Today I left the very popular ranger Creek primitive camping area just after bfast. Traffic continued to pour in during the day, got too crowded. Car campers w/ generators watching TV just below big RVers that do it in climate controlled comfort.
Back up since last posting.
Thursday I rode Suntop in fog. Drove to Greenwater for $0.50 shower and stopped @ The Dalles for refill of good h2o. As i am leaving the XG a guy in a hooded parka waves me down. Low and behold it is Ryan from NUT & HR rides! He is picnicing w/ his mom in the rain. He tells me that he and Andrew plus others are gathering for rides in Snoqualmie Pass where I plan on riding next. Enjoying a bunch of guys, going to connect w/ them in Ronald, WA, maybe drink beer in tavern in Roslyn, home of Northern Exposure.
Friday I looked out thru skylight and saw a patch of blue sky. Yes, able to ride Corral Pass and either Palisades or Ranger Creek. Clouds closed back in before I could push off. Going to try anyway. Wearing knee warmers and long sleeved jersey and packing a rain coat I set off. The ride up the logging road is brutal: about 90 mins of steep climbing, something like 3000′, to TH in the fog. I was sweated up and put on the rain coat for warmth, I could have used long fingered gloves. Found Noble ridge trail shared w/ groups of hearty hikers. Following Zilly’s guide. I made the mentioned intersection w/ Ranger creek but it wasn’t marked. I continued out Noble ridge onto a very steep side slope in the fog. I was following another rider’s track. Guide was confusing but I made my route match what it read I thought. I rode this trail back in ’05 and my memory was not jiving. I continued down the ridge and finally droped down onto a road that I should have not been on. Shit, miles from beer and warmth. Turn around push back up the steeps and cross the exposed side slope again back to unsigned intersection. No fresh tracks but way more usage. Found next intersection signed for Ranger Creek which I remembered. Great, back on route. I dropped to the shelter. It was about 3:00, dark, & misting. I could go the longer more difficult route down Palisades w/ exposure, roots, and no view or drop down ranger Creek that I hadn’t ridden which was shorter and unknown. I chose the unknown shorter route. Trail did drop w/ lots of for me unrideable switchbacks. Nice thing about these wet trails is they are covered w/ conifer needles w/ no mud. The roots were suspected slippery to which I paid very close attention to. The lower section was less steep and more fun to ride. Dark under the canopy hiding the roots. Dropped out almost @ Buck Creek rd w/ a short spin back to camp. Big day measured in vert, not distance: 22.71 miles, 5274″ vert climbed, and burned 3492 cals.
Back @ camp I splurged h2o & washed off the Spot. No shower as it is in upper 40s. Campers continued to pour in.
Before bed last night I saw stars, great clearing weather but upon waking the sky was still overcast.
I am taking a rest day today after 2 hard days of climbing to drive over Snoqualmie Pass. Back into Puget Sound population density. Stopped @ Greenwater for another shower to be people presentable.
Clouds are lifting slowly. Forecast is sunny. I will have full view of clearcuts around Snoqualmie.
I bought Greentrail maps for the area I just rode. AMazing mileage of logging roads. I joked about Idaho having a lot of mileage but the White River drainage maybe has more.
This weekend is 40th anniversary of Woodstock. Ties in w/ Kesey’s Further. I was in Oregon working for the USFS during the festival. I learned about it reading a Time mag article on the plane ride home. That school year both of my roommates had attended Woodstock. I drove near the site last fall but due to self imposed time constraints I chose to keep driving.
Being in the wet for over a week one of my cabinet doors warped and won’t latch. I am hoping that the drier weather East of Snoqualmie will unwarp the door. West of the Cascades is the wet.
back to Suntop fall: My fall was broken by my camera in my jersey pocket. I dented & punctured the casing. Olympus says they will survive a 6′ drop. I dropped it from waist high. OK, my body weight and force of fall increased the force applied. I might be w/o a trail camera for awhile for either this one to be repaired or arrival of new one. Bummer.
Off over the mountains.
Camped just below StampedePass East of Snoqualmie. Drove up the pass w/ low clouds, couldn’t see Chair Peak. Parked @ rest stop and looked @ slopes of Summit and later Ski Acres. They were big back in the day, nowhere as great as 49 degrees N of Spokane where I skied for 18 years.
Drove up logging road to Stampede pass where the PCT crosses. My memory fails me on my hike thru here. Somwhere we camped near some cabins and then hiked down a road to the railroad tracks and hiked to Rock Chalet that is no longer standing. Parked @ wide spot on road and climbed the hillside seeking huckleberries. Success! Not the 4 gallons that Tom & Lynn picked but then my freezer is short of that kind of space. I have berries for my scratch pancakes for bfast tomorow really something to look forward to. Pancakes are made w/ walnuts, buttermilk, egg, butter, flour, cinnamon. Real maple syrup.
Parked @ Lizzard Lake near a series of high tension lines that sometimes snap & pop. 50 degrees w/ door shut.