Indian Summer in the Pacific Northwest
Fall back country riding in the Cascades

Fall riding in the Cascades

One of my favorite times of the year is the start of fall, the weather cools down the leaves begin to turn and the fall colors show gradually builds in the mountains.

The fall weather means different things to each of us for activities. I have found that most of my friends have many varied interest ranging from fly-fishing, deer & elk hunting to mountain bike riding in the back country to my favorite fall activity taking my motorcycle out for the day.

We are lucky in Oregon to have so many rides from the coast, foothills, mountains, desert and valleys. We countless options to ride from my place in Bend in Central Oregon we have the Cascades mountains with hundreds of miles or paved and an equal number of off road trails too enjoy then we have the Painted desert and Badlands in and around the John Day Fossil beds and river. This area needs some serious planning as you could ride for days here without seeing the same place twice. You transition constantly between desert into the foothills and then mountains and back all within 1-3 hours depending upon your chosen route. I have lived here for 13 years now and I never tire of it. One of the biggest treat or surprises comes from how the sunlight plays of the canyon walls or rivers depending upon the time of day as you fly bye.

Many times I have taken my fly rod with me to stop along one of the many rivers or streams and try my luck for awhile with the browns or brookies. The fishing can be excellant here year round, one of the biggest thrills is hooking into a steelhead on the John Day you’s better have the right gear and skill to land one of these bad boy’s. The hit like a run-away freight train and will tear you up if your not ready. I have my favorite Sage 5 weight rod that I usually take it is a medium action rod that is a good all around fish killer. I have my Powell 8 wt for dedicated steelhead or light ocean fishing the flats for bone fish or tarpon and  fly-fishing and my Ross 5wt fast action.

Most of the time I pack a travel cooler with a hearty lunch & snacks with drinks so I can just pull off where I feel like it and just kick back for a few hours if I want.

You just can’t beat the weather not to hot not to cold and you could just ride forever.

Written on September 22nd, 2011 , Outdoor Gear Tags: , ,
Fall mountain bike rides with Bubba’s

Giant Roam off-road bike

Fall in Central Oregon is perhaps the best time of year we have those incredibly nice Indian summers days with temps ranging from the cool nights to nice warm days with very little rainfall. So it’s time to hit the trail and work off that excess weight from too many bbq and of course those tasty Oregon micro-brews that we all love so much. Make no mistake about it either we are the King of micro-brews not the pretenders to the throne like Colorado or California or some other late to the party place. We have over 600 different brewers all making some heady brews to drink.

But hey this post was about jumping on my Giant mountain bike for a brisk 10 mile hump up in the foothills behind my house to feel that burn in my thighs and run old Kona boy hard till we both drop needing a drink just to get home afterwards.

Now one of the special benefits for living where I do is my access to the BLM or Forest Service roads within a half mile of my ranch in Tumalo.

There’s no better way to stay in shape than riding 3-4 times a week for at least 30-60 minutes intervals or longer as you get in better shape, good for your heart and conditioning for ski-ing, hunting and those fall fly-fishing trips treking up and down the river looking for steelhead or browns who are just waiting for your flies to swing out across the riffle into their gaping mouths and then the games on isn’t it. Theirs nothing better than to feel that hook set and then you try to finesse them to shore so you can let them go and look for their big brother.

I’ve had my Giant bike for a few years now and it’s a great bike, real tough in all conditions and never has let me down out on the trail. I’ve had a few other bikes that cost more and less but for my money you can’t beat the Giant  line of bikes.

Point is get your butt of the couch and get back in the game, you’ll live longer hunt better and most definitely have better sex trust me on that one!

Bubba’s, helping woman lower their standards for years.

Written on September 14th, 2011 , Outdoor Gear Tags: , , , , ,
It’s Time To Get In Shape For Hunting Season
Bubba's Back Porch, generators online

Bubba's Back Porch, time to plan for hunting season

Ok boy’s we’ve all been grillin and drinking all summer but deer and elk season is just around the corner. I’m sure most of us have put on a few pounds laying around the backyard or out fishing out with your buddies this summer.

I don’t know about you but I’m not getting any younger and it’s getting harder each fall to get my sorry ass up at oh dark thirty to chase those damm deer around the woods like I was still in my twenty’s which I’m not. My trusty Browning Stainless Steel barrel and Leopold scope have never missed but it’s not that light either if your out of shape to tromp around for miles in the rugged Pacific Northwest woods. Now don’t get me wrong I can still hang with the youngsters in fact I’m always amazed how soft the young bucks are after the booze wears off the next morning and all the belly aching starts. No stamina at all, just love it watching them pretend their not hurting back at camp at night walking like they’ve been in a train wreck.

So here’s the deal let’s get off the couch turn off the TV you’ll live and start talking some walks around the neighborhood with the dog or kids, i’m sure you can walk a mile or two. Do this everyday for a week or two depending on how a shape your really in. You should be walking 8-10 minute miles and be breaking a sweat when your done.

Now it’s time to kick it up a notch, get out your backpack or daypack out add some snacks, water your,  GPS and hit the woods for a scouting trip. We all know this can be fun and get you back into the swing of things, depending opon where you go take the your dog he probably needs the exercise too and it’s not illegal if he jumps a few as least you know there there.

Take care maybe well see you outdoor’s on Bubba’s back porch.

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Written on July 28th, 2011 , Outdoor Gear Tags: , ,
Tents, Trailers, Campers, 5th wheels or Motorhomes

So many choices these day’s to help you extend your vacation, hunting or fishing trip to the great outdoors in comfort and style. It’s really unblievable just how many choices are out there to choose from.

It really doesn’t matter if your budget is for a tent or tent trailer, they both offer a lot of diversity and many price points from a simple canvas or fancy backpacker tent. These can cost for less than a $100 to over $1,500 depending upon your needs and of course budget.

When we moved back from Hawaii in 1997 we bought a Coleman 12 foot pop-up tent trailer that cost us about $5,000 back then, It was pretty cool actually. It was light and towable by our Toyota SR5 pickup. when we opened it up it was 24 feet long with a king size and queen size bed plus sink, cooktop and small refrigarator and lots of storage both inside and out. We took that summer for a 4 month cross country trip to show our 10 year old daughter as many National Parks as possible heading east and then south to Louisina to see my grand mother and then on the Florida and Disney world and the Florida coast.

We camped in snow, rain and went thru a hurricane scare in Florida on our way to Orlando. These rigs are great and tough. We got it down so we could set it up in 10-12 minutes flat and tear it down even faster in bad weather. It has a great little propane heater that would keep me warm in winter while elk hunting or cool in simmer from the 12 inch insulated roof system.

 

Written on March 8th, 2011 , Outdoor Gear Tags:
Yikes, its snowing back in Oregon but not here in Tulum
Snow in Bend before Thanksgiving, not in Tulum

We moved away from dealing with winters last year for good after 12 good years in Bend, Oregon.  It was time to get back to the tropics like were used to. We spent 15 great years living on the Big  Island of Hawaii prior to moving to Bend. We kept going down to Baja to our property in Todos Santos to be close to the ocean.

Loading the wood stove is fun for awhile but it grows old when you prefer shorts and t-shirts to winter cloths. My tenant sent us pictures yesterday of our old front yard several inches of snow and it was MINUS 6 degrees – ooch.

The weather here in Tulum is so wonderful all the time and no snow. It has gotten down to the low 50′s a few weeks ago and it had everyone talking like it was actually cold. I had to put on a t-shirt with sleaves for the early morning walk with Kona ( my lab) but it warmed up real fast and we went swimming later that morning. We can swim year round the beaches and water are perfect.

It’s so good to live here on the Maya Riviera during the winter.

I wear only shorts, bathing suits, tank tops or no shirt at all.

Written on November 21st, 2010 , Outdoor Gear Tags:
Mountain biking the Cascade Range

Mountain biking in the Cascades

I know a lot of you enjoy getting outdoors whether it’s hiking or maybe hitting the trail on your mountain bike and working up a good sweat and some heart pounding fun too.

I’ve got a Giant Mountain bike that I’ve had a for a few years now and has served me well. I live just a 1/2 mile from the forest along the Cascade range in Central Oregon and there are literally hundreds of miles of trails to ride. The terrain all depends upon your experience and desire for thrills or just site seeing. I usually take my lab Kona with me so that means we will ride for a couple of hours out and back with a few stops for water and rest for him depending upon his stamina and side trips as he’s always covering twice the ground I am.

There are plenty of fresh water streams or creeks  for him to cool off in. He usually jumps a few deer or squirls to chase for a minutes before re-joining me back on the trail. It’s a great way for us both to stay in shape and be outdoors in a fresh air.

I’ve got plenty of single track trails where you need to be on your toes constantly dodging tree’s, rocks and drop off’s with plenty of things to jump or avoid. Not to uncommon to have a fall or two getting scrapped up in the process, no pain no gain right.

I highly recommend it as an activity for the whole family even small children can be brought along at their on pace building up their confidence level of being in new situations and making decisions on the fly.

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Written on November 16th, 2010 , Outdoor Gear Tags: ,
Yakima bike racks

We all sooner or later need either a pickup or van to haul our gear around but theirs another piece of sports gear that many of us use and it’s a rack system for the car roof or latches onto the truck to carry our bikes, kayaks, ladders, etc to the river, mountains, park or camping.

I’ve been using a Yakima roof top rack for years called a gun rack, why that name i have no idea. I use it for my ladders for work and can switch out the top pieces for carrying my kayak or mountain bikes.

These racks can extend your range of fun and the type of sports you can do.

 

Written on March 27th, 2010 , Outdoor Gear Tags:
Bubba’s Life In The Great Outdoors

Trinity Steelhead another Great Bubba Monment

At Bubba’s Back Porch, we will always hook you up with the best outdoor gear, we know it can be dangerous out there and only the best will do. Whether it’s camping, hunting, fishing, mountain biking, hiking, fishing kayaking or any type of outdoor activity we’ve got you covered.

We have all the best outdoor gear, clothes, and toys from the best manufactures in the world at your fingertips on our site to make your buying experience fun. We have tested or tried out many items as possible ourselves after all we live to play in the outdoors year round ourselves. 

Bubba’s helping woman lower their standards for years

Written on January 28th, 2010 , Bubba's Clothes, Bubba's Toy's & Tools, Guns 'n' Such, Outdoor Gear Tags:

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