There and back again – by Nic Solberg

Waking up at Medicine Lake

It’s a rare adventure that I’m willing to ride in a group for. I love camping. I love motorcycling. However, over the years I’ve ridden with many groups of riders, and aside from the occasional ride with friends and family, I prefer solo riding. I currently ride a 2013 Triumph Tiger 800xc and love it, but back in 2016 I had several bad experiences solo riding that made me realize neither my off-road skills, nor the fact that I was riding solo was always a good idea. By coincidence in 2018 I discovered BlackSwanMoto — though over a decade prior I’d ridden a beginner ADV ride with one of the instructors Del Christensen.

I signed up for BlackSwanMoto’s ARTS Level 1 class on a very rainy weekend in February 2018 at a Prairie City session. It kicked my ass, but learned a ton and had a blast doing it. During the breaks I met Paul and Ran; Paul asked at the end if anyone liked to go moto camping and do long ADV treks that stopped at random points of interest along the way. Me and Ran said HELL YEAH! Of course, I didn’t really expect he’d ever contact me, but low and behold 4 months later I was riding with Paul, Ran and 3 other guys (Don, Rich and Matt) on a proper adventure. We rolled out on several big BMW GS’, an 800GS, my Tiger 800xc and a KLR 650. The destination was John Day, Oregon for the Chief Joseph BMW Rally. Paul’s extensive trip planning included remote camping and as much dirt/gravel as we could find along the way (both there and back). I spooned on a new set of never before tested Motoz Tractionator GPS tires just 3 days beforehand, as my Avon TrekRider’s were too far gone to reliably make the trip.

After meeting up at Putah Creek Cafe in Winters, CA we took the least amount of straight slab we could to Medicine Lake, CA. Despite the excessive heat we found a primo spot at Medicine Lake before dark. Per Don’s wise logic, we’d had a great meal in a town about 2 hours earlier, so we just set up camp, drank some beer and got to know each other lakeside – not grub needed. It was a beautiful moonlit night, but colder that most of us expected — we’d packed for warm weather —so there were some chattering teeth in the morning over a hot fire and coffee. Most of us decided to check out Paul’s recommendation of a fire lookout accessible via rugged forest service roads. The lookout was more spectacular than expected— a grand view of Mt. Shasta, lava bed and endless forest.

The sun is setting over Medicine Lake

Our view from Little Mt. Hoffman lookout

Back on the road we visited the Lava Pits area of the park, then saw the impressive Petroglyph Point.

The cool shade of Petroglyph Point was a welcome reprieve from the baking sun

The rest of the day we pounded pavement in the hot sun until we approached what would be the most remote location of the journey: Hart Mountain Antelope Reserve. We had to stock up on water, food and especially gas, as there was a big “unknown” distance with zero facilities in between. The ride up to Hart Mountain plateau was spectacular — yes there were antelope herds — with the payoff of a great camping spot and natural hot springs to sooth our moto-weary bones. We imbibed a bit, had a great meal that Rich threw together, and laughed until bedtime. Serious winds kicked up during the night, but luckily no one’s tent blew down. Ironically, I was the only guy who packed and rode ultra-light, so they all made fun of my 1-person ALPS Lynx tent but it did all that I needed without the bulk (I just ride with Kriega drybags).

Tents going up at Hart Mountain National Antelope Reserve

The next morning, aside from dodging a few antelope in the road, the reserve served up awesome gravel roads devoid of anyone. We all had a ball maintaining 50-70 mph in full gravel. After about 100 miles we hit a paved highway. All but one of us opted for Paul’s scenic dirt ride to Steens Mountain summit. From below the summit looked insubstantial , but it turned out to be 25 miles of uphill grade leading to an amazing vista of nearly 10k feet. I’d guess it was 80º before we ascended in hot weather gear, and probably 38º at the summit. Brrrrrr.

Giving a thumbs up after I put in my thermal liner – it was in the thirties at the top of the summit

Paul and Don atop Steens Mountain summit

We made our way back down and slabbed it for many miles to Johh Day, Oregon.

The little town of John Day, Oregon has a population of approximately 2000, so with 300-400 motorcyclists rolling in for the whole weekend to take over their fairgrounds and town it could have proven a disaster. Nothing was farther from the truth. The people were friendly and the food and drink excellent. After one more rider joined us on another KRL 650 from Idaho, four of the six of us camped at the fairgrounds while the other two opted for real beds at a motel. The rally was decent, but it wasn’t why I was on the trip, so I’ll skip that bit.

My tiny 1-person tent is dwarfed by my Tiger on and the giant Redverz tent

As the rally ended we all prepared for what might be the most fun and challenging leg of the ride. Paul had mapped out Route 4 of the Oregon BDR. A couple of the guys had pre-scouted the intro part the previous day, but with fully loaded ADV bikes it might prove challenging. After another fantastic breakfast at The Outpost in John Day, all but one of us set out for what would be an all-day dirt ride.

Man, what a route. It had dirt, gravel and LOTS OF ROCKS. Along the way we stopped a two fire lookouts and the resident at one invited us up to check it out. All I can say is Matt was the GPS master off-road, though Paul and Don faired well. I, not having any GPS, just went along for the ride knowing that we had Rotopax and MSR fuel bottles should gas get low. The ride was a meandering hoot that often led to us riding the ridges, but our Idaho KRL rider injured himself trying to power through a deep, super sloppy mud hole — the rest of us went around it because common sense won out over testosterone.I can honestly attest that had I not done the ARTS course in February, I’m not sure I could have completed the ride safely that day. The rocky sections were unusually long and brutal, so good balance and throttle/brake were essential to keeping 90-95% control of the situation. That other 5-10% is part of the “adventure” we all sign up for riding big bikes off-road. Weeeeee!

Looking down from atop a firewatch lookout tower

Half the group trying to find the other half after getting separated

Luckily, everyone made it to the motel mostly unscathed and we laughed and enjoyed the final night hanging out before heading back to our starting locations. For me, a beer and a long soak in the hotel hot tub helped sooth my battered sore back.

The next day we parted in several groups; some of us had 4th of July plans to get home to, while others wanted to stay on the road. Matt and I headed back via Interstate 5 until we hit the Oregon/California border, but not before stopping for a Dairy Queen burger and cone in Klamath Falls, OR – something everyone on the trip said they wanted to do, but didn’t.Matt went off to find a friend hiking the PCT and I descended into the smoked-filled northern California valley near Redding. It went from about 80º to 104º in about 30 minutes and looked like Mars it was so reddish and smoky. As I raced along I-5 towards Sacramento, CA my bike suddenly overheated. I stopped to discover the reserve coolant tank’s cap must have come off partially — probably during the insanely rocky terrain riding the day before. It was too hot outside to doddle, so with a little top off of water, and a gentler throttle hand, me and the Tiger rolled into home just past dark.

After such a fun and exhausting trip it’s the little things that count. My wife greeted me with sexy enthusiasm, fed me, and poured me into a hot bath to sooth my aching muscles. When I awoke the next morning, despite being a bit sore, I was saddened to be at home and not packing my camp up before another day’s long ride with the group. Our adventure had been a mere 8 days, but it felt like 30 epic days. While I love solo riding much of the time, I must attest that riding with a group of great ADV compatriots made the adventure even better.

– Nic Solberg