A Summer in Summary

In short: A lot of traveling, a little work at home and at Cascade Bicycle Club, and a little time on the beach.
I started off with an ended-too-quickly bike trip. Left straight from school, was in Jacksonville, FL by evening, and on my bike 6 hours later. Two weeks later, I stopped off in Houston, unprepared for cycling through 110-degree temperatures and wildfires in New Mexico and Arizona. Not quite a letdown; instead, an invitation to explore the SW more in the non-summer months.
Home for a couple dozen hours, then off to Holden Village, an old-mining-town-turned-vacation-camp in the North Cascades. Exchanged 30 hours a week of felling, bucking, and splitting firewood for delicious food, my own room, and lots of trail running and scrambling.
A week of herding 5-9 year-olds on bikes, and then some house painting.
A couple rock climbing trips to Leavenworth and other areas of the Cascades, including one with an awesome lightning storm and burning trees.
A weeklong trip to the beach at Fort Flagler, mini family reunion, the whole works.
Another week at work, then off to: Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming for horseback riding, hiking, and climbing in the Centennial Valley and the Tetons.
Some more mountain awesomeness in a quick 35 mile backpack through Spider Gap.
Then a trip to Mazama, WA for the Cutthroat Classic, where my brother and I went 1-2 in the 19&U age group.
Just finishing off the summer with a trip to the cabin and a day at home packing.

Spide Gap-Buck Creek Backpack

Just back from an impromptu backpacking trip with my younger sister and a friend from school(s). 35 miles+, 7500+ feet of elevation, 2.5 days traveling, 2 boxes of very high sodium instant rice and beans, 50 mosquito bikes, 10 horses, 1 massive view of Glacier Peak, 4 skiers, and a bit of rain summarize the trip in numbers.

View from the top of Spider Gap ~7200 feet

Upper Lyman Lakes and the edges of Lyman Glacier

Piper and Sylvie negotiating the snowfield and glacier

A little talus love near the old mines

Evening light near lower Lyman

Meadow view from the buck creek pass campsite

the trusty stead: 1988 240 DL

Lower Lyman

V2 Reflections on Idaho, Montana and Wyoming

Montana. The west. The Old West.

   From Washington, Montana is just a long day's drive.  Yet the farther down a narrow two-lane road, or better yet a flat gravel highway, Montana no longer is just a vacation destination. An allure exists that brings people from all over the country to escape, and in many ways this becomes true. Montanans tend to fight heavy snow, wildfires, and hot summers, but at the same time receive an adventurous yet kind spirit unrivaled by big cities.
   I love the Idaho Panhandle and parts of Central Idaho, but when I return home over Snoqualmie Pass, I tell myself go far or go home. The rolling forests, rocky peaks, and crystalline lakes may be spectacular, but why go so far when even better granite peaks and alpine lakes are an hour from the back door.
   Montana, even just a bit beyond the Idaho border, is a different case. As a resident of an unnamed valley in Idaho said in reference to Montana's Centennial Valley, "I live in a valley in Idaho like the Centennial, except not surrounded by these gorgeous mountains". Everywhere has valleys, some burning up, with cattle and friendly ranchers. But in Montana, there exist wider valleys with less people, more animals, and more prominent peaks. Here peaks aren't just the local high points, they are mountains deserving names, with their own distinct forms of rock and interfaces to the fragrant grasslands below.
   Then, there's Yellowstone. A creature on its own, originally an American creation but increasingly an international phenomenon. The landscape in the park is clearly Martian; how else would goo pile up and red boiling pools bubble endlessly. The visitors and staff, however, make for a very different site. People show up to West Yellowstone, MT for a taste of the West and find machine gun rentals, a big grocery store, and a hundred t shirt shops. A polar opposite from the town gas station and range stations, but still a Montana attraction.

   Grand Teton National Park connects to Yellowstone, but the connection is rather long (at least to a carload of kids eager for supper and a run) and acts as a filter for some of the best users of National Parks (fewer RV sites, fewer amenities, fewer paved trails, fewer wolves). We tend to stay at the AAC Climbers' Ranch, a hodgepodge of dude-ranch buildings from the Double-Diamond Ranch. A different group of inter nation tourists, this time from France, the British Isles, and other areas where people love their mountains and the Alp-like access and setting of the Teton Range. There isn't much to do or see in the park that can't be done of foot or by canoe, and sometimes by a combination of both. Want a view into Idaho or a hard rock climb? The Tetons have it. Want a paved loop trail to view wildflowers and see some wonders of the world? Maybe not so fast, at least when in Wyoming...
   My great uncle is a Wilson, descended closely from Nick Wilson, the founder of Wilson, Wyoming. Wilson is right by Teton Village and Jackson Hole Ski Resort, home to million-dolla town homes and an aerial tram. Wilson, though, retains its own turn-of-the 20th-century feel, with Nan's Fish Creek Inn and a few hundred single-family homes guarded both sides of WY-22 on the way to Teton Pass. The grocery/ hard ware/ everything else store that defines so many small towns was staffed by a summer staffer, who knew nothing of the town. How horrid, yet what a treat for someone to be able to experience life in the Tetons a bit outside of Jackson and Teton Village.
  What perpetuates "job tourism"? Stay tuned...

Quick Seattle-area bike overnights

Today I present two quick trips out-of-town to the beach. So grab your bike, a pair of panniers, and a tent. Plus a few bucks for the bus and/or ferry.

1. Saltwater State Park

One of the closest state parks to Seattle, Saltwater has a handful of campsites and a nice beach in between Des Moines and Tacoma. Sites are spread amongst the trees, and aside from a few under an overpass all the sites are pretty quite given the proximity to seatac.

Depending on how much time you have, the park is either a commute bus to the sea-tac area and an 8 mile ride, or about 25 miles from anywhere in Seattle- an easy after-work ride.

The ride can be made on busy urban streets, car-free trails, or somewhat windy roads. Your choice. There’s a small camp concession that sells decent food, or you can just head a few miles into Des Moines’ cute downtown.

2. Fort Flagler State Park

A bit further, perfect for a longish weekend. A long ride, but a great bike+bus trip for under $15 in ferry fares and transit $. Campsites are often hard to come by, but there are two hiker-biker sites reserved for folks on foot or bike. Outrageous views, close proximity to Port Townsend, and flea-free sand bless the Marrowstone Island park.

To get to Fort Flager, take the Bainbridge Ferry from Seattle, hop on the Kitsap 7A bus, transfer in Poulsbo to Jefferson County Transit heading to Port Hadlock, and ride 10 miles from Port Hadlock.

Fort Flagler is an old military base and part of the “Triangle of Fire” surrounding Admiralty Inlet and the entrance to Puget Sound. Mountain-biking trails and a main road provide infrastructure in the park, which varies between concrete bunkers, dense forests, and grassy bluffs.

Have fun and take a night away from home.