Today is Monday, I am on my way to Spokane for connections tomorrow. Sat a real gulley washer fell that knocked down the smoke air in town. What a storm, I drove thru it on Sat missing the hard downpour that scoured what I rode and drove thru. This morning I rode the Reds then drove east to this isolated place in the coulee. Prolly the last of the big open skies until east of Denver. Big open sky contrast from the Cascades.
Writing this now w/o internet in word to be pasted when
service is connected.
So, anyway. Maybe work backwards from today. But maybe need to go back several days to put it in sense. Weather forecast Saturday and Sunday at Winthrop area was for red flag warning and flash floods with heavy rains. Supposed to be after 11. I was camped up the road from the Buck mtn in a vacant driveway. Something dropped down on the van roof and scratched. Something falling from the sky, not from a tree and scratching like claws. I banged on the wall to no effect. More scratching. I opened the door to see a raptor fly away. Then a light rain fell before bfast. Shit, I planned on riding Buck mtn before the 11 forecast. Rain quit, broken clouds, possible big sucker hole. I drove down to the TH and geared up. Still dry skies. Did pack rain jacket. I repeated this ride. 42 min hump up the road climbing 988’ in 3.53 miles. Head up in anticipation of the start of the trail. No longer hurts. The first part of the ride uses old non maintained haul roads until the single track. Trail climbs in and out of several drainages in a big cirque. At the first fence crossing, a style(?), a roll up and over narrow opening. My proprioception shorted my right hand which clipped the right edge of the railing. Shit, splatter, firmly placed on the ground. The final stop was my head smashing a wooden fence post. Concussion protocol, good to see, however, 2 spots on my legs were cut allowing a blood flow down my calves. Anticoagulant med fucks with clotting allowing blood to flow. I rode a ways before accepting the fact that the left leg was not going to clot without help. I carry a first aid kit with what I needed to stop the flow. I was able to reach the left leg to put on a large bandaid. The right calf was in a partial blind spot to cover but blood stopped. Shit. Having a first aid kit is one thing, being able to bandage is another story. Finished the ride. No lessen to learn. I checked the gap which gave about 2 inches per side. I got caught. Shit, down further I clipped a tree with the same hand this time banging my little finger knuckle.
Back at the van. Decided to return to Cashmere to ride
Devils Gulch again to put off going to Spokane. Forecast for Cashmere was the
same as Winthrop. I did drive thru a brief violent almost high speed wiper
downpour. Bought groceries for 2 days then drove up Mission creek to lower
Devils Gulch. Rain had fallen. Then I drove over patches of eroded dirt. Must
have been a pretty hard rain. Slept at TH, location was determined by XM
reception which was a matter of feet one way or another.
Sunday the forecast called for sunny and dry. A truck pulled
in with 2 bikes. 2 guys got out, packing mid life girth. We have electric bikes.
They “pedaled” away before I was ready. Mission creek is running almost
chocolate pudding. I picked to ride here because if rain did fall, it did, that
it would knock down the dust and bond the dirt. Mission creek over the years
flooded out the road that the FS has abandoned it. Several places are sketchy
to negotiate plus several wet feet crossings. I followed the e bikes which are
legal. I never caught them. Made the top. Old school hiking trail taken ove by
dirt bikes and now mtn bikes. Challenging downhill with lots of blind corners,
encroaching brush, water hazards, skinny, hidden leg scratchers, nice descent
angle keeping me focused and heels down. After a hike a bike creek crossing I
swung my leg over the top tube, put my right foot on the pedal, then pushed
off. WTF? Both wheels hit stops which stalled me. I lost my balance then fell
to my left finding tree parts. Fuck, blood is streaming down my forearm from my
left elbow. Pretty bloody. I stopped and pulled out the first aid kit. I put a gauze
pad over my elbow then worked to apply the magic tape to hold it in place. 1
armed paper hanger. I was not getting the wrap done. The trail runner I passed
earlier arrived whom I enlisted his help to wrap the tape. He then ran away
down trail. I got back on my bike continuing my descent. Shit, lots of front
braking speed. Where did that runner go? I should have passed him. I finally
did. I told him I needed to pedal to stay ahead of him. I scraped a hidden
branch / tree which ripped another hole right beneath yesterday’s tear. I let
it bleed.Lots of water hazards mostly from dirt bikes but not as bad as today.
Back at TH the electric bikers were getting ready leave. One guy finished with
4% charge. I asked him to bandage my elbow after I cleaned it. I drove back
down the creek then turned up Sand creek for sleep spot.
Today I checked my body functions as I worked my way out of bed. Parts move with freedom. Perfect for a repeat of the Reds: Red Hill and Red Devil. Repeating the same ride from last week, same day. Today the trail has numerous dirt bike whoops, some with muddy water, some places there was a narrow shoulder to ride to stay out of the hole. Lots of exposure, dicey riding a skinny with the outslope falling steeply away. Dirt bike ruts, pedal strikes. Slippery mud. Rain had flowed down the trail eroding rocks into the rut. Shit, skillful descending the back side of Red Hill. New rear brake pads were beneficial for speed control. Connects to almost a mile of Devils Gulch before the start of Red Devil which is 4.86 miles climbing 762 and loosing 1017’, took 46 mins of umph. The descent at the end made the effort acceptable. All by myself. Cleaned up then drove out of the creek canyon to Cashmere.
Thursday was ride Sun Mtn trails then drive down to Twisp for laundry and shower. Mike gave me permission to sleep in his driveway in town. Clean clothes and body. Twisp is short on tourists, just locals. Old played out resource extraction town with a little bit of new blood creating a newer scene. Back in 1970 I was here to put out a fire. We were flown in from Roseburg, OR on a jumper plane then bused to Twisp arriving before Bfast. Our crew was 12 strong physically conditioned guys, mostly college age all wearing orange fire shirts. We entered a restaurant for bfast, not many customers at that hour. A juke box loaded with music of our time was inside. Several songs were played. One of our guys asked to turn the volume up which happened. Shortly a local got up and pulled the plug. Several of our guys went to the juke box and plugged it back in. The affected locals threw a huff then left. 12 against 4. Local tastes were not current to the anti war protests.
Sun Mtn trails. Guy at Winthrop gave me a ride route on the trails. Some new trails built by Evergreen: Climb it and Pete’s Dragon. Years ago I used to race a WIM series race here. Today’s ride used some of those trails, some parts I remembered. Black Bear is fun.
Sat while sitting in my van at The Barn at Winthrop a guy walked up to me and called my name. ? It was Russ from where we worked together at Boeing Spokane.
