Context: My brother is graduating college and as a "Fuck Yeah I'm Done" celebration he told me he'd like to ride bikes with some friends for a week in August, starting on a Friday and end on the next Friday.
* We're not randos, so I figure 60-70 miles a day is about as far as we are comfortable with
* We're planning on camping most of it and staying in hotels every few nights
* I am lobbying for day 1 being travel (bus or train) and then ending in Seattle/Tacoma
So far I've given him three options:
1. Up the coast and turn east to Seattle
2. Go around the Olympic Peninsula
3. Bike in from the East, starting in Idaho
So that's what I've got to work with. Have any of you done something similar in the areas I've described? Any tips and advice from my esteemed bicycling club would be most welcome.
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mailemae
Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 8:21 pm
not very stokedJoined: 03 Sep 2009Posts: 303Location: winterfell
archie and I did the loop around olypen last summer. it ruled. I don't know if it would rule as hard this time of year though. we went around the last week of august and it only rained once. I always meant to post a detailed description of our trip but I never did.
this image gives you a vague idea of our planned route and stops:
although we didn't follow that exactly. fred had a bunch of good route advice for us, and arch might remember more of the turn-by-turns.
basically we took the bainbridge boat, rode to port angeles, then stayed at lake crescent (amazeballz), kalaloch, lake quinault, and someplace sketchy because we didn't make it to where we had planned to go and right now I can't remember the name of either place, then we took the bremerton boat back.
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TorreyK
Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 8:03 am
Joined: 02 Sep 2009Posts: 1116Location: White Center/Burien
North Cascades Highway if you're into mountain passes every day. Would recommend! In August, I would not recommend crossing the state much south of highway 20, it is not fun in the heat.
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justgarth
Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 11:58 am
Joined: 04 Apr 2011Posts: 802
I have done a mix of option 1 (Maile's) & 2 as well as option 3 (Torrey's), they're all great. If you only want to do 60-70 miles a day, a one-week from Idaho might be asking a lot. (Seriously, you have at least one major mountain pass every day.) The 101 has nice rolling hills, but nothing as grinding.
If you're rolling more than two people the Peninsula might be a better bet, as there are more designated campgrounds. Both routes have plenty of wild camping, but IIRC Hwy 20 is pretty sparse as far as designated spots go.
The stretch of 101 from Astoria to Aberdeen (is this what you mean by, "follow the coast and then cut east"?) is gorgeous. Willapa Bay is particularly special; the pace of a bicycle lets you watch tidal flats rise and fall from a large body of water to a massive pool of mud. If you/your brother/his friends aren't comfortable on busy roads with no shoulder, I would strongly advise against the southern half of that stretch. Winding roads + fast trucks can be gnarly.
caustic meatloaf
Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 12:16 pm
Joined: 06 Dec 2010Posts: 1235537Location: a hammy melange...
You know, I think adding in a piece to check out Deception pass may also work - hitch a ride up to Mukilteo, ride north on the mainlaind, cross over to Whidbey, then take the ferry to Port Townsend from Fort Casey, and then do a loop down the Hodd Canal and back up to Bainbridge, maybe another loop on Bainbridge.
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Alex
Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 12:34 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006Posts: 3128Location: Roosevelt
Don't do the Oly Pen.
Starting east in Idaho and riding over here gets my vote. If you seriously consider this option I will give you some awesome routes.
My "start and end in Seattle" option is ride north, around the Mountain Loop Highway, over highway 20, down 97, back over the Iron Horse Trail. It's a comfortable week long trip in 50-60 mile days, the scenery is awesome, the roads are easy, and services are frequent so you don't need to carry much food and can find a hotel once in a while.
langston
Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 1:38 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 5547Location: Columbia City
I've done all three options and... I'm not sure which I'm thinking to recommend more. Probably Oly Pen so everyone has a good time
The Hwy 20 (actually, take the Adventure Cycles route, you're only on 20 when it's the last option) north route is great especially if you can get a ride from Spokane to Newcastle because then you can take the Amtrak out and ride home. It is however a rather brutal ride, Sarah and I made it to Ross Lake in 6 days at your theoretical pace (incl a 120 mile day to Omak to start) and it was a beast and the downhills may require a higher skill set than your friend is comfortable with. We had to replace her brake pads when we got to Winthrop.
Start your OlyPen route by going N on Metro to Everett and spend the first day riding along the pretty Skagit county to make your 1st overnight at Deception Pass. It's a nice ride and the Pass isn't to be missed by tourists. Rest of the way, follow Maile's (orig. Ethan's, yeah?) route doing a counterclockwise loop.
Astoria north... I'm tired of typing and need to get back to work. It is very pretty with bouts of traffic terror on the Oregon side. The Washington half is less amazeballs but generally better to bike.
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Drain
Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 1:14 pm
Joined: 22 Feb 2010Posts: 902Location: Seattle
Thanks so much for the tips. To clarify some stuff:
* We'll have at least 3 if not 4 riders
* justgarth - that is what I meant by "up the coast and turn east"
* My brother originally suggested Glacier National Park, which I veto'd because that's fuck off far away
We grew up in Yakima so yeah there's no way we'd hit southeastern Washington in August on a bike. 110°F is too warm even for me.
What about Highway 12 or 410 for a big counterclockwise loop?
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Alex
Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 1:18 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006Posts: 3128Location: Roosevelt
12 itself is really boring, but there is a lot of itneresting stuff just off of 12.
North of 12 Skate Creek Road is awesome (for an hour or two).
20/97/Iron Horse Trail really is the best "beginning" touring that I think the area has to offer. The passes over 20 seem huge, but it's a pretty easy steady 7% grade. You'll feel awesome when checking out the views from the top. That was my first tour in WA, and I was just out of college age (probably 22/23).
Drain
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 1:16 pm
Joined: 22 Feb 2010Posts: 902Location: Seattle
We settled on this, which I hope I didn't hijack Monica's thread with:
That just makes me think it's even better for bike riding.
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Andrew_Squirrel
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 2:16 pm
Joined: 01 Mar 2010Posts: 2098Location: Greenwood
I wholeheartedly agree! It would be a shame to have an WSDOT employee turn you around though. I guess you could just camp off the side of the highway until nightfall though.
Drain
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:27 pm
Joined: 22 Feb 2010Posts: 902Location: Seattle
I'm going to call them to see if cycles can still get through (I doubt it).
Thank you for finding that link btw :)
_________________ - Ian
Eric_s
Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 10:39 am
Joined: 07 Mar 2007Posts: 1691Location: the dirty south
You may be able to walk around it, and just carry your bike. the primary concern would be: Steep gorges with rushing water which are impassable, and heavy equipment. Worth mapping out where the slide is: rainy pass itself is not particularly steep and rugged.
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Drain
Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 8:27 pm
Joined: 22 Feb 2010Posts: 902Location: Seattle
Ok so the mud's not going to be cleared in time and the guy I talked to a WSDOT admitted that they can only legally close the road to licensed vehicles. However he also said the crews are running hard in D-8 CATs and it wouldn't be fun to try and dodge them.
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