I got up at O-damm early this morning to knock off a long time on “The List” trails. The Mt Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument’s Ape Canyon and Plains of Abraham trails did not disappoint. Mother Nature only allowed partial views of the mountain today which clearly means she wants me to come back. The climb up through the old growth forest spared by the eruption was sublime. Climbing up onto the plains was a WOW moment. It was amazing to see what the mountain did when it decided to give its etch-a-sketch a little shake in 1980. It’s going to take me a few days to process all of the life enrichment I took in today.
Lahar next the trailClimbing up through old growth spared from the eruption.Pacfic Northwest trail awesomeness!Such an aburpt transition from the forest onto the prior devastationLike an lunar landscape on the Plains of Abraham.So pretty!A snapped of tree from the eruptionNearing Windy Gap
Over the last few days the smoke has been pretty thick considering how far away the Canadian and Eastern Washington wild fires were. The day after my last ride I was pretty congested and “hackie” so I decided to forego fun on the trails for a few days.
The smoke was pretty thick.
A little bit of rain and favorable winds cleared out the smoke enough to get a ride this afternoon. I made a return to Banner Forest for some twisty fast singletrack fun.
A had another good week of getting in some good afterwork rides in out at Green Mountain State Park. Most of the week I focused on zipped over the west side of the west side of the park to get to know that side better. Plenty of trail on that side as well.
Had a fantastic time out at Capitol Forest west of Olympia today. Miles and miles of overwhelming buff single track. I took in just under 20 miles with 2,800 feet of climbing.
Lots of dirt goodness out hereGetting some climb on
I have been getting in some good after work rides out at Green Mountain State Park. This place is my current “local” trail with the trailhead just 10 minutes away. For my first ride back out here I kept it simple doing and out and back on the Wildcat trail to the Green Mountain peak. Round trip was 8.4 miles with 1,740 feet of climbing. The views included the Olypmics Mountains, Mt Rainer and downtown Seattle. Later in the week I was reminded that trails can come and go on timber land and following one of the trails I remembered from eight years ago netted me a solid 10 minutes of bramble bushwacking at the bottom of the far side of the mountain from where I started. I was not exactly chasing daylight at that point but once you get under the trees it seems much later in the evening. I found myself putting a bit more gitty up on the pedals to get back to the trailhead just to realize I had more daylight left than I expected. Good times!
Had a great day out on the Olympic Pennisula. I revisited the Lower Dungeness and Gold Creek loop I had done some number of years ago. The last time I was socked in with clouds but today was clear skies and sunshine. Such good singletrack. I do have some tweaks to make to my review of this trail. Look for those at some point.
The last day on my commute up the coast trip included a return to the Siouxon Trail which I rode a portion of like 15 years or so ago. This time I did a much bigger chunk of it that included some rough climbing on bits that do not see anywhere near the traffic the stuff along the creeks. Fantastic waterfalls and pools along side the trail were just killer. Really good stuff. I am going to update my site on this trail.
Loamy narrow awesomeness!I forget the scientific name for this berry but I believe its called Bear Food.One of many fallsI did say many right?Yep, I sure didThe trail goes across the top of this one.I believe the scientific for this is Clover FreakinyuugeusEven my bike looks tired in this photo.
The Tolkin Campground I stayed at was literally at the trailhead. After some coffee I had off on a really early morning ride on the Paradise Royale loop. The trail is roughly 14 miles long with quite a bit of elevation gain.
Lots of great single track
But you don’t start off climbing. From the trailhead its tasty downhill singletrack.
Sneaky climbing.
The trail were purpose built for mountain biking and hats off to the designers. The climbs are not unrelenting despite the elevation they gain.
Up near the topYeah this is good $#÷t!More goodness
The ride finishes up with a climb back to the trailhead and my campsite.
After a late breakfast and a catnap I drove down the mountain to the little town of Shelter Cove.
Rugged looking section of the Lost CoastBlack Sands Beach
I had originally planned on checking out the town, camping for a second night were I was currently at and lake my way to Portland the following day. After seeing the town, I opted to move on up the coast. I made it Crescent City that evening which would make the next day’s drive shorter.
Yesterday I started a roadtrip that is going to taking me Washington state for a month of work. Instead of flying up I’m taking a handful of vacation days and driving myself up. I am going to some camping, mountain biking and scenic driving on my way up. My first day was a fairly short drive as I went up to Kernville in the afternoon to met up with Jeff Sherman and Bill O’Neil for and even catching up on life.
A bit smoky in area due to a wild fire in Yosemite
The following morning we headed up north. After dropping off a vehicle in Camp Nelson, we made our way back up to the Ponderosa/Quaking Aspens area for the start of the climb.
The climb up the Summit was substantial and downright burly steep in spots.
Getting to the top of the climb is worthy of celebration.
Once on Bear Creek the elevation shedding starting in hurry. Technical in many spots, rippingly flowy often, it was good stuff. The highlight was dropping down through a grove of Giant Sequoias.
Below the grove the trail flora transitioned to oak trees and trail became a bit more flowing with enough grade to be a rip fest
We enjoyed a tasty beer at the bottom. I had the luxury of not having to do the shuttle return back up the mountain so I drove down into the San Joaquin valley and made my way north. A great opening act for this roadtrip.
I have been off the bike for quite a chunk of time with lots of competing interests taking up my time. I have a slew of home projects, a long overdue visit from my parents, some difficult work in town as well as some work travel.
I worked under harder conditions.
It was not bad, just not mountain biking. I worked in Hawaii for a month which included having my wife out for a week.
We are still smiling here, we still have climb back down this slick ridgeline.
I did not doing any mountainbiking in Hawaii on this trip but I did do quite a bit of hiking.
Plenty of great things to see by foot i. Hawaii.Back in SD
It was however quite nice to get back to San Diego and hit up some hometown dirt again.
Playing on SoCal rocks
What is not to like about this kind of trail action.
