Early spring riding in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

Since we didn’t have a winter this year early mt. riding came sooner than normal.  We took the 2-stroke out and explored all the trails we could get to out Mt. Loop Highway.  Up green mountain road, down all the side shoots and across the closed bridge.  We found everything from sun to hail but any day on the bike is a good day for me.

We also attended the Tanks and Helmets show at Nuemos in Seattle, great art and cool bikes.  The burnout was great this year.  Stay tuned, more posts and riding to come.

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Weekend Update

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While the northeast has been getting slammed we have had an extremely warm and dry winter, I guess you could say its payback for the Super Bowl.  Saturday I headed out early to catch the 8am ferry out of Edmonds to do some riding on the Olympic Peninsula.  Trails were fast and empty for the most part, despite the nice day, most people hiking/biking close to town.  It was a short day due to some time constraints but it was fun.  Sunday Ashley and I slept in way to late with Ham, he is quite the Sunday snoozer.  Coffee and Breakfast were made and the afternoon was spent scrubbing the mud from previous weeks off the noble steeds.  Next weekend looks wet for now but, Ham is crossing his toes for sun since we are headed to his Frenchie Frolic with his smush face crew at Magnuson Park.

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Goat Lake Hike

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With a sunny day in early March and the bikes out of commission for a few days we set off to check out Goat Lake.  Located about 31mi east of Granite Falls out Mt. Loop highway, nestled between Foggy peak and Sloan peak.  Approach is fairly level with a slight gain as the wide trail winds into the valley before forking giving you an option on what trail you want to take.  We took the upper approach headed in and the lower river walk on the way back.  There wasn’t much hiker traffic but more than I expected due to how far out it is.  As you approach the lake the trail meets up with Elliot Creek, the outlet to the lake, for some pretty waterfalls.
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The lake is very picturesque, as are most of the alpine lake in the region, partially frozen it was very calm.  The mass of logs near the outlet makes a great picnic spot to take a load off before you start your decent.

Make sure to keep a lookout for the fork in the trail as it is easy to miss on the way down, I would suggest taking the opposite fork on the way back to get more bang for your buck.  While not the hardest hike in the area its very doable with spring unconditioned legs. 1400′ feet in total ascent and 10.5mi in length.  Put it out your spring list.

WADBR Run in February

A sunny day in February is hard to come by so we decided to do a little dirt riding.  We departed out of the Issaquah Egg and Us and headed east on I90 to Ellensburg to catch section 2 of the Washington Backcountry route.  This section holds the nasty rocky section know as Bethel Ridge, what better combination is there than nasty, rocky, hilly, baby head size rocks and huge adventure machines.  There isn’t one.  We gassed up and headed towards the hills to tame the beast.  We were one short of the adventure foursome this weekend due to some domestic duties (family wedding) that Tamara was tending to, she was missed but she probably didn’t miss Ol’ girl Bethel.

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All seemed easy breeze for a while, easy rolling hills and great views.  After a while of standing and not paying attention to the GPS I noticed we missed a turn and were not on the right road, rookie.  We took the opportunity to take a break and get down on some steak strips, dried mangos and valdosta pecans before doing some recalculating.  We found a connector road that met up with the trail and pressed on, only to find out its freaking elk migration season and a large locked gate.  Whomp Whomp.  This gave us the opportunity to head back and ride what we missed on the little “adventure cut”.

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Soon after turning back we found what we were looking for on Ol’ lady Bethel, the riding changed drastically from rolling hills to ruts and rocks galore.  There were some spills and some big bikes taking small “naps” but we made it out and back to the highway without too much damage, bumps or bruises.
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We decided to catch section 3 from Ellensburg to Cashmere to avoid pavement to Leavenworth.  All was good till we ran into reality of winter in February in the Pacific Northwest, snow blocking the road and 31°.  After frantically donning the heated gear we blasted over Blewett Pass north to find some beer and brats in little Bavaria.

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Now for what turned out to be the roughest/stupidest part of the day, tempting fate on two wheels crossing a mountain pass at night in the winter.  45mi of clenching later the temp was rising and we were in the home stretch, a warm shower felt pretty good.  376mi, 14hrs, a few doritos locos, quesoritos, 3 brats and a ton of mud later it was a good pretty good day or riding.

December Weekend: Whisky Tasting and Hiking

Ashley with the future addition to the family, Hamilton.  He was terrified we will see how he does on Thursday.  (We are not buying him at Petsmart, just a convenient meeting place.  Calm down PETA.)IMG_2330

Since Morgan ditched me this weekend it was a weekend solo with the girls.  At least I convinced them to go Whisky tastingIMG_2351

Sea Urchin at the market, acting like tourists.IMG_2333

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Whisky tasting at Westland Distilling in SODO.  Go if you haven’t been and are in Seattle, one of the few places putting out a peated product thats good.IMG_2341

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Vladimir Lenin in FremontIMG_2349

Skee Ball at King’s in Ballard IMG_2350

Big Four Ice Caves on Mountain Loop HighwayIMG_2408

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36 Hours on the Oregon Coast

36 Hrs. on the Oregon Coast from Adam Barhan on Vimeo.

As the dreary forecast continued to improve Ashley and I decided to head down to Newport Oregon to try Rogue Brutal IPA from the source.  We headed out of Everett, WA around 8 and blasted down I-5 to Longview, WA.

Pre ride coffee at Silver Cup Coffee

 

Longview WA

 

After escaping the windy slab (I-5) we traveled through Longview, WA, crossed the Columbia River and scooted down Apiary Rd. which was surprisingly well traveled. Be cautious of logging trucks crossing lanes, but enjoy the twists and turns on this damp scenic drive. Hungry and ready for some sun we then took Hwy 6 SW through the Tillamook State Forest, which was a scenic 2 lane highway leading into the farmlands of Tillamook.

Lunch at Tillamook Cheese factory, was not quite what we expected.  Tillamook is the Disneyland of cheese places apparently…I guess we were expecting something less commercial and more crafty.  Oh well, scratch that one off the list! If you do stumble into the factory, do not order the mac’n cheese, YUK! It was very reminiscent of elementary school cafeteria tasteless goop, oh well.
Tillamook Cheese

We had a beer after lunch at Pelican brewing in Tillamook before we headed out to the cape.  We later found the Pacific City location, and in retrospect would recommend skipping the Tillamook taproom and enjoying a brew on the beach in Pacific City.
Pelican Brewing

Cape Meares beach; a very cool small town out on the cape with gorgeous sandy shores.  We intended to do the 3 cape tour but the road from Meares south was closed at the time.  We did find a Tsunami emergency route that looked quite fun, and as expected Ashley tried her best to convince me we could bypass the gate. Ultimately we refrained since the lock and key usually indicates a potential trespassing charge.
Cape Lookout State Park

Cape Lookout; you can see the gorgeous spit that went on for miles, just beautiful!
Cape Lookout State Park

Another small beach town, Neskowin. Looked like a great place to stay on another trip!
Sunset on the OR Coast

We continued south on 101 arrived in Newport around 6pm, and checked into the hotel at Nye Beach. We decided to head to Rogue for dinner and drinks, hoping to meet some locals and swap stories. Rogue definitely surpassed our expectations, with a very eclectic little bar reminding you how small a large craft brewery can feel.
Rogue Brewing
Rogue Brewing
Rogue Brewing

The view of Nye Beach from the hotel.  The shore looks close but 5,300 stairs later your feet finally hit the sand, it was a gorgeous morning and we enjoyed coffee listening to the waves. We would definitely recommend staying near this beach, not too crowded (especially in November) with lots of room for activities.
View from the Hotel

Along Newport Bay it’s impossible to miss the loud bark of Sea Lions soaking up the sun on the rocks. They are relentless in their cries, whether they cry for food or just for fun no one knows but you definitely can’t miss it!
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Refueled with a quick breakfast at The Cofee House along the bay. Fresh pour over coffee and omelets before the quest back north.
Coffee at the Coffee House

As one of the winter weather systems was moving in, coastal winds picked up speed making a beautiful sight from this lookout. Ashley almost got blown off of her bike departing the parking lot here, but amidst the harsh winds we proceeded north on 101.
Oswald West State Park

After a few hours of battling the gale force winds we arrived in Astoria, making a quick stop at Fort George Brewery for lunch and a chance to warm up before blasting home.
Lunch at Fort George Brewing

 

After crossing the bridge in Astoria we continued north on 101 to South Bend and onto Olympia where we jumped on I-5 for the last leg home. All in all, we had a great trip but faced some challenges on the way back towards Seattle. As we mentioned above, the winds were a bit daunting…and by a bit daunting we mean 70mph gusts along with near freezing temperatures. After this trip, we both agreed some Gerbing heated gear moves up on our priority list if we want to continue riding during these cooler months. We will definitely be visiting the OR coast again soon, it was more beautiful than we even imagined! Lots of exploring left to do there, and hopefully some dirt tracks next trip. Until next time, ride on bitches!