Who's Trails Are They Anyway?

Part of our ride today

 To say that this country is incredibly beautiful is such an understatement.  Denise was kind enough to invite me up to ride her conditioning trails outside Darrington.  I've loved the area since I got to know it a little better when our youngest daughter & her family were there.  My involvement with the Whitehorse Trail was only strengthened when I realized what an asset it would be to horsemen & other trail users alike.

Farah admires the river~

 We left from Denise's home & within a short distance were on the Whitehorse.  This trip has been weeks in the making - ever since the meetings about new bike only - trails on North Mountain, funded by DNR.  After meetings with local riders, I offered to ride & GPS the trails.

Start of the trail~

 This was a beautiful trail, through an area long ago logged.  The trees have reached a nice size & Denise remarked that soon, there would be wildflowers to enjoy.  It wasn't long at all before we were climbing!

Rock outcropping~

 The rock outcroppings were huge & beautiful.  Very soon though - I was distracted by the view off to our right!  Whitehorse looked so close & so stellar with it's fresh coating of snow that it literally took your breath away!

Whitehorse~

 This trail brought us up & over to the paved section of the logging road that goes up North Mountain.  The same road I rode on months ago & had my little set-to with the logging truck.  We went just a short way, crossed to the uphill side & here was the start of Denise's trail.  I call it her's because she uses it often to connect over to her conditioning trail, that goes up the south side of North Mountain.

Markers!

 The first thing we saw, was the bright orange markers, freshly put in & every few feet.  It's a beautiful little trail, used by local riders as part of their poker ride route for many years.

Denise & Rocco lead the way~

I was thinking all day - of how enjoyable these trails were.  Horsemen to tend to enjoy the ride, where in my estimation anyway - mountain bikers use them...

We're stopped :-)

 I was actually surprised that we got as far as we did without trees down, but sadly - this one ruined our plan.  Denise got Roco under but the pommel of her saddle hit hard.  I knew there was no way Farah would make it.  Denise removed her saddle & got Rocco back under.  She had another plan, that would involve more riding out on the power line trail, but would give us the opportunity to find the upper end of the same trail.

More logging & more views!

 Let me tell you - this was a climb - we were up to 1,781 feet!  It's no wonder that this team was & is so well prepared for any Endurance ride!  It takes conditioning & they've written the book on these trails :-)

Tank traps & markers

 We climbed & climbed, coming to this corner - Denise took a second look, but it was not the top of the trail we were looking for so we continued on. 

Whitehorse!

 Certainly no reason Not to!  On a day like this - with views like these, it's a horseman's paradise.  As I told her - established trails here - would draw horsemen from all over the state!  Combine trails with a nice place to camp - & though our numbers can't match those of the bike lobbies, they could & would still make a nice impact on the local economy!  After all, those big tough trucks take a lot more fuel than the little suburban cars.

Denise finds the trail!

 We were so happy - the longer ride was so worth finding the upper end of the "connector" trail.  This trail is very important to horsemen - as it does connect SW side with the South in a very nice way.

On the trail~

 Here too, we found exactly what we thought we would, lots more markers...   In the public meetings hosted by DNR, we were told that the bike clubs would be building trails on the mountain.  That they would not interfere with the existing horse trails.  We do not know that these markers are for those proposed user specific trails - but Denise is making local inquiries.  Building a trail involves a lot of work - but taking over an existing one would be much easier? 

Another stunning peak view!

 We turned back before coming to the downed tree from this direction.  The trail was wet, the horses were more than willing - they knew we were going the right direction, but it was time to head back.

God's Country~

With this final view of the fresh white snow on a pristine peak, we walked to the bottom, returned to the power line trails & eventually connected up again with the Whitehorse just past the little power station.

Stellar day, Stellar ride, wonderful new friend!  Now, lots more research ahead & more trail riding for me - gee - doubt I'll mind that!  :-)

North Mountain - Darrington

Into the slide zone~

Today Grandson Ben & I had a plan!  Wednesday's he has half-days of school - so over this last weekend, we'd talked about going up North Mountain.  Ben on his dirt bike & me with Farah.  First - the drive up, which I've always enjoyed so much.

First view~

 It's greatly changed with the new highway & all the slide cleanup getting completed.

What's left of the mountain~

Such a sobering experience - I'm sure every person who drives this road now - thinks of the tragedy that occurred here...  

At the Ball Park~

Ben & I were to meet at this park - to introduce Farah to the dirt bike & so that Ben could lead us out & over to where the road up the mountain begins.  I was a little early, so stopped in to see Whitehorse Saddlery & meet the owner.  The old antique shop lends itself nicely to the smell of leather!

Just after one, my phone rang.  Ben had been unable to find the spare set of keys to the dirt bike that he'd planned to borrow, so couldn't make our ride.  I was really bummed, but after getting the easy directions from Ben - Farah & I started out.  We were only a short way down this road when a logging truck came up behind us.  He was empty & it was narrow...  He slowed to Very Slow, but it was still very tight & watching those lugs turning past Farah's legs was spooky.  I figured he was heading down the other way to the mill.

Paved road~

After doing some checking, from what I could find - it was supposed to be about 11-miles to the lookout.  I didn't expect to make it all the way to the top - not enough time, but hoped to get up high enough to at least see some of the views.

We're at 3-miles

At just short of three-miles - we finally left the paving & went onto the Very Hard packed gravel road.  This type of road has the loose rock over the top, not good for trying to make any kind of time & the climb - though it seemed gradual, was relentless!

There was some color~

This poor mountain has been so beat up, at least most of what I could see...  But it wasn't too much farther to where the views started opening up.

Whitehorse

As overcast as it had been at home, at least up here it was clear enough that the views were fine. 

The blind curve~

We were just up from where I took this when I could HEAR a truck coming FAST!  In the next second, a fully loaded logging truck rounded the corner & saw us.  Gravel flying, dust flying & the squeal of his brakes!  I turned Farah & we started flying down to this wide spot.  As we got here - he was on us & Farah did a 180.  I lost a stirrup & almost went flying off - but managed to pull her up, as the pickup truck behind the big truck went whizzing by.

I was totally freaked when the next pickup rounded the corner.  I flagged him down & asked how many other logging trucks were up there?  He said that there was only one left - but that they wouldn't finish up until 3 p.m.  I asked if he could radio up & tell them I was there?  He did - but told me that I'd better keep my ears open!

What to do?  Caught between a rock & a hard place!  Go further & risk that truck, or start down & worry about him coming up behind us?  I decided to go a little further - & had time before that truck would start down, so continued up & around until I was at 6-miles.  At that point there was a small road off to the side & I could hear another truck coming.  He pulled off & told me that the loaded truck was coming.  I told him that I would stay right where I was until the truck got past & he radioed the driver.

About ten minutes later I could hear the truck coming & had a good hold on Farah.  This driver was so darn kind!  He was coming the slowest I've ever seen, had his window down & yelled "Hi" to me as he passed & I yelled back "THANK YOU!"  At that point, my nerves were shot & I decided to start back down...

What an incredible view!

It was beautiful, not as high as I'd have liked to get - but good enough.  My mind was racing over how dangerous it would have been for Ben to have been ahead of me on his dirt bike!  He would have never heard that truck coming & there's no way those local boys need to come anywhere near this mountain when the trucks are running!  Whew!

Whitehorse

Down, down, down... No more trucks!  Sweet relief that was - but once we got to the paving I got off to walk - just hearing Farah's worn out shoes on all the paving, rock, etc. was more than enough.  (Justin wanted me to wait six-weeks & there's literally no steel left.)

Tons of color now~

I was so happy to be getting back to the park!  It was one of those rides that was the opposite of yesterdays!  :-)

There we are!

I was so disappointed that I didn't get to spend time with Ben, but very happy that he hadn't come!  Proud of Farah too, that was a totally scary experience & besides the 180, she handled it as well as I could have expected.  Any further error on her part would have resulted in catastrophe for us both.  Lesson learned!