[verslowrdr]

So the rain held off, the sun came out, the temps were mild, and for once we weren't hunkering down in a wind tunnel... and I got a hall pass... so I managed to crisscross the ridge behind the house- plus plow along beside hwy 97 on a musher's faint quad-training tracks- for a little decent dirt mileage this afternoon. BLISS.

Usual loads of deer around, a lot of elk tracks on the top, and husby thinks he might have seen Big Kitty tracks in a remote draw... wouldn't be surprising given the massive herds of wintering mulies.

AllTalk, I'm hopin' you got out this weekend on the new ride!

 

[JRA]

Nice - didn't get out on the bike but did enjoy the non-rain. I'm looking forward to your Vantage ride and hoping I might be able to make it.

 

[verslowrdr]

We'll be doing a recon run as soon as we can determine that the clay has set up. Once we figure out a better way onto the road down in Whiskey Dick, husby is lobbying hard for an 'official' posted ride out there. I'm thinking April.

 

[washington_desert_rat]

North is the wrong direction...

I had cabin fever seriously bad and new tires on the Kia so I loaded the 29er and went off in search of a place to ride that didn't require a parking pass (e.g.: not Ancient Lakes). I have no idea what I was thinking but I went north from Moses and within 30 miles there was snow on the ground next to the road. So, naturally, I kept going north thinking that maybe it would get better.

Nope.

On the bright side I found some very cool "erratic" rocks around Mansfield and scoped out the old Burlington Northern r/r grade that goes from Mansfield through Withrow and down Douglass Creek to the railroad near Rock Island. It looks ridable but soft and/or snow covered now.

Drove home via Moses Coulee and even checked out Rimrock Meadows the huge R/V camping lot place in southern Douglas County. They have 50 miles of dirt roads that the manager sort of implied I was welcome to ride (just not now... snow and mud).

Maybe I'll take tomorrow off and go south. LOL

WDR

 

[ward]

We'll be doing a recon run as soon as we can determine that the clay has set up. Once we figure out a better way onto the road down in Whiskey Dick, husby is lobbying hard for an 'official' posted ride out there. I'm thinking April.

Cool stuff you guy's! As you know, I spent last Sat. on the Beverly Dunes & Crab Creek...uploading the video in a few minutes. I know the Quilomene & Colockum wildlife areas pretty well... all the way through to the north end. Lot's to explore! If I can be of any help, let me know. Couple friends & I planning to ride out there again this spring. We haven't been out there since they put the wind farm in. We used to access the area via Park Creek Rd. just after the snow melts on top.

 

[verslowrdr]

BTW, husband and I were just cruising through the intarwebz looking for more Clockum/Quilomene/Whiskey Dick intel, when I ran into this pic from a moto site- which I pilfered, hope the taker doesn't mind because I'm borrowing it for strictly educational purposes.... This is supposedly the Brushy Cr road down to West bar:

I'm putting this in as proof of how the 'roads' can get back there... and yes, I've seen worse. Roll this garbage for a few miles nonstop and you'll be feelin' it. I remember coming home from riding this area back in the days of fully rigid bikes and hardly feeling anything from about my bicep on down to my hands.

 

[ward]

Brings back memories... I've got tons of slides of that area I need to dig out & scan. We did most of our big "exploritory" rides out there in the '90's. I even had an old '62 Unimog I drove in for base camp one spring... drove the whole Brushy past the wheat feilds and down into the Tarpiscan. That's the trip when we rode the Stray Gulch and another old abandoned single track to the north. Helps to have the "old" USGS maps out there. Most of the time we drove in on the "Army Road" to the bottom of the Quillomene for base camp and started our loops from there. Thought about arriving by boat if we could put it together (I don't have one), then we could ferry to other drop off points. We've done the Quillomene canyon many times as a day ride from the top down and then back out... tough climb out to finish, but worth it. Watching this year for that time when the grasses are green and short (like new mowed lawn everywhere), the flowers start they're short season, and the snakes are still movin' slow from the cold evening temps...

 

[verslowrdr]

Yeah, the boat idea seemed best while we were looking at it last night. A lot of those roads have gotten worse from the last few year's floods or have even been actively put to sleep.If we all decided we wanted it bad enough I suppose we could find a party barge to rent and load it up with bikes and camping gear, lol....

 

[ward]

Yeah, the boat idea seemed best while we were looking at it last night. A lot of those roads have gotten worse from the last few year's floods or have even been actively put to sleep.If we all decided we wanted it bad enough I suppose we could find a party barge to rent and load it up with bikes and camping gear, lol....

I heard from a motorcyclist that even the army road had significant damage towards the bottom now... the good thing is, for mtb's anyway, is that it makes those areas even more remote. A party barge/ mtb ferry would be the coolest! I have a couple friends w/ aluminum fishing "sleds", but by the time we pay they're gas from Yakima in they're truck's and then up the river (lake) in the boats, it could get expensive. would be optimum to locate someone w/ a party barge that's already at Vantage or Cresent Bar or? We've often thought of camping high at the edge of the forest, great camping and view, drawback is an uphill (often upwind too) finish to every ride. there's a cool "central" location to possibly camp at where the Brushy road drops in to cross the Brushy Creek. Still tough return trips to camp, but an easier trip in/out w/ the gear. A friend & I have also considered packin' up the bikes and "touring" out there... could be a heck of a challenge, as you guy's know, it can get nasty out there in the spring!

 

[verslowrdr]

Just took a quick look on line at pontoon boat rentals in the area, and I'll get right on it when that winning lotto ticket comes in. But if I ever unearth a cheaper ferry service, I'll post it up... it would be quite an adventure.

 

[ward]

Yah, 4 wheelin' in is the simplest (and most affordable) way to get into that area. As far as camp is concerned, Simpler and less gas (and easier escape) camping high right at the edge of the forest. Bummer climbing back out to camp... but you start every ride w/ a downhill or traverse. And great views, radio/cell reception. Our day trips out there all required what we started calling a "death march" back out. Last couple of times we took lights 'cause we knew we'd finish in the dark. Fun stuff! Worth it for "Adventure Riders",,, maybe not so good for the racier weight weenies... don't want to get caught out there without a well prepared pack! (I think we chatted about that before...)...

 

[All_talk]

AllTalk, I'm hopin' you got out this weekend on the new ride!

Hey Verslowrdr, I did get out for a run up Hayward on Saturday, I should have went a bit earlier, the wind started in just as I was nearing the top, lucky it was more of a cross wind cause I would have never made that last pitch with that blowing in my face. It almost blew me down a couple times on the way back, I’m sure I looked funny to passing motorists on Thorp Hwy leaned over sideways just to stay upright. I snapped a couple of pics of the windmills, they were stopped, too much wind even for them. And I hit a wet section in the road and drew “first mud” on the new bike.

I got in a few more miles last night here in CDA. It was 48 degs and rainy, but I had a bad day at work and just wasn’t in the mood to hit the gym (my normal routine for weekday nights away from home). So I zip-tied a flashlight to the stem and hit the street for about 45min. The bike is pretty filthy now but it felt good to pedal.

Gary

 

[verslowrdr]

...I snapped a couple of pics of the windmills, they were stopped, too much wind even for them. And I hit a wet section in the road and drew “first mud” on the new bike...

Not just mud, but your cassette wound up some of that dried weed that drifts in piles against my house and fence lines. She's broke in now! :thumbsup: I'll say from recent experience though that the stuff doesn't improve shifting performance at all...

FWIW I went up Eburg ranches to the top, scooted west to the canal access road, over the hill at the top of Eagle's Rest Rd we call 'The Top of The World' and continued on the canal road through Deer Valley out to Hayward. Then over the top of Hayward to 97, bombed down beside Hwy 97 (believe it or not that section is actually fun) to the north Eburg ranches road and chugged up the ridge again. Then since I wanted more time, I double-dipped on the canal road and out of curiosity took the old "Top of the World" road towards the turbines as far as I dared. Then I figured I had to go home someday even though I didn't want to, so I dumped down the grade to Eagle's rest and back home. Computer just hit 16 miles on the highway in front of the house... elevation gain I guess would qualify as 'lots'...

 

[All_talk]

Yeah, funny thing is I didn’t pick up the hitchhiker up on the dirt, I snagged it down on Thorp Hwy about a mile from the house. It was on the brake side and not causing me trouble so I left it for the post ride pic.

I did a sort of reverse of you route last fall. Went up Eberg ranches from hwy 10, up to the top and under the gate. Then followed it down to 97, up 97/Bettas, then Hayward back down to Thorp Hwy and home. I really hadn’t planned to drop down to 97, I wanted to stay up top but couldn’t see a clear route and wasn’t sure who’s property it was safe to cross without risking a shotgun welcome.

 

[verslowrdr]

I know what you mean... there's some really weird places up there... but we've been OK on the canal road. Call me when you're free some weekend and I'll show you 'round what I know.

 

[ward]

I'm sure you guy's have seen this stuff, but just to fuel the fire... http://msrmaps.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=14&Z=10&X=225&Y=1632&W=3&qs=|kittitas+|washington|

We did day trips down & back on the Quilomene, and down the Brushy Creek and back out on the Quilomene. The rest were 3-4 day base camps. Twice we camped at the bottom of the Quilomene, and twice at the bottom of the Tekison. Best riding, by far out there, was the Brushy Creek, the Stray Gulch and the Quilomene canyon it's self. Though the Stray Gulch and Brushy Creek both say "Jeep Trail" on the map (actually, the "Green Trails" map(s) show the Stray Gulch as a single track), only very short sections exist now as "double track", and that was a few years back. We generally(but not always) gained our altitude on the rougher ridge line routes and descended on the smoother (generally much smoother!!) canyon trails. Hoping to get out there this year, skipped it last year but "glassed" the area from ancient lakes w/ fond memories. A friend or two and I are talking about camping on top this time, lots of little "hollow's" between the top of the Brushy, and the Stray Gulch. I know we've never actually met, but if you're interested, we could meet on the L.T. Murray for a "pow-wow"...

Happy Trails!
-ward

 

[verslowrdr]

Lemme get our ducks in a row on the Whiskey Dick thing first. We're also eyeballing the Yakima skyline trail as an early season possibility.

It's a heck of a thing to have too many places to ride...

 

[Dave_schuldt]

Some pics from a hike I did just north of Vantage a few years ago.
http://gallery.me.com/dave.schuldt#100325

 

[ward]

Cool Dave! We like to think of it as Washington's "Outback". Some very remote canyons out there... tough to get into, tough to get out of...

 

[verslowrdr]

Rode a bit more from the house today through Thorp (including some explorations kinda behind AllTalk's house, where I saw some tire tracks), and on the Iron Horse Trail ran into a local 'cross racer + guy coming back from the canyon... they had been to the 2nd tunnel up and said it was all good. Then I ran into GPSser running on the trail.

Everyone sing: "It's a Small World After All!"

The crummy news was that I started getting an alarming buzzing sound out of the rear of my bike while coasting down the big hill on Hwy 10 towards my house at 25+ mph. And every time I stopped, it would go away, making precise diagnosis extremely difficult. Not to mention stress-inducing since the sound only started after coasting at speeds where I would NOT want to hit the pavement* should the rear end seize up altogether. :madman:

From what little observations I was able to make and some help from google, we're fairly certain that I've become victim to Mavic's dreaded 'freehub screech'. Did I mention a dog's going in for surgery Wednesday and the washing machine is suddenly making ominous noises also? Looks like we're going to spend the next few weeks really stimulating the local economy. Maybe Manchurien Ramen would like to sponsor my riding season? :bluefrown:

*eta: I've done this. Words can't express how much I DON'T recommend it.