Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route

Getting ready for the trail ahead at our campsite near Walla Walla, Washington.

Paul Guillien is the General Manager at Touratech-USA and rides a GS650 X-Challenge

Tome Myers, the owner of Touratech-USA, prepared the route for us using a GPS and good old fashioned maps.

I'm traveling along as a videographer.

Were testing all kinds of motorcycling products like this GPS comparison between the Garmin 276 and the new Zumo660.

Tom Myers is riding the new BMW F800GS motorcycle which he called "the perfect bike" for this ride.

Paul is on the BMW 650GS X-Challenge loaded up with a larger gas tank, custom seat and the new Zega panniers.

Once every day or two we have to leave the trail and resupply in local stores along the way, usually stocked with a bare minimum of food and supplies.

Short stretches of pavement connect the long portions of dirt road that make up this challenging route.

A view of the terrain we are traveling across, a mixture of forest covered mountains and logging roads.

Helge found the best angle to shoot a picture at this location.

Long sections of the route consist of a maze of forest service roads.

Our best camping spot next to a river. The first chance for a bath in days!

We built a campfire every night and sat around the fire telling stories which is always the best part of the day according to Helge.

I'm riding the BMW R1200GS motorcycle and camping in a Bibler tent.

We stopped to look out over the mountains at all of the burned out forest, a common sight in many sections of the route.

It was really hot outside in the middle of the day, but not as hot as Seattle which experienced it's hottest day ever (105 degrees) on this day.

The scenery changes and we find ourselves traveling through a dense section of cool forest.

One of two river crossings we had to make on the ODBR.

I made the guys go stand on this little rock outcropping so I could shoot some video of the scene.

Cattle were a frequent sight on the dusty back roads of Oregon.

This bobcat is one of two that lives at the Bearcat Lodge in Seneca, Oregon.

The Bearcat Lodge is for motorcyclists and we stumbled upon it accidentally.

Owner J.W. Everitt has a thing for cats!

Happy to be back on the trail, so to speak, and heading off into the unknown.

A waterfall near Cove Palisades, a scenic destination for Oregonians.

You just can't beat a sunset like this one can you?

A few of our campsites were pretty primitive places without any kind of amenities at all.

After traveling through the desert of Eastern Oregon, the Cascade Mountains began to appear on the horizon.

We thought about wild camping near this small lake but the mosquitos were too bad.

We opted for this high meadow instead which was a good decision.

The final campsite of the trip and the last place to shoot all of the videos.

Is Tom ready to go back to the office and all of it's responsibilities?

The F800GS makes a good firewood hauler with the help of a couple of Rok Straps.

The biggest bummer of the trip for me - when my tubeless tire came off the front rim!

The bash plate was very effective and useful on this trip. Here it is being held on with bailing wire and a large zip tie after taking a few too many hits from logs and rocks.

Tom found a metal culvert pipe to hold the bike up on the center stand in order to remove the front wheel.

Riding with friends makes it easier when things go wrong. In this case, Tom is bringing the flat tire into town to get it fixed while we wait it out in the hot sun.

The homestretch! Back in Washington State heading through Mt. Rainier National Park