Washington Cascade Mountains Trip

[henwil]

Hi Folks!

I just got back from four great days cruising through the Cascade Mountains here in WA. Here are some pics. Enjoy!

Day 1: White pass summit (4500').

The road to Chinook pass is still closed about 5 miles from the summit.

Nice spot for lunch.

View from Blewett pass (4102').

Dinner in Leavenworth.

Day 2: Lake Chelan.

Highlight of the trip. Hwy 20 through the Northern Cascades. It has been open for less than a week following winter.

Awesome spot for a road.

I took it real easy around that turn.

 

[henwil]

Many beautiful views.

Ross Lake (I think).

Lake Diablo.

Gorge Lake.

Rainy Pass summit. Nearby Washington Pass is higher (5477') but it was not safe to stop at the sign.

It took them the best part of six weeks to dig through the snow and open the pass.

Dinner in Winthrop. All natural and healthy. Hot at almost 90F.

I spent the night in Okanogan. Not much there.

Day 3: Palmer Lake close to Loomis and the Canadian border.

I think this was the Kettle river.

 

[henwil]

Hwy 395 along the Kettle river.

Highest pass in Washington State.

This deer refused to move and just kept on licking at something on the ground.

Grand Coulee Dam wall. Another 90F day.

From the other side.

The cliffs lining both sides of Banks Lake fascinated me.

Cool display next to a house in Waterville.

Day 4: Crossed Stevens Pass (4061') but no good spot for a pic. Taking a break above the Skykomish river.

Passing through Leavenworth again.

Roslyn where Northern Exposure was filmed. Crossed Snoqualmie Pass (3022') shortly after.

 

[ahchiu]

Nice RR Henry, we rode thru there Wednesday and the big Horseshoe turn has sand and water right in the middle. going back over 20 this Thursday for a 4 day trip to Eastern WA and ID.

 

[Mihalis fjr]

Thanks for the wonderful pictures!

Very nice landscapes!

 

[henwil]

Marcus, I must have waved at you at least once then!

I also did it Wednesday, going west first, and then east.

 

[ahchiu]

I went through 20 West bound around 5pm @ Diablo lookout. there was 4 of us on FJR's

 

[henwil]

Hmm, I don't recall four FJRs, but it is possible. I think I was already back in Winthrop by 4:30 having ice cream and hiding from the heat.

 

[manglegrat]

Hey, nice route - thanks for the write-up. Looks like you had a great trip!

We've done a couple of those roads already on a prior trip (Sherman pass was cold even in July - hope you were wrapped up well!), and will come close to a few more of them on this year's trip Portland-bound (tentative route here), but are really focussing farther south than you.

From the stitching it looks like you have a Laam seat, is that right? Any feedback on how that held up on the trip?

We're planning on getting a set for ourselves before the Portland run... got my stock seats boxed up & ready to go to Seth right now!

Dave

 

[SeattleTy]

nice ride report Hen Wil - thanks for sharing it

 

[WRThumper]

Nice, henwil!!

manglegrat, you should look at crossing the Columbia at Hood River and take 141, BZ-Glenwood highway, Glenwood highway into Goldendale. You wouldn't be disappointed!

 

[CHIA]

Looks like you had a great weather window.

Did 20 through Cascades last weekend with buds, pavement was perfecto.

 

[Surly]

Very nice, thanks for sharing. I do have to get to the U.S.A.

Best regards

Surly

 

[henwil]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Dave, here are some inputs for your route:

- I assume you want to spend the night in Seattle, but that is a lot of I-5 riding. I would go east on hwy 20 through Deception pass, take the ferry to Port Townsend and spend the night there.

- East of Mt Rainer where 410 meets 123, go I little further on 410 for the Chinook pass summit and view.

- East of Mt St Helens take the Windy Ridge road in and back. Great views.

- I agree on 141 from Hood River. If you do want to take I-84 from Hood river, do old hwy 30 and Ravena Crest.

- Take hwy 821 (Yakima Canyon) between Yakima and Ellensburg.

 

[manglegrat]

Thanks for the replies everyone!
Dave, here are some inputs for your route:

- I assume you want to spend the night in Seattle, but that is a lot of I-5 riding. I would go east on hwy 20 through Deception pass, take the ferry to Port Townsend and spend the night there.

- East of Mt Rainer where 410 meets 123, go I little further on 410 for the Chinook pass summit and view.

- East of Mt St Helens take the Windy Ridge road in and back. Great views.

- I agree on 141 from Hood River. If you do want to take I-84 from Hood river, do old hwy 30 and Ravena Crest.

- Take hwy 821 (Yakima Canyon) between Yakima and Ellensburg.

Cool suggestions (from both you and WRThumper, thanks!), some great tweaks that will be real easy to add and some other intriguing possibilities I never would have thought about. Definitely helps to get local input.

I'll look into all of those - sadly the Seattle (actually Bellvue) hotel booking is non-refundable (Expedia) but we could definitely peel off i5 and hit Hwy20 over the mountains, then 97 north into BC and on to Kelowna.

Appreciate the tips, guys!

Dave

PS Still wondering about your seat...

Did it come with the bike?

 

[henwil]

Oops 1: I meant west on hwy 20. Something like this. It might give you time for Neah Bay. But it sounds like you are locked into Bellvue.

Oops 2: I forgot you asked about the seat. Yes it is a Laam. I did a ride-in with Seth just after I got the bike in Feb, and have since done 15,000 miles on it. Definitely more comfortable and higher quality than the stock seat. I like to take a break about every hour for 10-15 minutes to drink and eat something, enjoy nature, take a leak and rest by backside. Doing that I have done 12 hour days without any problems. They vinyl is high quality and do not show any signs of wear yet.

I think it is very good value for money, and several forum members with more experience than me agree (that is why I got it). I am not an iron butt rider, but they probably would prefer something like an Russel Day Long and actually get value for the money spent.

Henry

 

[hppants]

Beautiful pictures. Hard for me to imagine the upper elevations are just opening for the year.

 

[Niehart]

Hey Pants, We still have one that isn't open yet.

CHINOOK PASS SR410

Elevation: 5430 ft / 1655 m
Temperature: Not Available
Conditions:
Chinook pass is closed from Morse Creek near MP 74 to SR 123 near MP 65. Since Wednesday April 2, crews have been working on the process of clearing snow and debris from the roadway. Heavy late season snow accumulations and avalanche danger continue to pose challenges for the crews but the goal for opening the pass remains as in past years for Friday of Memorial Day weekend.

Henwil, if we [the four fjr's] had created a ride report we could have just borrowed your pictures. Thanks for taking us along through your pictures.

 

[manglegrat]

Oops 1: I meant west on hwy 20. Something like this. It might give you time for Neah Bay. But it sounds like you are locked into Bellvue.<snip>

Oops 2: I forgot you asked about the seat. Yes it is a Laam. I did a ride-in with Seth just after I got the bike in Feb, and have since done 15,000 miles on it. Definitely more comfortable and higher quality than the stock seat. I like to take a break about every hour for 10-15 minutes to drink and eat something, enjoy nature, take a leak and rest by backside. Doing that I have done 12 hour days without any problems. They vinyl is high quality and do not show any signs of wear yet.

I think it is very good value for money, and several forum members with more experience than me agree (that is why I got it). I am not an iron butt rider, but they probably would prefer something like an Russel Day Long and actually get value for the money spent.

No worries on Oops 1.

Looks like a nice route! Yeah, we're kinda locked in to Bellvue - was maybe a bit premature with the booking!

A detour to Neah Bay on that day might add just a bit too much for comfort, but I'll definitely consider it if we feel up for it at the time. Even if we can't make it all the way out there, would you say it's better to take the 113/112 route into Port Angeles vs sticking to the 101, scenery/road-wise? I'd like to take in some nice coastal views if they're worth it. I grew up 15 miles from the coast, I kinda miss that here, inland in Calgary...

And thanks for the review on the Laam! We're not iron-butt league by a long shot, but a few days of up to 600Ks/380miles and 8+hrs in the saddle is pretty long to us (particularly her!), so we definitely need something much better than either the stock or the Corbins we currently have. I've seen the same conversations on the forum about Russell and Laam, and feel like Laam is likely to be the right choice for us (willing to give it a go!). Can't quite manage a ride-in with Seth from up here, but I'm hoping to get a build date set in the next couple of weeks.

I'm hoping we can eventually work up to 500mile days on the Laam, but not quite yet...

Cheers,

Dave