The Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route, Day 5

Day 5; 169 miles (913)

Day 5 started on the N fork John Day River, at the Oriental Creek campground (at "the washout"). We crossed the trickle, and the first thing we saw was an OBDR route marker! Prepare for some flattrackin' heaven as you climb out of the gorge.

There was some funky routefinding getting to Meacham, near the Starkey Experimental forest (Waucup creek), but by now you understand our moral obligation to follow the OBDR and not take just any road. We stayed on the route whenever possible. There are not a lot of OBDR signs yet in the Wallowa-Whitman forest.

IMPORTANT!!!!.NO GAS IN MEACHAM (near the crossing on I-84)!!!!!!

Closest gas to Meacham is Pendleton (29mi) or LaGrande (28 Mi) on I-84. From Granite to Meacham is 144 mi, then it's 59 more miles to Tollgate, which has gas. (I'd recommend going to LaGrande, then just go straight north out of LaGrande to pick up the route again.)

Tollgate to Mottet Campground was 17 more miles for a total of 169 miles. Mottet was a nice primitive campground. There's a pipe poking out of the ground with ice-cold running water.