Well I only rode 35 or so miles on Sat. I was riding with my motorcycle club on a barrowed street legal dirt bike (Suz DRS350) We left in groups of 6 or so people and proceeded out the Cle Elum ridge trail and out a side trail loop to Windy Pass (6,000+ feet I beleive) It was dusty and warm but in the trees it was managable and the open ridges had a nice cool breeze. We made many stops along the way at lookouts. The first memorable one I could look north and see Cle Elum Rosyln Ronald Salmon La Sac lake Lake Kachees(sp?) and they were waaaaaaaaaay down there. 
Later on we were up higher and some bikes were starting to have some jetting problems. We stopped and rested and had a lite lunch of snack bars and drinks (water or gaterade etc) We were out of view from anything man made and in a high mountian field full of wild flowers (purple, yellow, and redish/orangish ones) the breaze cooled me down and the sun kept me warm. I wanted to take a nap but stayed awake lending my non-knowledge to some friends jetting woes. 
: The GPS a buddy had read about 5,500 ft there....and after that we proceeded to do some big climbing upsome narly switchbacks and found some snow left in the shade of the trees on the trail....then more steep climbs and switchbacks and we were at Windy Pass.
I only got stuck on one switchback that had about a 10ft wall of rock and loose shale. The rider infront of me had fallen at the top and was teetering (basically hooked his handlebar on the top edge of teh rock as it laid over) on the edge when I came up and stopped at the base (tranny from steep to wall) I leaned my bike on the downhill side and he slid down the rock with his bike just missing me and I proceeded to start the bike while standing at the edge of the cliff (thank god for electric start!) and chug the bike up while hiking up the rock face myself....I am surpised I made it but now my left arm is sore from hooking under the handlebar to hold the bike from sliding down the rock as it died mid attempt....and tried to drag me down with it...again I am glad this bike had electric start. I would have gone backdown if I had to kick start it. Eventually I made it over the top and found a less steep place to wait for the guy behind me (we were the last two in the group). Once I saw him I started the rest of the climb and enjoyed even more scenery.
This whole ride/break/ride/fix jetting/ride/lookout type of riding had us at about 4hrs out and only covering 25ish miles (The jetting break was about an hour at least though...but one guys bike refuse to start or run at this point and it was a good 3-4 miles back to the nearest road to hope someone can drive into to find him and pick up his bike)....we decided to cut short the planned 53mile loop and come back on the North Fork Taneum creek trail via Lightning ridge wich had a cool short DH section with 3 TIGHT and STEEP switchbacks with ledges leading into the right hander (either keep the rear foot on the break or take it off for the tight switchback.....I chose life and rear brake to slide the street bike into the rut and it caught it.) The trail is 1377.1 if anyone goes up there with a map. It was short and had road access above and below it.
Finally made it back to camp and managed to put on just over 35miles. I am still sore today.
But I had a blast. It was almost survival on some of the Backcountry trails.....I managed to keep the bike on the trail for the most part but came dangerously close to losing it off the edge (and by edge I mean cliff) a couple times. I damn tear tore the seat off the bike my arse puckered so hard. lol. I dunked my head in the north fork river and it was a nice ender to the days ride.
MTB STUFF below
PLUS! I met a nice Ranger who happens to be a retired Pro Womans DHr. Mikki Douglas. She raced for Specialized/MT Dew team back in the mid to late 90's.....I think she retired in 1997. She is in charge of the ORV stuff at Taneum and rides dirtbike for a living and does trail work to keep that area open. Give her a thanks next time you go up there....she works Fri-Mon (like the rest of the rangers. She was really nice to our club and how we took over Tanuem Junction campground. IF you have been there we filled it up past capacity!
I didn't get a chance to shuttle Taneum Ridge....
Buddy didn't show up with bike to ride and it was around 8pm when he decided to show. It is dusty but that just gives everyone a chance to spread out. I saw a guy ripping down the ridge on a kona FS(Stinky?) and heard him say his dad was back a ways....he looked like he was having fun and was flying at the bottom when I saw him pop out. If yo guys are looking for somplace different to go ride...hit Rat Pac and Taneum in the same weekend. There are places to camp for free and Taneum juntion is only like 100-110 miles from Lynnwood, WA.
Later on we were up higher and some bikes were starting to have some jetting problems. We stopped and rested and had a lite lunch of snack bars and drinks (water or gaterade etc) We were out of view from anything man made and in a high mountian field full of wild flowers (purple, yellow, and redish/orangish ones) the breaze cooled me down and the sun kept me warm. I wanted to take a nap but stayed awake lending my non-knowledge to some friends jetting woes. : The GPS a buddy had read about 5,500 ft there....and after that we proceeded to do some big climbing upsome narly switchbacks and found some snow left in the shade of the trees on the trail....then more steep climbs and switchbacks and we were at Windy Pass. I only got stuck on one switchback that had about a 10ft wall of rock and loose shale. The rider infront of me had fallen at the top and was teetering (basically hooked his handlebar on the top edge of teh rock as it laid over) on the edge when I came up and stopped at the base (tranny from steep to wall
) I leaned my bike on the downhill side and he slid down the rock with his bike just missing me and I proceeded to start the bike while standing at the edge of the cliff (thank god for electric start!) and chug the bike up while hiking up the rock face myself....I am surpised I made it but now my left arm is sore from hooking under the handlebar to hold the bike from sliding down the rock as it died mid attempt....and tried to drag me down with it...again I am glad this bike had electric start. I would have gone backdown if I had to kick start it. Eventually I made it over the top and found a less steep place to wait for the guy behind me (we were the last two in the group). Once I saw him I started the rest of the climb and enjoyed even more scenery.This whole ride/break/ride/fix jetting/ride/lookout type of riding had us at about 4hrs out and only covering 25ish miles (The jetting break was about an hour at least though...but one guys bike refuse to start or run at this point and it was a good 3-4 miles back to the nearest road to hope someone can drive into to find him and pick up his bike)....we decided to cut short the planned 53mile loop and come back on the North Fork Taneum creek trail via Lightning ridge wich had a cool short DH section with 3 TIGHT and STEEP switchbacks with ledges leading into the right hander (either keep the rear foot on the break or take it off for the tight switchback.....I chose life and rear brake to slide the street bike into the rut and it caught it.
) The trail is 1377.1 if anyone goes up there with a map. It was short and had road access above and below it. Finally made it back to camp and managed to put on just over 35miles. I am still sore today.
But I had a blast. It was almost survival on some of the Backcountry trails.....I managed to keep the bike on the trail for the most part but came dangerously close to losing it off the edge (and by edge I mean cliff) a couple times. I damn tear tore the seat off the bike my arse puckered so hard. lol. I dunked my head in the north fork river and it was a nice ender to the days ride.MTB STUFF below
PLUS! I met a nice Ranger who happens to be a retired Pro Womans DHr. Mikki Douglas. She raced for Specialized/MT Dew team back in the mid to late 90's.....I think she retired in 1997. She is in charge of the ORV stuff at Taneum and rides dirtbike for a living and does trail work to keep that area open. Give her a thanks next time you go up there....she works Fri-Mon (like the rest of the rangers. She was really nice to our club and how we took over Tanuem Junction campground.
IF you have been there we filled it up past capacity! I didn't get a chance to shuttle Taneum Ridge....
Buddy didn't show up with bike to ride and it was around 8pm when he decided to show. It is dusty but that just gives everyone a chance to spread out. I saw a guy ripping down the ridge on a kona FS(Stinky?) and heard him say his dad was back a ways....he looked like he was having fun and was flying at the bottom when I saw him pop out. If yo guys are looking for somplace different to go ride...hit Rat Pac and Taneum in the same weekend. There are places to camp for free and Taneum juntion is only like 100-110 miles from Lynnwood, WA.
