[gearz]

We rode the Miller Peak Loop yesterday, one of my favorite rides. Other than a couple snowpatches the ride has melted out completely. I like to do the ride clockwise but others may disagree.. Up Iron Creek, down Bear Creek, up Miller Creek to Miller Peak then down County Line and Teanaway Ridge trail back to Iron-Bear saddle and down Iron Creek to the car. Only a 90 minute drive from Seattle. Total distance is about 17 miles with around 4000' worth of climbing and some hike-a-bike. 16.998 of the 17 miles is singletrack. Go get it!

Cruising high on Miller

Dreamy terrain to ride....

Views ain't half bad up there

Loose, rocky, sometimes both riding keeps you honest and makes it exciting!

Rippin' the County Line..

Back to the Iron-Bear Saddle rather quickly...

Even us old farts can get it up!

Iron Creek is a superfun downhill and a great way to end this great (non epic) ride. See the trail down below?

 

[Borneo]

Great post Brian. I was just talking about this ride yesterday and wondering... I was planning on waiting until July 4th do do it(as per every year) but may have to go earlier now. Looks like the low snow pack has been kind to at least high country riding. When to go, when to go....
P.S. Yeah, I'm one of those CCW folks. But, doing it CW this time just for the heck of it.
Iron Bear is a sweet downhill both ways. Doing it lollipop style off 97 is the ticket too.

 

[gearz]

Great post Brian. I was just talking about this ride yesterday and wondering... I was planning on waiting until July 4th do do it(as per every year) but may have to go earlier now. Looks like the low snow pack has been kind to at least high country riding. When to go, when to go....
P.S. Yeah, I'm one of those CCW folks. But, doing it CW this time just for the heck of it.
Iron Bear is a sweet downhill both ways. Doing it lollipop style off 97 is the ticket too.

Thanks Bob. I think the ride is best in mid to late June as the flowers peak around that time regardless of the snowpack situation. We were definitely too early for that. I just couldn't resist doing the ride so early just because I knew we could. This was my fifth Miller ride with the first three CCW and now the last two CW and I can say it's an awesome ride either direction but I'm leaning toward CW. Will be intersted in your feelings after the ride if you do it CW. If you do it as a club ride around that time frame sign me up. I agree with Zilly in that descending Miller Creek is a "shameful waste of elevation" and not as good of a descent off the top as riding down County Line is. Also I would rather ride down Bear Creek than ride up it. And the ride must begin at Iron Creek which is a great climb to begin the ride and an killer way to end it.
High country ride season has begun!

 

[Skookum]

i dunno the .002 sounds like alot of road to me, i think i'll skip it.

 

[borregokid]

Finally did it-

After reading the posts this year and last I thought I would see what Miller Peak Loop was all about. I decided not to make it an epic and shorten the ride so I started out off of Hwy 97 at the Iron Bear trail head and ran it in the CCW direction. Its pretty much non stop climbing for five miles or so. When I got to the top of the ridge It started snowing and sleeting. When I got to the Miller Peak Summit Trail there was nothing to see except snow and sleet plus it was way cold and I was dressed like some whacked out XC rider. On the way down I saw two Mountaineers-no doubt about it, they had ice axes and were dressed like the could climb Rainier. I am sure they thought I was nuts. It wasnt my worst ride but it was maybe the coldest. I made it to Iron Creek and it seemed to be warming up a bit because it was now light rain. I saw a couple of FS employees putting in a new bridge across the creek. I headed up Iron Bear and back down which might have been as good as any single track even if it was muddy. My odometer showed about 16 miles and 3:02 for saddle time. From looking at the map I had been thinking it was maybe 12 miles, I guessed I missed a couple of miles. Not sure if I will do it again, maybe BBTC if it comes up.

 

[Borneo]

Must have been the weather!

It's a good ride Keith. You'll do it again. I'm going on the 4th of July.
I'll be camping on the back before that. Ride on over and we'll talk about it.
Another good version for you is to ride up Dicky Creek drainage, across Teanaway Ridge and down Iron Bear. It's a helluva downhill as it is a climb.

 

[gearz]

Brr....

I'm freezing just reading your ride report! Too bad about the weather. It's a great ride in good weather. Iron Creek is awesome. In fact IMHO the whole loop either direction is a gem. I'm on my way to North Ridge / Mt. Clifty today........

 

[borregokid]

I sse the BBTC has a couple of rides scheduled-if I think its warm I will probably be interested. I might run it next time from the other side. The "lollipop" really isnt much shorter. I guess it takes a little elevation out and maybe a mile of riding. Gearz listed 17 miles, the PI article listed 20 miles for the loop, and I know the "lollipop" is at least 16. My odometer reading was almost 17 but I know its off a little. Other than the scree field at the top its a nice loop ride although deceptive in the energy it takes. I am still recovering.

 

[Monte]

I was looking at my summer through gearz' lenz and I've gotta call a couple shots. All in good fun of course.

gearz wrote: We rode the Miller Peak Loop yesterday, one of my favorite rides. Other than a couple snowpatches the ride has melted out completely. I like to do the ride clockwise but others may disagree.. Up Iron Creek, down Bear Creek, up Miller Creek to Miller Peak then down County Line and Teanaway Ridge trail back to Iron-Bear saddle and down Iron Creek to the car. Only a 90 minute drive from Seattle. Total distance is about 17 miles with around 4000' worth of climbing and some hike-a-bike. 16.998 of the 17 miles is singletrack. Go get it!

Cruising high on Miller (Me thinks not!)

Dreamy terrain to ride....

Views ain't half bad up there (Me thinks not, again. Now back to our regular programming.)

Loose, rocky, sometimes both riding keeps you honest and makes it exciting!

Rippin' the County Line..

Back to the Iron-Bear Saddle rather quickly...

Even us old farts can get it up!

Iron Creek is a superfun downhill and a great way to end this great (non epic) ride. See the trail down below?

[/QUOTE]

 

[borregokid]

Those are some nice pics. Today being the first day of Winter its nice too look back a few months. By my calculations we have about 10 more days and then we will be halfway through the really bad weather. The day I rode Miller on 5-23 was the worst coldest ride I did all year-by far. The weather being what it has been I am taking a couple of days off riding per -doctors orders.

 

[[email protected]]

You know, it's never a bad time to regurgitate good reports and pix... I love that.
I can almost feel that summer heat brown my skin...

mmm, tomorrow, the days will only get longer until next solstice
But you won't see me crying tho'... no doubt, those glorious nightrides at 10pm in the sparkling frost are just as beautiful as the sunny epics of summer.

I suppose I should ride Miller someday

 

[FM]

I suppose I should ride Miller someday

I used to ride miller peak every year for a few years, many good times, it's very scenic! But it kind of fell of my "must-do" list- it's an awful lot of work and the descent way goes pretty quick. (I guess I enjoyed it more when I had time to enjoy a higher level of fitness than I currently posess!)

I am pretty excited to explore entiat & chelan areas more this year.

 

[Monte]

I am pretty excited to explore entiat & chelan areas more this year.

Me too. I'll probably do Miller again though, only been there once. Part of the Teanaway experience for next year. Have some exploring to do there.

Monte

 

[bustedbones]

ridden the iron bear trail a coupple times and I like it. make sure to be there at the right time of year or wont be much fun.