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The Oregon Desert Trail
There is far more to Oregon than Portland. Portland gets most of the attention due to the fact that 2.5 million of the 4.2 million residents of Oregon live in the Portland metro area.
Oregon is the ninth-largest state in the United States and ranked 27th in population. There is a lot of nowhere in Oregon. There are some back roads and state highways that require you to keep a close eye on the gas gauge. One close friend of mine lived in Eastern Oregon and the nearest grocery store was 60 miles away. Make sure you get everything on the list.
The Oregon Desert Trail is an unmarked 750-mile trek that crosses seven mountain ranges. It can be hiked in sections. Some say it is 800 miles long.
Whether you are looking to go a day hike, enjoy a multi-day trip or attempt a complete thru-hike, our Plan A Trip page has the resources you need. All sections of the trail can be explored on foot, and some sections can be travelled on horseback, by boat, by bike, or on skis. Some sections offer easy walks along well-marked paths, while many areas require GPS skills, significant outdoor experience and serious preparation — particularly for water sources. (Follow our water caching advice and you will surely avoid dysentery!)
The first video is of the map, a few seconds long. The second video is 5 minutes long and covers the scenery that can be seen on the 750-mile trek.
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Published in General
Quite amazing. I really had no idea what a beautiful state Oregon is. Watching some of that hiking video miles away from anyone or anything that could be emergency help makes me queasy inside. But I am sure for those who are sturdy, it’s a wonderful experience.
Beautiful country. Much of it looks remarkably like portions of the high country of northern Arizona.
And maybe a few things that AREN’T on the list.
Last year, my wife and I visited Crater Lake National Park. We were lucky enough to get a room in the lodge, so we could relax there and just enjoy the ambience.
When we left, we drove down the hill (a very long hill) to the coast at Bandon, which is a lovely town in a great location on the Pacific.
Then we followed the coast down to California.
99% of our time on Oregon roads was on rural roads that had no traffic. It was great. I would move to Bandon tomorrow if the state weren’t run by lunatics.
You saw the remodeled/rebuilt Crater Lake lodge, you luckies! I only ever got to visit the original version.
And despite its quaint appearance, it’s quite possible that Bandon is full of lunatics too. They’re all over, in Oregon.
I’m sure it is. But it is a lovely place with a wonderful climate (by my standards) so the terrible politics are frustrating.
Our drives across the Oregon High Desert and the Cascades are among my fondest life memories. Magnificent country.
It was a fine place to be a kid, and maybe it’s also nice when you’re old; but in between, not so much.
Yeah, good point, I have to admit.
On our drives, we were only dissipating wealth on a luxury, wealth we’d produced elsewhere, not producing anything to even subsist on. And the hostile, lonely country was what we found so exotic and beautiful. Not the life-sustaining presence of other people.
I think I remembered the equation, as Ruuk would put it: When you’re a kid, you don’t realize how screwed-up things are; and when you’re old, you may not care how screwed-up things are.
I drove through the SE corner of Oregon a couple years ago. I took the less traveled route through Jordon Valley up to Burns. That is remote country. And yes, I was thinking about how bad a break down would be, having seen no other vehicles in a hour.
But they’ve got to make it Electric Car Country, somehow.
When you drive seriously long distances through the western third of the US, it is apparent that the EV push is just a scam. It would be economically impossible to cover that part of the US with charging stations.
My wife and I have driven thousands of miles through country where EVs would be a ridiculous choice.
Of course, economics don’t mean much to leftists.
Leftists/environmentalist whackos like to imagine that the US is as compact as the UK. All we need are electric cars, and -probably also electric – trains.
Sorry, I read Oregon Dessert Trail. I was expecting recipes.
No. The idiots are all west of the Cascades, mostly in the Willamette Valley. The residents of Eastern Oregon are about 70% Republican (they work for a living).
After I retired, I lived for three years in Lakeview, Oregon, population 2,500 (it was the county seat), 102 miles from the nearest traffic light. It’s a very friendly farming community. I truly miss the country and the people; my family persuaded me to move back to the Valley for medical care.
That’s been true for quite a while, but it seems to be changing some, recently. As people are able to work from home etc. People don’t just flee blue states to red states and then start voting to re-create the same mess they fled; they also flee blue cities and counties to red cities and counties within the same states, and start voting to re-create the same mess they fled.
Perfect.
Bandon Dunes…a great golf course!