! Stay tuned as the resources get refined and more hikers get out there and experience the remote and incredible beauty of Oregon’s high desert. One of the best ways to support the development of this trail is to get out there and hike, but becoming a member of founding organization ONDA is a good one too. And please, check out thewebsite for all the resources mentioned above, and let me know if you have any questions.

I hope to see you out there!