Did it, carried my bike, have pictures of views. I spent Thurs night @ TH pondering the map and during s spell of internet access I read a local ride description: ride it clockwise. Popular TH and ride area for horses as 1 load came in after dark. Road climb is 3000′ and steep in places, imagine the size of the truck engine to pull a trailer w/ 4 horses in it. Way bigger than my Sprinter.
Geared up and headed out just before 9:00. I exchanged greetings w/ the night arrived horse packer. I saw a mtn biker w/ dog @ TH and pedaled up to learn of his plans. He planned the same route and I tagged along. During the conversation I learned that his name was Gary and he is senior design engineer for 777 new wing @ Boeing. He had ridden several of the area rides but had never put this complete loop together and I was “eager” to help. The trail climbed up to Clooney lake and was an acceptable ride in spite of dirt bikes, horses, hikers, & mtn bikers chewing up the pumicey “soil”. Trail climbed again up into larch forest and opened up. Views are stellar. At Clooney lake the trail climbed as in “carry a bike” up to pass and views stretching across Lake Chelan that was hidden by foreshortening peaks. We saw Stuart, Glacier, Pyramid ( from 2 days before), very rugged peaks. Another hike a bike across a talus slope brought us to top of Angel’s Staircase which is a technical ST downhill switchbacking across mountain side dropping down into an alpine basin. Gary rides an older hard tail w/ 2″ travel fork and rim brakes. He can ride it pretty well. I passed him on downhills enjoying the plushness of my full suspension and disc brakes. My bike’s travel is 5.5″, i measured amount used after ride and found I still had 1.5″ available.
Ride was only 21 miles and about 4500′ vert but it was slow and took about 7 hours some of that time was spent gawking @ scenery. Prince Creek flows down to Lake Chelan, this was a creek I hiked up several times on backpacking trips.
Final climb up to Horsehead Pass and then almost all downhill on a way more dusty trail. Appears that most traffic travels this trail because of steepness of trail above Cooney Lake.
Back @ TH there were more rigs. One was from Spokane and their trail registration stated “loop” just like mine. I wrote a note on my card inviting them to visit me under their windshield wiper. They stiffed me. They might have finished their ride just before dark.
I spent the night @ the TH and shared Oregon ride info w/ Gary.
Last night forecast called for possibility of showers. B4 bed I covered the bikes. During the night I heard rain drops and smiled again in that i did not have to get outside to cover them up. Hardly any rain fell. People have said it has been a dry summer. Fire danger is very high and no fires or charcoal grills are allowed.
Today several more horse rigs arrived before i left. Glad I rode during the week than today.
I drove down and further up Methow to Winthrop to an outdoor shop for local ride info. I was shown a Falcon Press book, as a rule these books are just junk. She said falcon hired a local to write the guide, none other than Steve Barnett. We have some history but it has been resolved.
Winthrop is this funky old logging town on rt 20, the North Cascades highway. The engine quit years ago and it is now a small tourist town attracting tourist driving the Cascade Loop from the Puget Sound. The road thru the N Cascades is spectacular.
My plan is to do a ride near Loup Loup, Starvation Mtn & Lightning creek tomorrow and then drive over Sherman Pass, again on RT 20 and then on to Spokane early next week. I like being in familiar places.
Earlier this week a large outside pot grow operation was busted near Sun Mtn. Several helicopter flights were required to ferry all the evidence out to be burned @ an undisclosed location.
I am reading another Wendell Berry book, That Distant Land. It is a collection of writings arranged chronologically and many of his characters lives are carried forward over the years. I read one about Mat, 84 yo, too old to work his farm anymore. He grows a garden and spends time resting after his work. he is worked out. One day he determines that his fence line needs looking after and heads out on a walk longer and harder than he has done in several years. At first it is all downhill. He passes work that he did during his time and remembers the people long gone who helped him. He turned around and was faced w/ the daunting task for an old man to climb back up to his house. He struggles, several times he falls and wills his body to get up and keep climbing. While he is down he thinks that were he is is a pleasant spot and that he could stay there forever. Fortunately he is rescued by younger people in his life. That night in his hoes his wife finds him wandering around in the dark. He doesn’t know where he is. He is put to bed and the next morning his mind is gone. he remains in bed for days and suddenly his mind recovers and he is among the living. But he decides that he will never get out of bed. Slowly his body gives in and he dies of worn out old age. I thought about this writing during my carry a bike up this climbers way trail. I wonder when I will be faced w/ my help, I have fallen and can’t get up and then i do not want to get up anymore. I am just shy of 60 and someday i will be worn out and can’t play @ this lifestyle anymore. It is in my mind. Mtn biking is filled w/ pain and punishment and much joy. Elevated pulse and ragged breathing. It would be easier to ride the trails in the midwest that lack the thousands of feet of climbing. Someday way off into the future. How do you face your own mortality? How do you accept that your body will not allow you the joys of physical exercise?
Off to more punishing rides and pushing out that day.