Portland, Oregon: First van trip!

As many of you know I purchased a van last year with the intent of converting the inside into a livable space to continue my travel adventures. Well the day finally came when it was time to set out on my first adventure with it. While not fully finished yet, I had completed enough to set out on a roadtrip to Portland, Oregon to visit one of my friends, Liam. I loaded up all my camping gear, bike gear, trombone, and set out.

On the way out to Portland I spent four days on the road. I would drive about 6-7 hours taking time to get some good food, take in the landscape, and occasionally practice trombone on the side of the road. Having the van allowed me not only to camp in some pretty cool places, but also made the 29 hour drive much more manageable.

My first stop was Badlands National Park. This was a nice change of scenery from the rest of South Dakota.... I had seen pictures of the landscape before but seeing the landscape in person made me realize how alien the landscape really felt. For miles around there were rock mounds towering hundreds of feet into the air. Driving through here I felt like I could be on an episode of Star Trek. At the end of the park, I was rewarded with some bison crossing the road. They were huge!!

That evening I had what I thought was a gravel route planned in the Black Hills National Forest. However, once I started following my route it was clear it wasn't gravel roads, it was MTB singletrack. I had just put more durable tires on my bike so decided why not give it a go. Despite having the wrong bike, I had a blast. The trails were smooth enough that I could rip through them and only needed to walk my bike on a few serious rocky sections. A combination of the sunset and fall colors amongst the trees made for a very scenic ride.

By the time I finished up riding it was getting dark. I drove a little further to a nearby campsite. With no idea what was around, I settled in for the night and awoke to a beautiful sunrise in the morning.

The next stop was one I was looking forward to the most: Bozeman, Montana. If you are not familiar with Bozeman, it is a college town slightly smaller than Iowa City just north of Yellowstone National Park. It is an ever-growing outdoor paradise where you can go skiing, biking, climbing, and almost any other outdoor activity you can think of up in the mountains. When I arrived I went downtown to check out the shops and restaurants. One of the coolest shops I came across was called Vargo's Jazz City and Books. It is a book store/music shop filled with CDs, Vinyl, and books. Most of them were obviously jazz but they had something for everyone. Jazz and books all in one spot, how cool!!

After exploring downtown, I drove up into the mountains to get a bike ride in. It felt so refreshing to be riding up in the mountains after being in the car for 7 hours. The ride started out on a really nice gravel forest service road and soon turned into something that looked like ATV's primarily rode, quite rocky. Once again I ended up on some singletrack but welcomed the challenge. I finished up my ride, found a service road and set up my van for the night. Not having to worry about finding a hotel or airbnb was nice, but being able to wake up in the mountains and be out in nature is the real reason for the van.

The following day made it was clear I was getting closer to the coast. Everything was getting more green and the rain started. It had been dry and blue skies the entire drive and I was now getting a taste of what the PNW is known for. Despite the rain, the scenery was still unbelievable. You could see every shade of green in the forests and the fall colors made for very picturesque landscape. Unfortunately, I was driving in the rain over mountain passes so I did not take pictures. Instead, I recommend seeing it for yourself!

The last day of driving brought me back to a familiar place: Cascade Locks, Oregon. This is a huge milestone on the PCT as well as where the PCT Days festival is held each year. It is right on the border of Oregon and Washington and has the famous Bridge of the Gods to cross into Washington. It was odd being back in a familiar place a little over a year later. Eventually I want to go back during the festival and be around PCT thru-hikers once again! I got some practicing in and left Cascade Locks with just under an hour left until Portland. Stay tuned for part 2, filled with bikes, friends, and more!

-Joseph