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There really is no easy way to do the Teanaway

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
Our route 27 miles with around 4300 elevation. 23 miles of singletrack loop including the Middle Fork Teanaway, Jolly Creek, Jolly Mt., and West Fork Teanaway.

All rugged high exposure river riding, with over twenty river crossings, plenty of rocks and roots, 2 miles of hike a bike that kicked you up to 6000 feet and a splendid view at the top of Jolly Creek. i knew this ride was gonna be an ass kicker.

The climb up Middle Fork was actually fairly easy grade in our ascent, with only river crossings and an occasional rock garden thrown in to keep you honest. Along the trail i spied an odd sight. Turns out it was a rubber boa snake, it was very cool docile snake, my first time finding one.



After making great time i knew we were going to run into a wall in climbing Jolly Creek. Just reading the topo lines on the map i knew it was going to be a tough hike a bike. Even warning from other people though wasn't enough to prepare me for the true "death march" section of the loop.

But all the same i got to squeeze in a few pictures along the way.





Very rarely am i really pushing on a ride to find energy to go on halfway thru the ride. But with the spectucular views up top, it makes the effort totally worth. Unfortunately for you i was completely wasted and not in too much of a picture taking mood up top, and by the time i was fueled up, i was eager to press on and get some gnarl descent down Jolly Mt. and West Fork Teanaway.

Time for one quick shot Mt. Stuart edit*9415*edit feet second highest non volcanic peak in Washington State. i've used it as a landmark from atop other ridges towards Mt. Rainier which is over 50 miles away as the raven flies.



West Fork Teanaway is listed on the BBTC website as gonzo. A little overrated in my book, but still with the sheer amount of techy rocky rooty high exposure on the trail, along with a fatigue factor, you definately don't want to get cocky on this trail. "Someone" on the ride just got done mentioning how easy the trail seemed just right before he went ass over tea kettle on a tough switchback. :D But definately there are some sections that if you go off the trail, you will be lucky to just come out with merely something broken.



This was definately the hardest ride of the year for me, and all the others commented it was the toughest longest ride for them. It was a club ride and one rider celebrated his birthday on the ride. It really feels good not only challenging myself on an awesome ride, but getting to share the experience with some great people i just met or hardly knew on a club ride. All in all besides the terrible traffic and a bad cramp in the bar i was getting my post ride grub, it was yet another memorable day of mountain biking.

As a side note i left my wallet with over $500 and my cel phone on top of my car, forgetting to put it in my Camelback. We were off riding for 8 hours. Still there when i got back, i must be doing something right....







Thanks for the look see, enjoy the true "wilderness" experience.
 

hooples3

Fuggetaboutit!
Mar 14, 2005
5,245
0
Brooklyn
wow nice pics!! glad your wallet was still there. did you realize you left it while you were riding or only once you returned???
 

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
hooples3 said:
wow nice pics!! glad your wallet was still there. did you realize you left it while you were riding or only once you returned???
i know me too. It was at the very end of the ride at the last break point i was digging around for yum yum and realized what i had done. i was too tired to care at that point haha.

Snacks said:
You carry $500 in your wallet? :think:
Usually i buy enough heroine on Saturday to clear me out, so yah usually i don't carry around that much dough. :drool: ;)

Heidi said:
Some of that side of the cliff stuff makes me nervous.

Nice pics!
Thanks! Yah the West Fork has a bunch of high exposure too. The trick is to focus on the trail, and ride normal, but not take unnecessary risks either. So many trails around here have exposure, but many times the trees sort of obscure it.
Still alot of fun once you get acclimated.
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
awesome photos Skooks and great write up too.

Looks like you have to have your focus your entire time on that ride - especially on the trails along those cliffs!! Yikes!
 

pnj

Turbo Monkey till the fat lady sings
Aug 14, 2002
4,696
40
seattle
that route (or part of that) was my first 'real' mtn. bike ride, done with Skookum.

Skook- did you feel at all bad for taking a complete mtn. bike noob on that? my bike still had reflectors on it....ahaha.

and yes, you could very easily die on some parts of that trail. I remember not being able to pedal on one section because the hill was so steep and the trail so skinny, that if you did a full rotation of your cranks, your pedals would hit the side of the mountain.

good times, for sure.
 

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
Thanks for the comments everyone, as some of you know, i actually work pretty hard to do these write ups.

pnj said:
Skook- did you feel at all bad for taking a complete mtn. bike noob on that? my bike still had reflectors on it....ahaha.

and yes, you could very easily die on some parts of that trail.
What fun is mt. biking without the threat of death once in a while?

Besides reflectors or not there are probably only a handful on this board that can pull a 2 mile continous manual like you did at the end of the ride, including myself. (i can manual for 2 feet maybe...)