We voted for fun on this election day! When it’s been the usual 50 degrees and rainy pacific NW weather for weeks and you get a sunny 70 degree day in November…you go riding with your friends.
Riders…Sidekick Chad – XT225 (Serow), Kevin – WR450F, Larry – TW200 (Burro)
We wanted to stay local, as hours of light are few. With Disco passes (state land access pass) on person, we made our first trip to Reiter Foothills State Forest ORV area. It’s a fun little spot! Thank you to the State DNR, the clubs and volunteers involved to provide such a good local place to ride! These places are rare these days, as governmental lands seem to become more and more off-limits to motorized recreation. Enjoy!
Today was a family day. A beautiful sunny day in the PNW begged for a ride. So, I rode. First to meet up with the parents for brunch. Then, over to my sister and her family’s house. They have just moved back to the old stomping grounds of the Snoqualmie Valley where we grew up. Of course I had to go revisit some of the old back roads. What a great day.
Picture of the Honda CB500F with Mount Si in the background taken at Torguson Park in North Bend, WA.
The Pacific Northwest Dual Sport Riders Facebook group ride #3 was this weekend. A lot of the group camped out Friday night in Arlington, WA on a fellow rider’s property to be well staged for the weekend’s ride. Kevin and I trailered up to meet up with them on Saturday morning.
The general outline for the weekend’s route is the Mountain Loop Highway, of course we branched off onto other Forest Service roads to go over the hills and through the woods. To my dismay, on the first leg of the trip it started raining and it was socked in so you couldn’t see any of the views. Luckily, as we came down out of the hills at the Sauk River it had let up. By the time we had finished our lunch at The Burger Barn in Darrington, it had cleared up and became mostly sunny!
With stomachs and gas tanks full, it was back into the hills. It is just so great! The greenery of the vegetation, the mountain, valley and river views, and the sound of gravel ricocheting off of metal should be a definition of happiness. As the day moves on, we discuss and eventually find a fantastic area for our group to camp. The sight of bikes, tents and hammocks add color contrast to the earthiness of the forest. With a lot of hard work by some determined volunteers, a campfire was made to add the perfect touch. Libations were consumed, things were said and done, as all had a very fun night (and that is all I will disclose on the matter 🙂 ).
Sunday has us finishing the loop after one last ride up to a viewpoint overlooking the valley where we had been below, while offering a view of Mt. Pilchuck across the valley. On a ride like this, on a weekend like this, you get to know your group and your fellow riders much better. Hopefully, we’ve made some long term friends and riding partners.
What a fantastic holiday weekend in Grays Harbor county, Washington. I spent time visiting with my parents, my aunt and uncle and some other friends. We ate fresh Dungeness Crab caught by my mom and dad. I of course rode the trusty TW200 for hundreds of miles exploring the beaches, backroads, dirt roads and highways.
Saturday was spent riding and exploring as much of Grays Harbor county’s north beach as possible. From downtown Ocean Shores in the south, to Point Grenville near Taholah in the Quinault Reservation. Wherever I could legally ride, I did. Only natural obstacles like rivers ending their journey at the Pacific Ocean, or man’s obstacles in the form of signage informing of the closure of certain areas for the protection of the clam beds. It was a ton of fun exploring the beaches and all of the little towns along highway 109.
Sunday started out by meeting the parents for breakfast at the casino’s buffet. Yum! It was good that I filled up, because on this clear, sunny day, I spent the rest of it riding. Up 109, across the Moclips Hwy, Humptulips, Nisson, Wynoochee Dam, Quinault Ridge, and up to Amanda Park for fuel. Being in the neighborhood, I rode down Lake Quinault’s North Shore Rd. to check in with my friends Tom & Chris at their home and business, the Lochaerie Resort. It was so great to see and catch up with them. I was then able to make the run back to the beach in time for sunset. 235 dual -sport miles, family and friends…it’s what make life worth living.
What are we going to do this weekend? Let’s do the Dirty Face! Oddly, I hadn’t heard of this event before, but it looked like it was a lot of fun. It’s put on by the Lake Wenatchee Recreation Club.
The weekend was laid out well. Kevin and I traveled over midday on a sunny Friday. After our arrival, we found a place to park and set up camp. A few rigs beat us in, but not many. We registered and bought their event t-shirts. Camp chairs, tunes, and relaxation was in order as we watched to cloud cover roll on in. “It’ll be okay. A little rain we keep the dust down. We don’t mind a little rain.” we thought foolishly.
We were up early on Saturday, and it was cloudy but not bad. Breakfast was available consisting of pancakes, scrambled eggs and a sausage patty, orange juice and coffee too. While gearing up, the rain started. During the 8AM rider’s meeting it came down steady. “It’s supposed to stop at some point though.”
Off we go into the forested mountains and hills. It is great! As we keep climbing and racking up miles, the rain liners begin to fail. Climbing to be amongst the clouds, visibility becomes limited, and there is a frigid nip to the air. “I think my feet are dry…wait, nope.!
SO WET, SO COLD! I heard that 2 riders had hypothermia, others I’m sure were close. It stopped being fun after the weather didn’t let up, but we pushed on to the town of Entiat, WA, where we ate lunch and received temporary shelter from the rain.
We decided to slab it back to the rec club, which was still a nice ride after the rain stopped. I think the 20 or so of us that made it that far felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. It was 81 miles to Entiat, and 55 miles back via the highway. We were cold and wet, but it was still a good day. Unbelievably, neither of us crashed. Considering the conditions of the terrain and our diminishing functionality of our brains and bodies due to the wet and cold, it is really astonishing. Of course, on Sunday it was sunny and 75 degrees.
I made reservations months ago to camp at the Lake Kachess campground because some other friends had reserved sites and invited me along. Apparently, I had camped here with my family years ago as a kid. Excited to check out the area on the TW, I also invited my bud Kevin with to ride along. We got in on Friday afternoon, unloaded the trailer, set up camp, and then we explored the campground.
Saturday morning I scouted a back way via dirt to Easton, Wa to breakfast. We bounced, climbed and braved the foliage tunnels to the eatery, but it was worth it…the turtle food was good! All day we were out exploring the peaks and ridges and lake shore, stopping at picture points.
Our friends never did show. I guess the weather scared them off. We had a great time anyway!
Ah, the annual Bonehead Enduro event…it’s always one of my favorites. Put on by the VME (Vintage Motorcycle Enthusiasts) Club, it a scavenger hunt through the local foothills. With a vintage emphasis, both rider and bike, this has become popular with the newer bikes as well. Some years it’s dry and dusty, this year was misty. It is always fun to see the different bikes making the run, and who can collect all of the “bones”. Kevin usually lives up to the spirit of the ride and brings a vintage bike, but with his brand spankin’ new Yamaha WR450F street plated, and like burning a hole in his garage, he had to ride it on this day. He did get the stank eye from some. At least my TW200 model has been virtually unchanged throughout it’s 30 year production run. What fun!
Three TW200 riders from northern California have come to western Washington state to ride and visit. I joined them, 3 other Washington riders, and an Oregon visitor for a backroad ride around the areas of Montesano, Elma, Satsop, and Porter. On gravel, we got up into the clouds, fog and mist in Capitol Forest. The mix of rain and then hot/sunny weather cycling back and forth during the spring has made for vibrant foliage and flowers.
With razor clam digging wrapping up for the season, friends and I reserved campsites at Cape Disappointment State Park (formerly Ft. Canby State Park) which is right on the beach. It’s awesome for clam digging because the North Head Point separates the rest of the long beach peninsula from the beaches in the park, so it’s a private walk-in experience.
Hmmm, what else can we do on the long beach peninsula? Oh yeah, ride dual-sport motorcycles on 20 miles or so of beach! Then there is kite-flying, pulling kids in wagons, watching the sunset, etc., etc. A great time was had!
Kevin forwarded to me this Event on Facebook that someone created for PNW dual-sport riders. The plan: Edmonds, WA to Lake Quinault on mostly dirt roads. Day 1, take the Edmonds-Kingston ferry, ride to Sequim and meet up with Olympic Peninsula riders, ride to Lake Cushman where a rider had generously offered up his property on the north end of the lake for everyone to camp on for the night. Day 2 would be riding to Lake Quinault and then slabbing (term used for riding the asphalt roads and highways for speed and covering distance) back home.
It seemed like a great plan and an interesting opportunity to meet and ride with others. However, unlike the bigger ADV and dual-sport bikes, ours are not great for slabbing it, so although we planned to go, we decided to only go for Day 1 and then work our way home at a slower pace. Day 1 was pretty great with the ferry ride, meeting others and dirt riding on the peninsula. The weather was great, but the day was getting long so we decided to break from the rest of the group a little early. We made camp at Dosewallips State Park on Hood Canal. What do we do? Oh yeah, we have fun!
leisure time larry 