At the risk of becoming an all gorge all the time blog, today I want to give a shout to Gabe’s Deschutes River tour. Last post I mentioned how a ride in the Gorge is more about getting away from it all, while the Coast is more touristy. This ride really captures that difference. It is 50 miles of solitude and nowhere.

And you know from Gabe’s opening description where it’s going. “It was mostly downhill and only 50 miles in 3 days, how hard could it be?” Haha. Yeah, been there. As soon as I read that I was hooked.

The fun thing about the ride is the portage in the middle. Gabe’s journal is understated and circumspect, he makes you read between the lines: “Hey! Made it across the first missing trestle death canyon!” and “It took us nearly 8 hours to traverse 5 miles of trails I would have been scared to hike on.”

Well, I guess in the interest of full disclosure I should share Shannon’s account. According to Shannon it was “a totally non-existent trail with six canyon-crossing trestles washed out. Loaded down with touring gear, we got our butts served to us.”

But don’t let that deter you. Seriously. If you want to get away from it all, that portage is the type of thing that separates travelers from tourists. One man’s missing trestle is another man’s traffic calming device.

I do wonder, though, if the route is more suited to a Brompton.