Video: THE GREAT OUTDOORS: New AdvenChair tours are making tough Central Oregon hikes wheelchair accessible

New wheelchair-accessible tours are now available for Central Oregonians who want to experience hiking in some of the rougher terrain of our region. A special chair is making the adventure tours possible.

Central Oregon Daily

Imagine you’ve been an outdoor enthusiast all your life and you suddenly experience a medical problem that prevents you from exploring like you did before. That’s what happened to a Bend man who endured two strokes and ended up wheelchair-bound, cut off from the places he loved going.

But rather than give up, Geoff Babb designed a wheelchair that can go pretty much anywhere.

It’s called the AdvenChair. It’s basically a wheelchair built sturdy as a mountain bike on a long, durable three-wheel frame that can roll over uneven terrain.

"Our philosophy is anywhere somebody can physically take you, you can go. The chair will do it," said Jon Hunsaker, a friend of Babb. "Eleven people took him to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Four days and three nights to go down and back up, 10 miles both directions. The fitter you are, the better, but if you want to go around Shevlin Park, Geoff and I do it, just the two of us. I can push him and be fine on a level paved surface."

Babb helped invent the AdvenChair after suffering two strokes that limited his ability to reach the places he loves. It's obvious watching him riding in the AdvenChair, taking in the scenery, that outdoors is where he prefers to be.

"It means a lot because I used to live outside. Being able to get into a place and working hard with good people. It’s just like I was hiking or climbing myself. It means a lot," Babb said.

In the rough stuff, like the trails at Smith Rock State Park, the rider must have assistance.

"You can do it fairly easily with four. One person up front. It depends on whether you are going uphill or downhill. Two people on the sides to keep it balanced, to keep the center of gravity from going too far," Hunsaker said. "Then a driver who actually drives with handlebars like a bicycle. They have disc brakes that are designed for the mountain bike industry."

This excursion marks the launch of wheelchair accessible tours—called AdvenTours -- in association with Wanderlust Tours of Bend to places previously thought unreachable.

"I think it went really well," said Jared Garfield, Wanderlust Tours co-owner. "Our mission is to get people outside in whatever capacity they are ready for. We want to meet people where they are at."

Wanderlust Tours of Bend is scheduling more AdvenTours for people riding in these all-terrain wheelchairs. They can also arrange private tours. But the wheelchair rider must bring friends who are willing and physically able to help push, pull and stabilize the chair as it passes over uneven terrain.

Darren McLoed introduced himself as a volunteer, a team leader, a chair leader and "a mule."

"My job is to keep people safe. Making sure people are hooked up the right way. Making sure people aren’t overexerting themselves, expending energy we shouldn’t and making sure it’s enjoyable. Rotating people so we aren’t all worn out. Making sure we get to good viewpoints. Scout it out. Check the trail. Making sure everyone is hydrated."

Was the first organized wheelchair tour of Smith Rock a success?

"Yes. Absolutely."

"When we have family and friends come visit us, one of the first places we take them is Smith Rock, and we always have to stop right here at the parking lot," said Kathy Foreman of Bend. "So being able to go down further, much further into the park so my husband, Lincoln, can look up close and touch things and hear more geological information about the area, it’s great for him."

Hunsaker described taking a person in the AdvenChair on a trail as a team sport. "It’s a family sport. We highly encourage people to be involved. It brings people together."

Though it appears the rider in the chair is letting the mules do all the work, they are in fact helping by maintaining their balance by holding on to handgrips and shifting their body as the chair angles and pitches over the terrain.

"One of the passions of what I’m doing here and what I’ve become involved in is seeing the smiles of accomplishment on the faces of the people we are taking out," McLoed said. "When we accomplish that, their caregivers, their families, everyone around them, it grows from there. To come out here and see that on people’s faces that need help getting where we are going. That’s the part that drives me."

This was the farthest Lincoln Foreman had gone on a rough trail in the AdvenChair.

"It’s good. Kind of narrow and steep, but it’s pretty," he said.

Does he trust his mules?

"I have no choice," he responded, which earned him a round of laughs from the mules who just finished pushing and pulling him up a steep hill.

"For our athlete today, he’s been to Smith Rock before. He hasn’t made it more than 100 feet from the parking lot. In addition to that, today was the first day he got to see Monkey Face. That’s the kind of stuff that makes me so happy. It really reminds me this is why I do what I do," Garfield said.