We really like working with each other at Old Man Mountain and even though we take lots of after work rides and grab drinks pretty often, closing the doors to the shop for a few days to spend some time in the woods together just hits different. We’re super fortunate to live in Central Oregon with limitless options around us for spending time outdoors. For this trip we went the luxury route and stayed at Horse Creek Lodge for some shuttle laps and river rafting.

Horse Creek Lodge, if you haven’t been or heard of it, is a MTB and rafting lodge and guide service. They have the sprawling Delta House which sleeps 14 or more, three smaller cabins, and campsites. They shuttle a bunch of MTB trails around them including the famous Mckenzie River Trail, and they guide white water rafting trips on the Mckenzie river. They also have a great pumptrack on site which we made good use of!

The next day’s schedule was packed. We shuttled up to the top of what Horse Creek calls “the quick and dirty” which is O’leary trail to King Castle. We rarely shuttle so this really was the luxury trip. The trail starts with fast straight with steep exposure into tight switchbacks. Then ramps up to better and better flowy singletrack. The dirt was tacky, the temp was perfect, and the trail was filled with excellent berms and features to make playful if you wanted to send it and mellow if you felt more chill. The forest has beautiful pines and cedars and as you get lower on the trail you are surrounded on every turn by blooming rhododendrons – there wasn’t much not to like.

We managed 2 laps on this loop and then mobbed the 5 mile road ride back to camp to chow down on some sandwiches before hopping into our next shuttle. This time we we’re covered in Neoprene and ready to hit the Mackenzie river and go rafting. We paddled our stoked selves 14 miles down the gorgeous Mackenzie- the second coldest river in Oregon behind the Metolius. The water is perfectly clear and about 38 degrees. It’s a spring fed river that goes underground for awhile before emerging again just a few miles from where we put in.

We split into two boats and it was pretty clear the difference in the two crews. My boat, the best boat, navigated the river with precision and synchronized teamwork. The other boat charged head strong into every rock and obstacle they could find. Yes there were a couple splash battles when we got close to each other, and yes there was plenty of taunting. The river has multiple historic, covered bridges that survived the recent forrest fires and the 14 miles we passed was breathtaking at every turn.

We got back to camp and quickly dispersed for hot showers. On the docket for the night was round 2 of campfire shenanigans. Slingshots, cold beers, lots of laughs, and some burgers to cap the day off. Matt proved to be a true midwestern burger master at the grill. We finished off the night with some quality team bonding before a couple (many) more beers around the fire and then we hit the hay in preparation for the next day.

On our last day we whipped up some breakfast burritos, cleaned up the cabins and headed to the Mackenzie highway. We loaded up our Old Man Mountain bags with sandwiches, snacks, and beers and gave the Mackenzie Pass everything we had. It ended up being a total of 28 miles and despite the ever rotating weather of sun and hail, it was the perfect grand finale to the trip. The lookout at the top of Mackenzie Pass is hard to put into words. Built from lava rock in the 1930s by the CCC, the castle like observatory has windows and little tunnel like windows that frame each of the surrounding peaks. Hard to beat a good view with good company, especially on a closed road.

As you can probably guess we were all ready for a nap when we got back to our homes in Bend but being able to make team memories like that will always be worth it. Now we’re back in the office but there’s a lot more team rides ahead of us, especially with summer finally showing up. We highly recommend a trip to Horse Creek Lodge for whatever your interests might be.