Quick report then on to pics. Had a few plans but the best one ended up being no plan and just winging it. Met up with a buddy in Wamic and headed out to find a spot. Wasn't the best spot but it was a good camp anyway. the next day he went off to explore north of where we camped and i got a wild hair and decided to head for Bend, or somewhere near it. Headed out trying to keep to gravel and dirt but was quickly just forced to hit pavement in order to get where I wanted. A bit more planning and I probably could have stayed off the pavement more but oh well. Here is the route to my second camp: http://goo.gl/maps/cy4yB seasonal road closures were part of the problem with staying off the pavement. Another month and I could have... After much roaming around the Ochoco NF and stopping at a stream to top up my water supplies I found a spot that would do (Not all roaming is shown on the map). Set up and scrounged around for firewood . Waited until dark to light it though due to limited amounts of decent wood. That had me on slight edge as this is prime cougar country and fire is always comforting in keeping the things that might like to eat you away. Got up the next day and packed everything up and headed back to Prineville to get some breakfast and figure out a plan. Decided roughly on this route: http://goo.gl/maps/8WjoE Again there is some missing just due to google maps limitations. But north of Sisters there was more forest road exploring and getting stopped by snow. And between Sisters and Redmond I stopped at the Cline Buttes OHV area to play on the trails a bit. Found out I don't like sand with all the camping gear tagging along...... So on to pics (the best part). My first gravel on the way to meet up with my buddy. He would be hauling firewood, beer, and a rotopax of fuel if I needed it. I had a couple MSR bottles of fuel that I never did need once I went solo. Since my GPS was using the power port I had this charging solution along. Topped up my phone when ever I was stopped. The solar panel/battery just rode back there for the duration to stay topped up. The essentials and "Vampire Ant Camp" We always name the camp spots and at this one Gregg was bitten in the neck by an ant. Needless to say my GPS has a ton of little tent waypoints with odd names saved on it.... Gregg crawled in his tent early. I finished off my beer and a flask of moonshine (the legal kind) I had brought and started taking drunk pictures by the fire..... TBC.........
Next day just getting pics along the way. White River Crossing. This old house. Steins Pillar. "Jawbone Camp" It was dead quiet when I crawled into the tent. Could probably hear a mouse fart down the road. The trip home. Cache Lake. The road got more interesting. I knew the snow would get worse before getting back to the highway so I stopped here. Hey I can fit through there! Santiam River and the Detroit dam. North silver falls. So far no broken subframe, but I'll be beefing it up for these trips. The side bag racks probably add a little bracing, but I'm not satisfied with it. I want to be certain I can take a jump with a load and not damage the subframe. Though really the load on the back is more bulky than it is heavy. Heavier stuff is in a pack on my back, like water and such. And I'll just stand up over rough stuff. Can't wait until the weather is warmer so I can dump the extra sweatshirt for in camp and dump the extra blanket. That will trim down the load some. Was a fun trip though. No real plan other than "I think I want to head in THAT direction." Tripmeter A says 533.8 miles. I reset that one every ride. And I reset B every gas stop. So I can keep track of total miles on a trip, and approximate miles until I need to really think about fuel. Can generally get in the high 90's before the last bar starts flashing at me.
Which solar panel is that? I have one but its a piece of junk and doesnt seem to hold a charge anymore.
A crappy one from Harbor freight. I usually charge it up at home by plugging it in (they don't give you a charger for it, nor do they tell you that if it's too dead it has to be plugged in and charged, the panel wont do it. I just happened to have a wall wart that fit it). Then if it's in the sun it'll keep up with charging my phone and keep the battery in it charged. If I drain it down too much the panel won't charge the battery in it. It's kinda crappy but it'll charge my phone in the right conditions. I'd like to get a nicer one. But they are $$$ and this was only like $25 which is cheap for them.
Yeah you can spend quite a bit of money on solar panel devices, I found this awesome backpack that the entire back part of the pack is a solar panel for $100~
That seems like a decent price for a pack and all. As long as it's decent quality. But I have not really looked into them too much so I may be off. I just picked up the panel I have on a whim. I may research them though and find a better one. Seems to be pretty useful if you are gonna be away from power for multiple days. Always thought the panels on the backpack would be useful for keeping things charged on the go.
