A few hours ago we pretty much completed the loop, reaching the top of the Mrazek trail, which is a heavily ridden and mostly downhill ride into Bend. We could have been done in a few short and easy hours.
But, we are not done! We have our biggest climb yet, and the centerpiece (literally) of the loop — climbing South Sister. We completely over-estimated the time (and food, and water) it would take to get here, thinking we’d probably be climbing it a day later. But things went a little better than expected.
Rolling out of our lovely and barely-out-of-town campsite, the great riding continued on heavily ridden MTB trails. There’s a spiderweb of trails, but pretty much you can follow either the Peterson Ridge West or East trails, and not get too confused. The former (West) hugs the rim of the ridge, yielding some occasionally techy moments and some big views on top of volcanic rocks.Â
The Peterson extension (or tie) trail continued on, and featured a number of jumps and berms. One of the coolest conversions of a 2-track to a bike trail I have ever seen. The new bike trail was also mercifully cool, rolling into a cold canyon that had not yet been baked by the sun yet.
Forecast was for 100 degrees in Bend/Sisters. We were hoping to get high before it got crazy. What we didn’t know is that the first miles of the Metolius Windigo Trail are through a burn area. We knew they’d be steep. That combo meant we got roasted pretty good.
But, the views, the views! Ez has been so viewshed deprived that she was eating up the loose and *just* rideable trail. I enjoyed the climbing challenge, for certain, but was just a little surprised she was digging it so much, and committed to staying on it. We got very up close and personal views of the Sisters, Broken Top, and back to Black Butte. We got excited for the Sister climb to come. “We go up there!”
At the top of the MW trail was another massive burn area. Nothing but toothpicks were left behind — not a single tree spared. But it seems the horseback riders have all but abandoned this segment, meaning the trail is actually in pretty good shape, and pretty darn rideable. Once again, the views were well worth it.
What’s that? Rushing water? Is that water?
A clear and frigid creek was blasting down through an otherwise dry, dusty and desolate wasteland of a landscape. Snow Creek — it was too cold to even keep your hands in momentarily. I dipped my bladder in and smiled every time I took a drink. It was almost as though I had a half ice half water bladder.
A mile off the MW trail is Three Creeks Lake, where we had heard rumors of a store (thanks Jolene!). Sure enough a tiny and almost unbelievable store sits on the shore of the lake, and at the end of a long dirt road.
Sodas, ice cream, dip in the lake, shade … redemption!
We lulled away the hot hours by the lake, watching families swimming and playing. It was pleasant.
Another ice cream got us on our way, where we rejoined the MW trail. Recent sign of horse traffic — they use this section. Was it so bad? No. Was it good? No. Singletrack is great, but when there’s a fun road that parallels within a quarter mile…. well, I’d have a hard time telling anyone to take the churned up sand pile of a trail. And that includes us! We bailed after about a mile, then before we knew it, on the road, we were at the top of Mrazek Trail, and YES, there were bike tracks all over. A place people ride! We were so happy to see that mountain bikers have taken over the next section of the MW trail.
We could have descended into town and called the loop a roaring success. But, a mountain calls! 7 or 8 more miles of the MW trail took us to the Cascade scenic byway, and a few paved miles to our free campsite at Devil’s Lake. Devil’s is also the trailhead for South Sister.
Let’s just hope the large group of high school kids that just invaded the site next to us go to sleep at a reasonable hour so that we can get some sleep. Perhaps they are climbing the peak, too. Seems like this is the place to base from.
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