One of the places with about as much distance between people (or cattle) as anywhere in the West is SE Oregon. It is a fun area to travel to and around. The landscape is very different from most of the rest of the Pacific Northwest. One of the most unique features of this area is the dry lake bed of the Alvord Desert.

Flanked on the West by the Steens Mountain, which has an elevation of 9,734 feet, this high desert area gets very little precipitation in the shadow of the mountain. Riding on the surface of the lake is a bit odd. It looks dry, but at least in May, there can be hidden mud and goo just below the white crust. It is hard to trust it as a riding surface.

So look up the Oregon Scenic Byway and the High Desert Discovery Route. You will be at least 6 feet, and maybe 6 miles away from anyone else.

Even before the current global pandemic, I was actually pretty good at social distancing. In this particular case, after a long day of riding on an unseasonably hot day in British Columbia, I ended my day at a really nice campsite.

I had a nice view of the fast-moving green water of the Fraser River, a bit North of the outpost of Tête Jaune Cache, which is not far from the stunning Mt. Robson. After arriving and securing my spot for the night, I realized I would need to backtrack to town to gather supplies (beer). After making the 30km loop, the manager of the place was kind enough to loan me a bucket of ice so I could rapidly chill my sixxer of Kokanee. Oddly enough, no one else was camping in a tent. Something about a bear in the area… I slept well, nonetheless. The bear was on the other side of the Fraser.