Well, I got up early and attached my 1 gallon red gas jug, and made off for Packwood via Skate Creek Road. Skate Creek Road has been paved in many spots so it is once again a reasonable short cut. Filled up the bike and the gas jug in Packwood, drank some coffee, and headed to the start of the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route - Leg 1.
Ordinarily one would start in Carson, WA on the Columbia River and work North but to do that on my WR250R would mean a lot of road time if the route was blocked with snow and I wasn't sure if NF-25 was open all the way down - so I decided to run it south and if I encountered impassable snow I could retreat the way I came and avoid the road work.
I ran a part of this route on my GS Adventure a few days ago but this time I was riding the mighty WR250R mainly so I could get the suspension dialed in and I know I can lift it upright if I drop it. The washboard was frustrating but motivating to mess with the suspension. I had set everything 2 clicks softer than the default factory but the bike was too skittish with the TrailWing tires so I dropped everything another two clicks softer in the rear and left the front alone. Big difference as the tires worked pretty well on loose gravel and the funky rock that is used to patch washed out sections of road. I could easily carry 40 to 50 mph and if I was careful the front would not wash out, however the tank bag got relocated to the rear so I could slide forward and get weight on the front tire. The washboard became a non issue and for the first time in 40 years I felt as if I could fly along a reasonably good gravel road. The bike is pretty much dialed in for the way I intend to use it.
No real traffic after a few miles and I sure enjoyed the ride, and looked forward to completing this leg. Then things began to change -
it started with this:
and ended with this:
If you are reading this and want to know where exactly you can tune your GPS or MapSource to N46 16.130 W121 34.069 Altimeter 4711' Have no idea how far it goes but there was enough to dissuade me from hiking very far, and there was no way to get around it.
In fact, I'd been following a set of bike tracks for miles and it should have dawned on me the guy turned around when the one track became two but I figured maybe the rider had a companion whose tracks I hadn't noticed. I dutifully followed the tracks into that snow field and then discovered they stopped. Oops.
Had a bit of a struggle to get myself turned around but it became a pleasant learning experience instead of an unhappy one. Note to self: don't blindly follow some other guy's tracks into snow. Get off and go look before you leap!
So I turned around and headed back to Packwood. There is a section of the road that has 6 or 7 little water falls cascading down like this:
With time on my hands I diverted to Walupt Lake which was a neat spot to have some off time from the bike.
Then it was blast to Packwood and a corn dog. Back over Skate Creek Road and home to a wife who reminded me today was our anniversary.
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