Odyssey of the VOG Southern Tier
Our travel took place on the ancestral lands of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Nestucca, Tilamook, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla peoples who have stewarded those lands since time immemorial.
Photo by Katherine Smyth
The most cutest girl
My friend Katie is a very intrepid cyclist and most of the cool stuff I do can be attributed to how cool she is, especially since she’s so much faster than I am. She invited me to ride the Red Meadow Pass Loop in Montana in July with some other bike friends from the Pacific Northwest. However, our plans had to change because of wildfires; there was also an unfortunate bear attack that killed a bikepacker who was completing the same route and had us fairly freaked out.
We were all racking our brains for the last-minute change and Katie found the Odyssey of the VOG which is a wildly difficult backcountry bike race which is kind enough to share their routes. We decided on the southern tier since it included the Valley of the Giants (VOG), an outstanding natural area deep in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. The VOG is approximately 1,600 acres of old growth forest with hemlocks and firs that are 400-450 years old.
The route was significantly more difficult than the previous route we chosen, but since we didn’t have to account for a day of travel on either end, we could use that time for biking! The Seattle-based contingent made a pit stop in Portland to pick up our friend Charley and meet their incredibly adorable kitty!!
We started out from a neighborhood park in the heart of Oregon wine country, and took the route clockwise, and immediately uphill. It was pretty hot given it was late July so the first hill was pretty dusty and challenging. However, it was awesome to be riding in good company. There were also lots of berries on the trail which helped with morale and hydration!
Shortly before we hit Fall City and our first restock, I got my first of what would end up being 7 flat tires. My tire deflated on a decline and the other cyclists were ahead of me so by the time I realized what was happening they were out of sight. I was able to call the local ranger station and ask for help since I couldn’t connect to anyone else, but Katie rode back to save me before the ranger got there. The tire held until we started the ascent out of Fall City and it deflated TWO MORE TIMES. This would keep happening until another cyclist lent me a fresh tube. I’m still not sure what was happening with my wheel, but I suspect it was the pink tires. The tires were new for this trip, but I noticed that the rubber was coming off in chunks rather than wearing down gradually. It’s too bad they are so dang cute, but it was one of those unfortunately persistent flats situations that made me switch them out after the trip.
My tube situation put us a little behind schedule, we were supposed to camp at this weird concrete slab about 15 miles outside Falls City, but ended up choosing a pretty exposed flat spot on the side of the road since it was only a few miles out. We were running low on water by the morning, but luckily we rode by a random spring on the side of the road! It was producing delicious cold water right from the ground. I chose to filter, but Charley didn’t and they were fine. We took a lunch break at a really lovely creek crossing in the shade and I got a sweet photo of Charley being super blissed out.
After having our spirits lifted by the gift of fresh water, we made our way deep into the BLM land and took a pitstop to enjoy some forest bathing in the Valley of the Giants. It was honestly so surreal and peaceful being in a place with some of the biggest trees I’ve ever seen. I have been around giant redwoods in California, and you expect those to be gigantic; these were hemlock and fir trees that just towered above us. The understory was amazing, the ground was soft and very alive since there were hundreds of years of leaf litter and undisturbed life creating lumps and bumps, colonies of lichen, and allowing all of the native shrubs to thrive. Every step bounced back, even on the well-trodden trail. It was also so insanely quiet — there are gravel and dirt roads leading to the place, we only encountered two other groups during our visit.
Admiring big trees under a very dramatic vine maple
Day 2 was definitely our toughest, we did a ton over 50 miles and a ton of elevation which included a 3,000 foot peak outside Grande Ronde with 10% grades toward the top. After we left the BLM land, we were travelling on mostly remote logging roads so the gravel was pretty chunky. Logging operations usually lay down really coarse gravel ahead of the fall logging season so their machinery can pack it down and create a kind of paved surface as it starts to rain. This meant that we had to hike our loaded bikes over miles of tiny boulders, which is slow and a little disheartening.
I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so depleted with so much further to go. My whole body was covered in a pungent film of sweat, bug spray, sunscreen, dirt and dust — as evidenced by the photo of my legs to the right. We were all going at different speeds so we had some time at the top of the peak to admire the huge descent in front of us, and how clear cuts affect the landscape so deeply.
Luckily, after that climb we had accomplished most of the elevation and only had one big climb at the beginning of the next day left. We spent the night at Big Buck Campground and set up on a campsite that had a reservation sign, but wasn’t occupied. Luckily for dirtbag bikepackers this tends to happen a lot!
In higher spirits after the elevation chilled out
My cute bike at Hebo Lake
On day 3 we climbed up to Hebo Lake and had a shady lunch next to the lake and hyped ourselves up for what would be our last night camping. I had already learned so much about my cycling ability and seeing my friends with their superlight kits helped me rethink so much of what I had and hadn’t brought.
I also felt like I had left my bubble by going on a trip with folks who were so much faster and more experienced in the backcountry. It was definitely a different vibe than the trips I usually take with my shrimpy folks, but it was fun to get my butt kicked in so many different ways.
The terrain flattened out as we climbed a gentler slope into the Tillamook National Forest. The forest is so gorgeous and peaceful, and it was a wonderful respite from the sparse tree cover and chunky gravel of the logging roads of the past two days. We found a good turnout and climbed down to the stream for a bath (with biodegradable soap!). We were all so crusty with sweat, dust, and sunscreen that we all had to soap up twice. I let my creaky knees cool down in the icy water and when I stood up to dry off I realized I had been sitting right over a crawdad the whole time.
On our last night we stayed a little off the trailhead for Niagara Falls under the dappled cover of birch and maple trees. It was definitely our coldest night since we were in a bit of a depression near water and under tree cover, but it was worth it to wake up and hike to the falls and fill up our water bottles with such crisp water.
Roads inside the Tilamook Forest were either paved or had hard-packed gravel, and our biggest climb that day was about 1,000 feet which was a piece of cake compared to the three days prior. We wound our way through wine country roads and even stopped for wine tasting during the hottest part of the afternoon. I was so completely exhausted by the end, but super inspired to challenge myself with tougher backcountry trips. Thanks Katie for getting us all out there!
