St. Helen’s - Alvord Desert - Mt. Adam’s
This was my first foray into ultra running, dirt bike over-landing, desert adventures, and then ultra running again.
I’m aiming to circumnavigate St. Helen’s and wanted to scope out the terrain and become familiar with water spots and how long it would likely take me to complete it. So I did 18 miles on the NE side of the mountain to get a lay of the land. After four hours traversing the volcanic landscape (I’m just getting started in this glorious mind gym) I continued south to the center stone event of the trip. The Not UNRally.
After changing out of my running gear and into dirtbike gear. I traveled through the Gifford Pinochet NF down to White Salmon where I picked up a good friend of mine’s t ruck and headed down to the Alvord Desert. He was generous to lend me and a 6 other people space on his truck to ferry our dirtbikes down to the SW part of Oregon. This place has been incredibly transformational for me since first visiting last year. It led to me going to Burning Man and down a whole rabbit trail of self exploration and alternative ways of looking at life. The individuals who are at these types of events are truly remarkable people and it is always an honor to spend the week with them camping on the desert floor and taking part in all kinds of shennanaganins.
This year there was an automon which was built out of steel and powered by electric. There are several people who attend this event who also go to burning man. The act of gifting and contributing your ‘art’ or ‘talents’ in metal work, electronics, lighting, is really crucial to making these events fun. I often and the more I am around these sorts of people I really take the time to ask myself what is it that I am contributing?
Thursday I went out for a ride with Pete where we came across this herd of wild horses what fascinated me most was the bay stallion who herded the rest of the horses in this herd. You can tell by his movements he’s in charge. It was also humbling to see how truly majestic these creatures are. How their bodies allow them to run incredible distances across arid and desolate environments. Their movements tell me that they were born to run like this. Unlike the rigid movements of domesticated horses.
After several days of brutal sandstorms we picked up camp and relocated to a calmer location on the desert about 5 miles to the south. What I love about this place is that it’s a complete free for all! Yet at the same time there is the unfortunate and constant reminder of how fragile life is. 1 person was injured enough to merit a helicopter ride to Bend. I believe that as we become more and more engrossed in regular society and commercial activity that our lives within cities carry us into the greater the need to break the mental and behavioral patterns. For me this usually involves getting into flow as much as possible and for as many days as possible. A visit to the desert most certainly allows for this.
My KLR 650 became a R650 as the fender protecting the radiator was ripped off as I let the moto loose on a long sand trap and put her down into the sand. I walked away with a scrape smaller than my pinky. I felt extremely fortunate and lucky. I could have easily dismembered my leg.
On the return trip I made a stop at Mt. Adams for another 3 hour run. Was feeling pretty exhausted after spending a week in the desert, the run seemed to have brought me back to life yet again. I was lucky to experience blue skies and breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains (St. Helen’s & Mt Hood in the near distance). My mind is beginning to demand that I put it in these challenging and all consuming events. I almost don’t feel awake unless I find myself tapping into these sorts of experiences on a weekly basis. 3 hours begins to feel like 30 minutes as my mind slows down and tries to absorb every moment of the fleeting experience.
