OfficerImpersonator
Seattle-area Rounder
Four of us past and present co-workers spent last weekend riding on and around Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and the spectacular roads in the area, especially the famous Forest Road 25 and the even better Forest Road 99 up to Windy Ridge, next to Mt. St. Helens.
I've uploaded photos from this trip to my website: http://dvandkq.net/Motorrad.htm
I rode my 2002 R1150RT-P. We had a 2004 Triumph Daytona, 2003 Aprilia FST Futura 1000, and a 1992 Ducati 1000 also in our group.
On a cloudless Friday afternoon we left work early and took I-5 south from downtown Seattle towards Tacoma. At Hwy 18 we headed east towards Auburn, and then exited onto the Green Valley Road. The Green Valley Road is an excellent ride and worth the effort in and of itself. We rode the Green Valley Road from Hwy 18 all the way to Hwy 169, just south of Black Diamond. From here, we rode south to Enumclaw and topped off our tanks as we were about to head into the mountains and away from services.
After leaving Enumclaw, we traveled in a southeasterly direction on Hwy 410 towards Crystal Mountain and Mt. Rainier. We climbed up and over Cayuse Pass and dropped down into the Ohanapecosh River valley. When we reached the Stevens Canyon Road, we paid our $5 per motorcycle national park admission fee and headed west on Hwy 706, through Stevens Canyon. At the summit, we took the customary photos at Reflection Lake.
We then continued on to Cougar Rock Campground, where we set up our tents for the first night of camping. After setting up camp, we rode up to Paradise and had an excellent meal in the main dining room at the Paradise Inn. After dinner, we rode back down to Cougar Rock in the dark. I was glad for the extensive array of lights on the front of the bike, as the night was pitch black and the road twisty and virtually impossible to see otherwise.
The cool mountain air made for a great night of tent sleeping. We awoke the next morning to another cloudless day, and headed west on 706, eventually leaving the national park. At the small town of Elbe, we turned south towards Morton and US 12. In Morton, the sport bikes gassed up and we tried to head east towards Randle, but one of our party was convinced he was in Packwood and needed to head west on US 12 to reach Randle, so it was a fun time chasing him down to tell him he had made a wrong turn. After correcting the error, we all headed east on US 12 towards Randle. Along the way, we passed a couple of gorgeous antique airheads going flat-out at 70 mph. It was fun to blow by my bike's "ancestors", which provided great perspective on how far the bikes have evolved in 50 years.
At Randle, I finally needed gas again considering we were about to enter the national forest and a complete absence of gas stations. Then we headed south on Forest Service road 25. FS 25 is ranked as the 4th best motorcycle road in Washington State by our favorite guidebook. It's easy to see why, as the gorgeous scenery is matched by a spectacular road for incredibly fun riding.
We sped along FS 25 until we reached FS 99, the road to Windy Ridge. Here the 4th-highest-rated motorcycling road in Washington State joins the 2nd-highest-rated motorcycling road in the state. We had much fun winding our way up to Windy Ridge, which in and of itself was spectacular thanks to the combination of scenery and perfect weather. A couple of us hiked up to the top of the ridge to take pictures and enjoy the view.
After leaving Windy Ridge, we rode back down to FS 25 and then back to Randle for a late lunch and the by-now-routine topping off of the gas tanks. We then headed back down FS 25, passed the turn-off to FS 99, and continued on along the amazing road, trying to take in the amazing scenery when possible, and thoroughly enjoying the riding, the scenery, and the weather.
At the end of FS 25 is Swift Creek Reservoir, and a very nice campground operated by Pacific Power and Light, Portland Oregon's electric utility and the creator of the reservoir. After setting up camp, two of our party continued on to the small town of Cougar to find dinner. I and another rider stayed and cooked and ate in camp. We enjoyed another beautiful night of camping, thanks to the continued great weather and nice campground.
Sunday morning we packed up and headed north on FS 25 once again. By now we were all getting familiar with the road, and having lots of fun tossing our bikes into the turns and racing down the straights. The complete absence of law enforcement on the forest roads made the riding much more enjoyable and much less stressful. I scraped my center stand several times on big bumps, and used my tire tread all the way out to the sidewalls, something I'd never done before. The sport bike riders were all impressed by the capabilities of my much larger motorcycle, and often they were the ones trying to keep up with me. It was a very good trip as far as my ego was concerned!
As we dropped down from the flanks of Mt. St. Helens, we entered a cloud of smoke caused by a forest fire on the other side of the Cascade Crest. An easterly wind was blowing the smoke up and over the crest and down into the Lewis River valley.
After again reaching the town of Randle, we again gassed up at the same Shell station and then headed east on US 12 towards Packwood. We had a nice lunch at a pizza/sandwich place in Packwood, and then headed north towards Mt. Rainier National Park. Shortly after leaving Packwood, we emerged from the smoke and again breathed clean, fresh mountain air.
At the intersection of US 12 and Hwy 123, we turned left onto 123 and soon re-entered Mt. Rainier National Park. We passed the Ohanapecosh Campground and the Stevens Canyon entrance to the park. We again reached Cayuse Pass, but instead this time headed even further up the mountain, to Chinook Pass and the views east and west of the summit.
We got back on the bikes and headed back down to Cayuse Pass, and then turned right on Hwy 410 towards Enumclaw. At the White River Road, we turned left to head up to Sunrise. At the intersection of Hwy 410 and the White River Road, we encountered three riders stopped, one of them with a flat tire. He was having a hard time inserting his plug and re-inflating his tire, so we helped out with our tools, CO2 canisters, and eventually ended up using my bicycle pump as that's all that would work. Eventually we got enough air in his tire, and we resumed our ride up to Sunrise. The ride up was much fun, with little traffic in front of us. The ride down was another story, as we were caught up in a long line of traffic that took forever to work through.
After re-joining Hwy 410, we continued on towards Enumclaw and eventually back home. The entire trip was well over 600 miles, with all but a very few of them on twisty two-lane roads - much of that without law enforcement. The weather was perfect, and the camaraderie was great. The bikes all performed flawlessly, and we all had an amazing weekend of riding and scenery.
I've uploaded photos from this trip to my website: http://dvandkq.net/Motorrad.htm
I rode my 2002 R1150RT-P. We had a 2004 Triumph Daytona, 2003 Aprilia FST Futura 1000, and a 1992 Ducati 1000 also in our group.
On a cloudless Friday afternoon we left work early and took I-5 south from downtown Seattle towards Tacoma. At Hwy 18 we headed east towards Auburn, and then exited onto the Green Valley Road. The Green Valley Road is an excellent ride and worth the effort in and of itself. We rode the Green Valley Road from Hwy 18 all the way to Hwy 169, just south of Black Diamond. From here, we rode south to Enumclaw and topped off our tanks as we were about to head into the mountains and away from services.
After leaving Enumclaw, we traveled in a southeasterly direction on Hwy 410 towards Crystal Mountain and Mt. Rainier. We climbed up and over Cayuse Pass and dropped down into the Ohanapecosh River valley. When we reached the Stevens Canyon Road, we paid our $5 per motorcycle national park admission fee and headed west on Hwy 706, through Stevens Canyon. At the summit, we took the customary photos at Reflection Lake.
We then continued on to Cougar Rock Campground, where we set up our tents for the first night of camping. After setting up camp, we rode up to Paradise and had an excellent meal in the main dining room at the Paradise Inn. After dinner, we rode back down to Cougar Rock in the dark. I was glad for the extensive array of lights on the front of the bike, as the night was pitch black and the road twisty and virtually impossible to see otherwise.
The cool mountain air made for a great night of tent sleeping. We awoke the next morning to another cloudless day, and headed west on 706, eventually leaving the national park. At the small town of Elbe, we turned south towards Morton and US 12. In Morton, the sport bikes gassed up and we tried to head east towards Randle, but one of our party was convinced he was in Packwood and needed to head west on US 12 to reach Randle, so it was a fun time chasing him down to tell him he had made a wrong turn. After correcting the error, we all headed east on US 12 towards Randle. Along the way, we passed a couple of gorgeous antique airheads going flat-out at 70 mph. It was fun to blow by my bike's "ancestors", which provided great perspective on how far the bikes have evolved in 50 years.
At Randle, I finally needed gas again considering we were about to enter the national forest and a complete absence of gas stations. Then we headed south on Forest Service road 25. FS 25 is ranked as the 4th best motorcycle road in Washington State by our favorite guidebook. It's easy to see why, as the gorgeous scenery is matched by a spectacular road for incredibly fun riding.
We sped along FS 25 until we reached FS 99, the road to Windy Ridge. Here the 4th-highest-rated motorcycling road in Washington State joins the 2nd-highest-rated motorcycling road in the state. We had much fun winding our way up to Windy Ridge, which in and of itself was spectacular thanks to the combination of scenery and perfect weather. A couple of us hiked up to the top of the ridge to take pictures and enjoy the view.
After leaving Windy Ridge, we rode back down to FS 25 and then back to Randle for a late lunch and the by-now-routine topping off of the gas tanks. We then headed back down FS 25, passed the turn-off to FS 99, and continued on along the amazing road, trying to take in the amazing scenery when possible, and thoroughly enjoying the riding, the scenery, and the weather.
At the end of FS 25 is Swift Creek Reservoir, and a very nice campground operated by Pacific Power and Light, Portland Oregon's electric utility and the creator of the reservoir. After setting up camp, two of our party continued on to the small town of Cougar to find dinner. I and another rider stayed and cooked and ate in camp. We enjoyed another beautiful night of camping, thanks to the continued great weather and nice campground.
Sunday morning we packed up and headed north on FS 25 once again. By now we were all getting familiar with the road, and having lots of fun tossing our bikes into the turns and racing down the straights. The complete absence of law enforcement on the forest roads made the riding much more enjoyable and much less stressful. I scraped my center stand several times on big bumps, and used my tire tread all the way out to the sidewalls, something I'd never done before. The sport bike riders were all impressed by the capabilities of my much larger motorcycle, and often they were the ones trying to keep up with me. It was a very good trip as far as my ego was concerned!
As we dropped down from the flanks of Mt. St. Helens, we entered a cloud of smoke caused by a forest fire on the other side of the Cascade Crest. An easterly wind was blowing the smoke up and over the crest and down into the Lewis River valley.
After again reaching the town of Randle, we again gassed up at the same Shell station and then headed east on US 12 towards Packwood. We had a nice lunch at a pizza/sandwich place in Packwood, and then headed north towards Mt. Rainier National Park. Shortly after leaving Packwood, we emerged from the smoke and again breathed clean, fresh mountain air.
At the intersection of US 12 and Hwy 123, we turned left onto 123 and soon re-entered Mt. Rainier National Park. We passed the Ohanapecosh Campground and the Stevens Canyon entrance to the park. We again reached Cayuse Pass, but instead this time headed even further up the mountain, to Chinook Pass and the views east and west of the summit.
We got back on the bikes and headed back down to Cayuse Pass, and then turned right on Hwy 410 towards Enumclaw. At the White River Road, we turned left to head up to Sunrise. At the intersection of Hwy 410 and the White River Road, we encountered three riders stopped, one of them with a flat tire. He was having a hard time inserting his plug and re-inflating his tire, so we helped out with our tools, CO2 canisters, and eventually ended up using my bicycle pump as that's all that would work. Eventually we got enough air in his tire, and we resumed our ride up to Sunrise. The ride up was much fun, with little traffic in front of us. The ride down was another story, as we were caught up in a long line of traffic that took forever to work through.
After re-joining Hwy 410, we continued on towards Enumclaw and eventually back home. The entire trip was well over 600 miles, with all but a very few of them on twisty two-lane roads - much of that without law enforcement. The weather was perfect, and the camaraderie was great. The bikes all performed flawlessly, and we all had an amazing weekend of riding and scenery.
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