Oregon Backroads
A Twisting Journey
Available Now!
A Twisting Journey: Southern Oregon Backroads Guide to the PCT is a high country road trip along the Pacific Crest Trail, spanning Southern Oregon from California to the Willamette Pass. Region by region, the color photos and unique hand-drawn maps guide hikers and wheeled travelers to key intersections of the PCT and major roads. The pages are packed with valuable information on camping and fishing, optional side roads to lakes and waterfalls, and opportunities for day hiking in the surrounding environment. With an eye to the natural world, the guide illustrates human and natural history along the twisting way. Tips on lodging, food and local attractions round out the regional adventures.Author Ed W. McBee
After more than 40 years of travel along the west coast, Ed McBee has compiled two travel guides describing the myriad roads and attractions along the backbone of Oregon. A Twisting Journey describes the route from California to the Willamette Pass, A Twisting Journey Continues explores northern Oregon from the Willamette Pass to the Bridge of the Gods.
The Scenic Route
“Some time ago I started thinking about traveling the length of Oregon. Shadowing the Pacific Crest Trail, I would seek out the ‘scenic route.’ Traveling the backroads and staying in the high country would be my mantra. Keeping a journal along the way would be part of the fun too.
Author Ed McBee and trail buddy Brio at Lemolo Falls.
“Avoiding the freeways and following the PCT from the point where it enters Oregon from the south (just like hikers on the PCT do) to the north all the way to the Columbia River and Washington State would be my ultimate goal.
“Of course the research involved in exploring a road trip version of the PCT would mean I would have an excuse for doing some of the things I love best; kicking around the mountains and backroads of the American West. Dang…I’m a lucky guy!”
~ Ed W. McBee
WHERE TO BUY
Author Ed W. McBee’s books, A Twisting Journey: Southern Oregon Backroads Guide to the PCT and A Twisting Journey Continues: Northern Oregon Backroads Guide to the PCT are available at many outlets across Southern Oregon. We invite you to support your local bookstore. If these books are not on the shelf, a bookstore can order it easily and quickly. Of course you can always purchase directly from the author HERE.
If you prefer, buy from one of these online retailers:
Excerpt from A Twisting Journey
The Lay of the Land
“Oregon has always been a difficult place to get around in. Because of the rather orderly north/south nature of the Cascade Mountains, east/west travelers, will be confronted with this natural barrier. Several passes (low spots) present themselves to the traveler. In the Cascades, these natural east/west trails were well established foot paths for thousands of years before Europeans arrived on the scene.
“In sharp contrast to the ordered nature of the Cascades, the tangled geography of the Klamath and Siskiyou Mountains of Southwestern Oregon makes travel in any direction especially tough. The Siskiyou Range is part of the geologically diverse Klamath Mountains of southern Oregon and northern California.
“The Siskiyous are a rarity in North American geography with most mountains (like the Cascades) lying along a north/south axis.The Siskiyous run basically east/west connecting with the geologically young Southern Oregon Cascades near Ashland and the ancient Klamath Mountains to the west. This jumbled heap of mountainous terrain has been appropriately called the ‘Klamath Knot’ and the connection provides for an incredibly rich biological and geological diversity.”