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Northwest rides
NW area COG Rides HERE
Whistler BC Fraser River loop
"Do you plan on leaving anything in Canada ?"
"Just US Dollars Sir"
"Welcome to Canada, have a nice ride"
The first leg of this trip consisted of super slab from Abbotsford through Vancouver into
North Vancouver. It's always interesting living life in the left lane, trying to stay
within the flow of traffic and out of the harms way of on and off ramps while not being
tail gated or ticketed. The little blue kilometer marks on the Concours speedometer
are NOT easy to read in any light at any speed. Now that I have a Sigma BC 800 I thought
this would be very helpful as I could set it for kilometers and not go through the
constant mathematics I do when in Canada or running an Iron Butt ride. No such luck,
I set the Sigma for kilometers before I left which it did display but I hadn't realized I
needed to convert the calculation constant also, wish Sigma would just make this a simple
one button operation.
The beauty of this ride starts at Horseshoe Bay. This road (99) is appropriately named
"Sea to Sky". Sea level to 4,175 feet in about 90 miles. Horseshoe Bay is a very
large and magnificent body of water you look down on from this winding road cut into the
edge of the sheer cliffs bordering it.
Although there were huge road signs indicating the above average presence of LEO's, I
didn't see one (although they do use photo radar and airplanes). There was plenty of
traffic traveling in packs up this road so my goal was to either pass the pack or pull off
the road and wait to have some space of my own to ride as I chose, this worked well.
Whistler, a ski resort town, was absolutely beautiful, many of the condos sit upon
huge walls of granite high above the road. This town reminded me of Banff Alberta
and Vale Colorado. In the same vain as these other bergs, commercial signage such as
gas station marquees is very subdued (read: good luck spotting a gas station from the main
road dude).
99 continues northward to Lillooet, here the gas station is plainly marked and right on
the side of the road. The shelves are less than 1/2 stocked and even though it's a
rather small station with maybe 8 pumps they have about 12 people working there (but no
restrooms with working plumbing).
Although I always log all my miles, gasoline purchases and carry a calculator I just
forget about mpg's when in Canada...liters, imperial liters, gallons, bah !
From Lillooet this loop cuts south on 12. TAR SNAKES ! Big, thick, messy, strike up
at you from 4 feet away tar snakes ! It's 64 clicks from here to the intersection with 1
in the Fraser river canyon. Road signs like "rough road", "loose
gravel", and "rocks in road" are well heeded here. All 3 conditions
exist all along this stretch but if they're actually going to tell you about it you'd
better listen ! Did I mention the 25 kph sandy switchbacks and the 1 lane bridges and off
camber/no guard rail corners ? (OK, I'm hot, tired, hungry, thirsty, dehydrated, and
generally in a pissy
mood at this point)
Finally, Lytton on 1 and I'm gassed up, re-hydrated and hosed down and it's good road and
fast speed all the way down the Fraser river canyon.
Distance using Sumas USA border crossing as start/stop, ~ 350 miles. It took me ~9 hours !
David Morrow emailed me an interesting addendum to this route:
"Time permitting, instead of riding Lillooet to Lytton, when you cross the
bridge, turn left and go to Pavillion and then to Cache Creek and then on down to
Lytton. The Lillooet to Cache Creek road is some of the best stretch of riding on
the entire route. Spectacular views of the Fraser River just outside Lillooet"
Top
Mt. Rainier
"3 Pass loop"
(naming the ride is part of the fun)
I approached the mountain from the NW on 410. At the border of the park riding
through the gate the road quality immediately went to hell, excellent opportunity to see
if those "Electrical Connection" driving lights mounted
under the headlight actually clear the front fender (they do) and how well I set up the
Connies suspension. This route leads up Cayuse Pass (4,694 ft) and some excellent
views of Mt. Rainier towering above at 14,411. The road
quality, amount of tourists, and limited passing areas make this a trip with low average
speeds (the 2-3 park rangers constantly cruising reaffirm this).
There was still some snow up there as I cut over from the perceived peak of Cayuse on to
the just recently opened from winter snows Chinook Pass (5,440ft). The road improved
immediately upon leaving the park and speeds increased considerably. It was probably
about 58 F on top and increased to 98 by the time I hit the gas stop town of Naches
13 miles west of Yakima.
I turned around here and headed west again this time taking the other fork in the road and
traveled on 12 over White Pass (4,500 ft) again getting some gorgeous views of the snow
topped Cascade mountain range. From here I went back over Cayuse and home the way I
entered the Park, on retrospect I should have headed out on 706 along the southern side of
the mountain.
The loop of the 3 passes starting and stopping in Enumclaw is about 250 miles and took me
5.5 hours.
I'm always running out of state on rides, I'm glad I had the opportunity to see some stuff
in my own area this week. I lived in Florida for 4 years and never went to
Disneyworld, Daytona Speed week, or the Bahamas....I was always going to but never got
around to it "heck, they're right here, I can go anytime"
Top
South
Skagit, Sauk River and the North Cascades
This is one section of the "Cascade Loop" a great
longer ride. Cascade Loop web site
I make this run so often I guess I just take it for granted.
South Skagit:
The South Skagit Hwy intersects with Hwy 9 just south of
Sedro-Woolley WA at the Skagit River. This is a nice ride along the river and
through "tree tunnels" for about 25 miles to Concrete. Bail here by
turning left into Concrete or go right and continue up the Sauk River on tighter corners
to the first bridge (an additional 20 miles). After crossing the bridge you can turn
right and follow the Sauk up to Arlington or, for our purposes, turn left and follow 530
down river to Rockport (Howard Miller Steelhead Park). Hang a right here on Hwy 20 and
head east up the "North Cross". Marblemount has taken you 60 miles so far and
will be your last opportunity for gas, food, etc.
The road really gets interesting after
Newhalem. The top of the Pass is called Washington Pass Overlook and this is a good
rest stop when open, you've gone about 115 miles in 2.5 hours or so when you arrive by
this route.
(These pictures taken in late April, got electric clothing ?)
Head on over the crest of 20 for at least a mile to enjoy one hell of a
sweeping downward corner-Yeeha !. If you want to run down to the next gas it's in Mazama
another 20 miles (135 total, ya oughta fill up here). The trip back Westward had fast and
fun corners that set up an natural rythym, this is the best way in my opinion to run the "North Cross"
Whenever traveling Hwy 20 watch for LEO at
Concrete (He is ALWAYS here-does not like motorcycles, and will ticket you for one mile
over 35), Newhalem (There is a Sheriffs outpost here), Mile marker 118 (there's a hiding
hole here), and Colonial Creek (30 mph, you are probably being watched). At least one
Sheriff and a State patrol are on duty full time on this stretch of road, you don't need
to break the law to have fun on this one though (not much at least).
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hOme
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