New Video: Descent of Bessie Butte

I haven’t put out a video in long time, not since my Flying Flannel IV - Big Wood end of season edit at Mt. Bachelor back in September 2020. I’m always thinking about new ideas for videos, but it was winter and I’m still learning and exploring the various riding zones around here in Central Oregon. I have a few ideas for Trail Samplers, so we’ll see if I can get them done over the next few months.

Over the winter, while driving out to do some caving, I noticed this butte with hardly any trees on it due to a forest fire a bunch of years ago. The lack of trees meant the possibility for some sweet drone shots. Not sure if mountain biking was even allowed on the trail, we drove to the trailhead. Sure enough, bikes were allowed (along with hikers and horses). The butte is around 500 feet high and named Bessie Butte, a sister butte to Pilot Butte which is in the center of Bend.

While hanging out at the trailhead, I could see that the trail was really popular with hikers. If I wanted to shoot video of me ripping down the trail, it would have to be mid-week and really early in the morning before anyone started hiking. We also wanted the weather to be clear so that the views of the Cascade Range could be seen. I have Wednesdays off from school (it’s a home learning day), and so it was just a matter of having the weather align.

The day came and the alarm went off at 5:45AM and we were at the trailhead by 6:30AM. It didn’t take too long to push the bike to the top and the morning views were spectacular. Once on top, the drone immediately came out and we began shooting. We shot in segments of a few hundred yards at a time with my dad down the trail, flying the drone and keeping an eye out for hikers. The shooting went really smoothly, nailing almost all the shots first take. Riding the trail was pretty sweet as well! Enjoy.