- I wasn't really expecting a legit river.

I really wasn't.

I've been going for about eight hours, I guess.

And I've made it 12 miles.

I think it's going to be an interesting rest of the day.

- [Narrator] It's no small thing to hike 750 miles through one of the harshest landscapes in Oregon, but Sage Clegg was determined.

And in 2013, she became the first person to complete Oregon's newest long distance route, the Oregon Desert Trail.

- I'm not really trying to escape from anything or get to anything.

I just like being out there and cruising along and seeing what the world is at that moment.

- [Narrator] There probably was no better person than Sage to tackle the Oregon Desert Trail or ODT as it's called.

- I started thru-hiking in 2008 with the Grand Enchantment Trail.

I hiked for about 30 days on that and was hooked.

Hiked the Pacific Crest Trail.

And then hiked northbound on the Continental Divide Trail.

After that, walked southbound on the Appalachian Trail.

So, I became the first woman to hike it within 18 months.

- [Narrator] But Sage found that compared to those more famous long distance trails, the Oregon Desert Trail is more of an idea than a physical path.

And that's by design.

The Oregon Natural Desert Association, the conservation group behind the trail idea, wants people to shape their own adventure without signs that spell out every turn and junction.

- Out here, there's absolute freedom.

Your feet are not going to be walking on the same exact spot that my feet were walking on.

That's the beauty of a route versus a trail.

- [Narrator] Among those who followed sages lead is Renee Patrick, another ODT tracker, who logged an impressive 10,000 miles of hiking around the country (Renee laughing) before snagging a job as trail coordinator for the Oregon Natural Desert Association.

- Sometimes it's hard to resist a little shoe skiing action.

Traditionally, people think, why would you want to walk long distances across the desert?

But there are some of us who do.

The desert is quite interesting.

You may have to look a little bit closer than you might in other landscapes that are more lush and verdant, but the desert has a lot to offer, if you're willing to give it a chance.

- [Narrator] So, if the Oregon Desert Trail isn't an actual path through the dirt, then what is it?

The ODT is really any route that weaves existing trails, public land, and public rights of way between Bend and the Owyhee Canyonlands near Idaho.

Think of it like a treasure map that loosely connects remote towns and the scenic highlights of the desert.

- Of the different types of training you'll encounter, 11% is trail tread, About 33% is cross-country travel, and the rest are roads, mostly dirt roads, primitive two-track roads.

- There's nothing to ever tell you you're on the Oregon Desert Trail.

Only your brain will tell you you're on the Oregon desert trail.

There's no signs.

There's nothing.

It's unmarked completely.

- [Narrator] When we joined Renee in the Pueblo mountains, we got a taste for just how serious hiking this trail can be.

- It demands respect.

It demands you show up with a solid set of skills and you have to be aware and present in order to be successful.

We'll be starting a cross country section and wrap around this far side of the ridge at about 7,000 foot elevation.

- [Narrator] If you think that a trail across Oregon's desert would be easier than a track through the cascades, think again.

Hikers here need to navigate seven mountain ranges.

(Renee breathing heavily) - You go up and over a big mountain range, and then, there's the flat spaces between them.

And it's almost like this reset.

You know?

You get back out to the nothingness of sagebrush land and then pop back into a mountain range and back down into another basin.

And I really felt what basin and range meant on the Oregon desert trail.

It became very clear.

(Sage chuckles) - [Narrator] The Oregon Natural Desert Association has used the experiences of Sage, Renee, and others to create maps of public and private land, provide information about finding water, and to give GPS coordinates to key landmarks.

But there are no plans to turn the Oregon Desert Trail into any kind of comfortable, well-provisioned hikers' highway.

- You really do need to know how to get yourself from point A to point B and having the ability to manage yourself properly in desert conditions.

And that can mean a blizzard or hypothermia in the Owyhee, as well as, 105-degree days out in dry sage brush.

Yep.

Cold.

I'm cold.

I'm ready to go sit in a hot spring.

You can get away with kind of cruddy planning on a trip up in the Cascades and probably be fine or at least bump into another person who can rescue you.

But out here, that's not really an option.

- So right now we're at waypoint EB082 which is a questionable water source.

Water is the crux of this trail.

(water flowing) Not only, where is the water?

Is it seasonal?

Will you need to filter it?

Treat it?

And then how long are you going to have to carry that water until your next reliable source?

- One of the harder things about the Oregon Desert Trail is it starts right away with some huge waterless stretches 40 and 50 miles without water.

- [Narrator] Sage did cache or place water in advance at key locations, but it wasn't always enough.

And just as often she had to make do with whatever water she could find.

- So I got to get out there and find that there was water in places that I wasn't expecting it.

Or sometimes there wasn't.

There's no drink mix in that folks.

That is my water.

But you know, today is a scary hot day and I'm incredibly lucky to find water at all.

That was my main anxiety.

I mean, heat's something I could deal with as long as I have water.

Getting lost is something I can deal with as long as I have water.

Water just kind of ruled my day.

But at the same time I needed to let go of that anxiety a little bit.

Otherwise, I would never be able to hike a trail like the Oregon Desert Trail.

Every hike I do has those moments where I was just like, why am I out here?

And I might not even think that.

I might just think like, wow, I'm out here and this is really hard.

For me, that happened out in the Owyhee.

I felt like I was in like "Lord of the Rings" or something.

And all of a sudden here I was at Mount Doom.

I'm definitely on edge today.

Not only have I almost stepped on nine rattlesnakes, it's also just really stressful travel.

It was just really intense to be walking through water and stinging nettles, and slipping over beaver dams, and having one extreme thing after another being thrown at me.

(bugs chittering) Sometimes, I just felt like I was walking through what felt like a prehistoric grocery store or something.

Though, I felt like I was the only human being out there right now, I certainly hadn't been the only one to ever be there.

(wind blowing) (footsteps crunching) I was kind of overwhelmed by how big it was.

That's kind of how I feel about the whole ODT.

It's just a lot of vastness.

But all of a sudden, I started seeing all these little ants crawling up and down the sagebrush that I was sitting under.

And there's all these little aphids on the tips of the sagebrush.

And there was all this cool lichen and it was this whole small universe that only lives right there.

The whole world just opened up a little bit more.

And I felt like, okay, that's what this place is all about.

(wind blowing) (birds chirping) - [Narrator] You can go anywhere in Oregon and hear complaints of crowded trails and overused landscapes, but the desert is big enough that hikers, like Sage and Renee, say they went days without seeing anyone.

For Renee, the solitude of the desert is one of its biggest rewards.

(wind blowing) (plastic crinkling) - Long distance hiking is really a lifestyle.

It's more than just the miles you make.

That includes many nights sleeping out in your tent or under the stars.

I love to bring something to read, to take my shoes off for a little bit, air out the feet.

It's really a lifestyle that includes simple pleasures.

(birds singing) Then, when I get to town, it's a time to replenish all those calories you've burned and stock up for the next leg of the journey.

- What flavor would you like?

- I'm gonna do an Oreo cookie... People were very curious when I would get to town, tired and dirty, sit at the cafe, polish off a big plate of food, And there were lots of questions, usually.

What are you doing out here?

Granted, there have only been 11 of us, so far, to have completed, but there've been lots of others who have done sections.

(gear knocking) - I came out today to explore a section of the Oregon Desert Trail near Pine Mountain.

- [Narrator] Completing the entire 750 mile trail can be an intimidating goal, but the ODT can be done in sections or even as a series of day trips.

And hiking isn't the only way to do it.

The point is to find your own way and to go at whatever speed works for you.

- Know what you're getting yourself into, but on that same note, let yourself go at some point.

- When you spend a few days or weeks or months on a trail, you get to know yourself and nature better.

And if we all went on a good long hike I think we'd all be a little happier.

(bugs chittering) (birds calling)