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Volcano

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
Turning out to be such a great summer, yet another great campout and group ride. Sundays ride first.

Falls Creek

i wasn't sure what i was going to do on Sunday. i had signed up for the Falls Creek BBTC club ride after the St. Helens ride, but started getting cold feet. Then everyone told me to get out of the creek and i decided to go for it.



Much of the trail especially the first section is decommisioned forest road and doubletrack. Which isn't that bad considering it makes for excellent sight lines and with that.... dare i say it.... ludicrous speed!



So fast were the trails i completely missed the first lava cliffs. According to the expert geologists on the ride we deduced that what we stumbled upon was a collapsed lava tube. Probably not a bad guess.



A great trail all in all. It reminded me of an old wooden roller coaster. Only a few corners snuck up on me pretty quick and i blew off the rails so to speak, but like the group i couldn't help but enjoy the ride, especially the final section where i'm really really glad i didn't miss any corners....



Falls Creek



We met these guys on the trail and i think they best summarize how we all felt about the trail with this picture.



Ape Canyon/Plains of Abraham

Back to the volcano! Seems like alot of things were keeping me from riding the Plains again, sprained knees, broken legs, violent volcanic eruptions, and even my stupid upstair neighbors keeping me up til i only got 4 hours of sleep before i hit the road.

But dammit i made it, and damn glad i did.



Years go by and i had forgotten how big the trees are on the climb up. Either that or i'm just shrinking.



"That's one small pedal for bikey, one giant ride for bikey-kind."

Leaving the ridge and climbing towards the Plains.



Click for Panorama



The bikey invasion of the Moon underway.



Pedaling on the pum.





Awesome



Reaching the end of the out and back. On the ride i did before our group never rode the spine of the ridge out to the stairs, as the next panorama will show it's worth it to make the small trek.

Click for Panorama

It was a big club ride, and everyone was stoked. i mean how cool is it to ride next to an active volcano!



When i rode here before i was very impressed with the landscape, but i will say my senses were ultra heightened to be riding next to Loowit as it smokes.



Thanks for the look see, i'm taking a hiatus on reports for a while.:)



Wait a minute... What's that rumbling?
 

Qman

Monkey
Feb 7, 2005
633
0
Nice work Skook.....so that's what the Plains look like in the daylight....!

That spine is the sketchiest thing I've ever ridden in the dark.
 

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
MMcG said:
Thanks Skooks, but why the hiatus?
Ride reports are alot of work, i have to work to get shots. Plus to edit photos and do these writeups it takes me on average of 4 to 5 hours.

Don't get me wrong i like doing them and i love sharing, and i hope i inspire people to ride. But i have no qualms of being selfish and taking some time off so i can just go out and ride.

i'll be doing some rides at places i've already done ride reports on for the next 3 weeks. But i have some plans for some BIG elevation rides. i'd like to bag 2 out of 3 alpine beauty's this year. Angels Staircase and Pyramid Mt, both are rides where you can mt. bike above 8000 feet marker which is true above the tree's alpine and Pot Peak which is vaunted as Washington States funnest XC downhill, but you gotta pedal for miles and miles to get it.....

So those are on the docket in the meantime others are carrying the torch. There are alot of monkies doing ride reports and i read them all and i think it's frikkin cool.:cool:
 

boostindoubles

Nacho Libre
Mar 16, 2004
7,892
6,182
Yakistan
yea! Falls Creek is a sweet ride! I rode it with some friends a couple years ago. I was looking at those lava tubes and thinking they looked familiar. doh! I remember the last segment after the horse camp to be the funnest, when your cruising down those sidehills and HAULING ASS!

The plains of Abraham is a good ride too.

right on skookum! btw, going on a ride this sunday? I found a bike i can borrow for some singletrack action
 

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
chicodude said:
When does the snow start to fall on the good trails?


I needs me an epic
Up here around Oct/Nov....

Since you're in Norcal you should check out that South Oregon stuff. That King Castle/Castle Rock ride while not an epic, packed so much quality punch with worthy flowy trails and a view to boot. i honestly keep thinking about that trail like it was my first lay haha....

i really want to get down there and do Umpqua (near Roseburg, Ore) soon, maybe i can meet you halfway for a ride.:)

http://www.imba.com/epics/maps/umpqua_map.jpg

Plus i always wanted to try some trails around Shasta, probably next year for that.

boostindoubles said:
yea! Falls Creek is a sweet ride! I rode it with some friends a couple years ago. I was looking at those lava tubes and thinking they looked familiar. doh! I remember the last segment after the horse camp to be the funnest, when your cruising down those sidehills and HAULING ASS!


right on skookum! btw, going on a ride this sunday? I found a bike i can borrow for some singletrack action
Yah that trail is a ripper.

And if you can handle 25 miles 4000+ elevation climbing (i don't know if i can handle that haha), go to Randle on 12, take a left on 131 across the Cowlitz River bridge. Take a left on Cispus Rd which turns into Forest Rd. 23. At a Y stay to the left on Forest Rd. 21. A little past Cat Creek Campground is Forest Rd. 78, we'll be parking at that junction. We'll be starting around ninish Sunday. This ride is in the Blue Lakes Trail System, Hamilton Peak has a 360 panorama of all the volcaners and dem Goat Rocks.