We had to get an early start today, as we have a 12 noon checkout. Decided on the easier White Rabbit and Wonderland trails to end the trip, because we could ride from the unit.
So, we made our way to the pedestrian overpass over the Sea-to-Sky Highway 99. Rode thru the Brackendale neighborhood to cross the railroad tracks. Headed up the dump trails - Sweet Judy, Rusty Bucket Left to the Powerline trail, and up that to the Ray Peters trail along the road. We wouldn't recommend the dump trails as a destination, but they served the purpose to get to the start of White Rabbit. We debated trying Dump Express to the highway, which we would recommend. For some reason it was noted as "not recommended" on the map. The Dump Express trail kept us from riding north on the Sea-to-Sky Highway. Crossed the highway and found White Rabbit to the right of the bridge. This was a nice, blue rated trail that Francine enjoyed. This ended at Alice Lake Road, and we promptly found Wonderland trail accross the road. Wonderland trail was a nice cruise downhill towards home. Next, we doodled back thru the Brackendale neighborhood, looking for the little paths between streets, to the overpass.
Once back on the street to our unit, we opted to go left to the end of the street and climb up Brackentrail. Once up on the hill, we were in familiar territory. We went right, descending on Jacks to Lumberjack's to Cherub to Slurm to Coho Park trail. At the end of Coho Park trail, we hit the streets and booked back to the unit for a shower and checkout.
We don't know how far we went, but rode for a little over 3 hours. We were definitely on the bike more than on previous days, as we rode Blue Square trails, except for the hike up Brackentrail, which is a Black rated trail. Great trip and still left the Valleycliffe/Crumpit woods area to ride in the future. No pictures for the day, as we were on a time limit.
July 29, Day 2 Squamish BC, Diamondhead
Day 2 in Squamish. We parked at Quest University to ride in the Diamondhead area. We climbed up to the first parking lot and hit the new to us - Legacy Climbing Trail. 2 hours later and 2000 cumulative feet higher, we hit the top. Climbing was quite hot, as it was muggy and the wind had not picked up with our 9am start time. We descended a few feet of the top of Half Nelson and went right on Recycle. Last time we were here, the Half Nelson just wasn't our cup of tea. So, we opted to take the right hand turn. Recycle was narrow and old school, just what we were looking for. Hit the road and made our way to Fred trail.
After Fred trail, went right on the road to find Lower Powersmart, another narrow, old school singletrack trail. The we hit Plum Smugglers and finished up on Word of Mouth. Both these last two trails were quite technical for Blue Square rated runs, with lots of ups and downs, rocks and roots. Francine would have been happier with easier trails. 10.7 hard miles. Total elevation/loss: 3,180ft.
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| Kevin dropping into Fred trail |
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| switchback on Lower Powersmart |
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| Steeper than it looks - still on Lower Powersmart |
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| rock on Plum Smugglers |
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| Lot's of split cedar bridges on Word of Mouth |
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| a semi smooth spot on Word of Mouth |
July 28, Squamish BC, Day 1, Garabaldi to Alice Lakes area.
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| Francine on Coho Park Trail |
Left the house at 6:20am for the drive to Squamish, BC, to go mountain biking. With the hot temperatures predicted in the high 80's, we wanted to get into town early enough to start riding before it got too hot. Parked at the Garibaldi Suites where we would stay for 2 nights. Rode thru the neighborhood to the Coho Park trail. Went right on Trestle trail to Cherub to Lumberjacks. Headed up Jacks then started the real climb on 50 Shades of Green and climbed even more on 50 Shades More. Once at the top, we went right on the old road to the new trail Rupert. This was rated as black diamond, and was appropriately rated. Kevin really like the tech and steep rock roll-overs. Francine did quite a bit of walking.
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| Francine approaching a bridge on Rupert Trail |
At the bottom of Rupert trail, we ran into 3 guys from Mexico City. Today was their last day of a 7 day trip. They were headed our direction to the new Man-boobs trail, so we all rode north on Mashiter trail to Cliff's Corners to Rob's Corners. Here we headed north to Ed's Bypass to descend on Made in the Shade and climbed back up on Soft Rock (used to be Rock n' Roll), and headed back to the end of Rob's Corners, where Man Boobs starts. Francine really enjoyed Man Boobs (blue square rating), as this was easier than Rupert. The guys from Mexico City gave Kevin a reason to turn up the speed and hit a couple of the jumps on Man-boobs.
Next, we headed out the smooth, old road called Bob McIntosh Memorial south to Edith Lake. Here we went right onto Mikes loop looking for Credit Line, another black diamond trail. Kevin really like this, and Francine did a bit of walking. Once down on Jack's trail we retraced our steps and went right on Covenant trail to Coho Park trail and back to the unit. Sweet day. The trails here are really technical, but the conditions were primo due to the rain last week. 16 miles. Total elev. 2,705ft.
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| Kevin on Covenant trail |
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| Kevin on wood on Covenant trail |
July 24, Teanaway Valley
With hard rains at Snoqualmie Pass, we headed east to the Teanaway valley. With a light sprinkle as we headed out, the trail conditions were great. Nice to get nice firm trails in the middle of summer. Typically this area gets quite sandy, but thanks to the heavy rains the trails were perfect.
July 21, Hansen Ridge Trail
Got out with Don Hecker and Francine to ride the Hansen Ridge Trail. The trail is almost in the backyard, starting above I-90 from ext 47. It's a 19 mile out and back with a mix of singletrack and old road. Views are nice and the amount of climbing is challenging. About 5 miles out, we ran into Mike Westra of Evergreen MTB Assoc. putting some finishing touches on a nice section of dirt with the help of about six hard working volunteers. Thanks! Good, tough ride.
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| Don checks out the small lake at the turnaround point. |
June 22, Waterski
Last day of our weekend and finally got a wind free morning. Headed up lake, towards Manson and found some pretty smooth water. Got super smooth and I lost concentration in my bliss. Did a nice forward flip as I cut across the wake. Still paying for that one. Chiropractor today? Nice way to finish the week, other than my crash. Thanks to Len for piloting the boat.
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| Kevin |
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| Big sister, Kristin |
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| Kevin |
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| Kevin |
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| Kristin |
6/21 Echo Valley trails
Rode up from the ski hill to the top of the area via the shoe trail. Tried out an alternative descent out past Bergman's gulch. Just off Outback trail, it stayed above Bergman's and dropped all the way back to the ski hill. Not bad, but not as fun as the shoe. Rode one newly built section of trail, but it was pretty short. They have 11 miles of new singletrack planned, but not sure they have the volunteer labor to get it done.
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| Jack |
June 20, ZIP ZIP, Chelan, Wa.
It was the first day the whole family was in Chelan. Unfortunately with a brisk breeze, it was a little too cool for lounging lakeside. We decided to go check out Tunnel Zip Lines. It was a little spendy at $75 bucks a pop for four zip lines, but we all had a good day. The owner's were very entertaining and Len was able to buy the first bottle of their first white wine bottling. They got the okay on their liquor license while we were zipping. Scenery was terrific and the last zip line got you going pretty good!
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| Jack, Kelly, And Len |
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| Jim |
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| Jim comes in hot, backwards |
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| Francine hanging out |
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| The Gang, Len, Hilarie, Hannah, Kelly, Jen, Kristin, Jack, Kevin, Jim, Francine |
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