North Cascades Hwy Ride Report

The North Cascades Highway reopened on April 16 this year. This is a classic motorcycle ride and is best done in early season before the snow melts at the lower elevations. I prefer the scenery with snow.

I have been waiting for two years to get a photo at Rainy Pass. The photo I had was shot with a lens that was out of focus. Last year I went to Rainy Pass on a weekend and cars along side the road spoiled the art I was trying to capture.

This year I decided to try a weekday and see I could get the photo I wanted. This past week the weather has been absoluting stunning so I called a couple of friends to go for a ride.

We met at a Starbucks south of Everett Washington just off I-5. We catch up about bikes, life and particular Doug’s BMW RT which after 145,000 miles left him stranded with a burnt valve. Doug’s wife Meg rides too and so they rode her bike home two up with Doug driving.

Doug is a mutual friend of all of us and was unable to make the ride today. This meant we could really question his BMW loyalty. Ha ha. Truth be told I like BMW RTs - I just don’t want to pay for one or pay for the maintenance.

Another truth is his BMW has seen better days. It will evolve from one aw shit to another. Out of this fact I made a crack Doug could part out the bike and be further ahead rather than fixing it for after all a final drive with 145k miles was worth it’s weight in GOLD. It is a proven unit and what could be better for a BMW owner than knowing their RT final drive will not end up leaking all all over the pavement; a sure sign of impending doom. That comment created all sorts of giggles and ha ha with my friends on this splendid sunny morning.

Well I have spoken too long and rather than describe the North Cascades Highway let’s get on with the part everybody wants; the pictures. I took over 100 photo on this ride. So this is a photo essay.

Whitehorse Mountain near Darrington the crack capital of Washington.


The rest are scenery shots of peaks with names unknown to me.


Moi on the road.....

Brian on the road and what a road it is....




We walk up the snow covered hill to get this photo of the high alpine cirque.



Rainy Pass the photo I have been trying to shoot for two years. I like how the road curves out of sight with the mountain in the background with the snow bank drawing the image forward.



Approaching Washington Pass and Liberty Bell.


Life is Grand!


Approaching Liberty Bell avalanche shoot and Big Bend where the road does a 180.


Just after Big Bend

So we went to Twisp for lunch. Curtis decide to do the loop and head back home via Wenatchee. Brian and I could not resist the call of the North Cascades Hwy so we return the same way we came.

Liberty Bell


Once again approaching Big Bend east to west this time.


Brian driving by what I call God’s Golf Course. You ought to see it in July. I it is all lush and green. By September everything is brown.




Another shot of Rainy Pass. This time in the afternoon. Nothing like a nooner.








Brian on his ST.


We stopped at Newhalm where this engine sits.

The End

Little Creek Casino RTE

RTE is Ride To Eat

My friend Brian and I decided to got for a ride this weekend. This is a story of changing our minds at a moments notice. We started out with planning to ride around the Olympic Pennisula.

On Saturday the day before the ride we change it up and agree to ride to Lake Cushman Dam and Wynochee Lake Dam as these are Washington State BMW club ride targets on the and on Brian's list. We agree to meet at McDonald's in Federal Way at 9:00am and ride to Lake Cushman mostly by freeway.Sunday morning dawns and I am on the road soon stopping to get gas at Costo in Federal Way for about 3.40 a gallon. Nice to see prices less than $4 a gallon. I arrive at McDonalds at 8:35 figuring for once I would show up before Brian. No way as he arrived 15 minutes prior.

We trade stories, have some coffee and I have McMuffin. I suggest we avoid the freeway take an alternate route providing a better view of the mountains around Lake Cushman. We are hoping for clear skies for a photo opportunity.

We go down I-5 and across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge known by all first year Mechanical Engineering students as Galloping Gertie. In 1940 the original bridge went splash to to resonant frequency and aerodynamic issues.

Narrow Bridge in 1940 just before splash down. 

Narrows Bridges Today

We head to Waunu, Washington where I wanna take picture a of this tree and Puget Sound.

We follow Hwy 302 through Victor to Hwy 106 once again rejoining Puget Sound and terrific views of the shoreline, like this one.

We decide to continue to Lake Cushman as there was some blue sky in the area and hope for some views.This is what we got. Bummer.

I have done better but I am still looking for the time when I can improve on this photo.

Yours truly at Lake Cushman dam.

The plan was continue to Wynochee Dam, but this ride is about change. I have been leading the entire ride. About 2 miles before the exit before the Little Creek Casino Brian takes the lead. I know something's up and I think I know what.

We now have a RTE.

The Little Creek Casino has a terrific buffet lunch featuring seafood, including steamed clams, salmon, dungeness and snow crab. Yummie! This is a favorite RTE for us and you can see why.

At lunch we agree on more change. Instead of going to the Wynochee Dam we decide to reverse course and head north along Hood Canal on Hwy 101. The reason for the reversal is to avoid rain. Radar on the web page we looked shows rain south so let's go north! So we did.

Along Hwy 101 I shot this photo.

There was fishing boat on Hood Canal working on Sunday.

Not long after it starting raining. So much for avoiding the rain. We could see clearing north east of Quilcene so we knew this would be short lived. And it was.

We get to the Hood Canal Bridge a floating bridge. In 1979 the bridge sunk during a storm. I imagine fans of Led Zeppelin pulled up to listen to The Crunge where Robert Plant ends the song asking the question, "Where's that confounded bridge?"

Hood Canal Bridge today.

Looking northbound from the Hood Canal Bridge.

Looking southbound from the Hood Canal Bridge.

Brian behind me on the Hood Canal Bridge.

We continue to Port Gamble where I shot this photo.

And on to the ferry dock at Kingston where I shot this photo of Brian.

And this photo of our ship coming in.

SW Washington Ride

It has been raining constantly since Easter and I was going nuts.  I installed new tires  and can't even take'm out for a good scrub in.   Heck the past weekend the snow level was near sea level and some places were white with snow or hail.  Crazy spring weather in Seattle. 

Jonesing for a ride I escaped work early for a quick half day tour of some of his favorite winter time roads in Washington.

In Washington State we get four seasons of weather unlike other areas of the country.  Say Michigan for instance where winter jumps to summer in two days or so.

The benefit of four seasons is we can ride roads road too often and see different things like we could when we had a kaleidoscope in our childhood.  Not long after his childhood some of us saw different things and didn't even have to use a kaleidoscope but that is a story of the 1970's and one best forgotten, except to remember the days when Pink Floyd album covers had real meaning.  

The inspiration for this ride was to take a photo near Lake Cushman something like this one but do it better. This photo must be taken when in winter or early spring, when the snow snow level has been less than 1000 feet during a recent snowfall.  Summer will not work as the snow melts all the way to the top of this mountain.

That did not work out due to clouds and rain in the area.  Nuts.  Now I have to wait one more year.

The rest of the inspiration was to ride the excellent farm country roads in Lewis county Washington, include Lincoln Creek, Bunker Creek and Michigan Hill roads. 

The route.

Enough talking and now for some photos.

Self portrait.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge

FJR near Victor Washington

FJR near Victor Washington

I stopped at Twanoh State Park for some photos.

Along the Purdy Cut Off Road:

A little closer shot:

My favorite kind of gas.  My MPG improves 5% -note to Feds give peeps a choice.

The only tavern in Rochester Washington is for sale. A town that can't support a tavern is not a town anymore.

Farm land country in Lewis county Washington.

Near Rochester where a bar is dead, an Alpaca Farm thrives.

An Alpaca the Maserati of sheep.  Alpaca in a field.

A year ago I took a photo of the Post Office at Adna Washington.

Now it looks like this, bummer.

A barn with a wood roof.  Shaaaa some barns with a metal roof are collapsed.  

I stopped in Elbe, Washington to take a photo of this church.  Not a good photo as I was shooting directly in to the sun.

A photo of the twisties along Hwy 7 in LaGrande Washington where my FJR lost it's suspension virginity.  

The End.

Chuckanut Drive

At 27,000 miles I checked the valves on my FJR. They were a bit snug in places and a bit loose in others but all within spec. Rather than go another 25 k miles I decided to check them every 10k until an adjustment was required.
This moment came at 37,000 miles. I choose to have the work done by my dealer for I am not interested in removing the camshaft.

After waiting for parts the work was done on Friday and I picked up the bike on Saturday morning. Parting with a few Benjamins is a great way to start a weekend. It was money well spent.

With coin well spent it was time to enjoy the recently completed work. 

I contacted forum member EscapeFJRtist. We laid out a route agreeing to meet in Monroe at Patty's Egg Nest for breakfast at 9:00am.

Fontanaman lives about 40 miles south south of Monroe while EscapeFJRtist lives in Monroe. The significance of this was apparent when Fontanaman hit the road at 8:00 am, his lawn well frosted over, the FJR temp gauge indicating 36 degrees. Fiddling with he new Gerbing dual temp controller Fontanaman wondered if the unit was defective. His prior controller was a single controller - easy enough to hook up. After a quick stop the controller issue was resolved and the heated jacket did it job along with the heated grips.

We both enjoyed a senior breakfast while catching on recent events. EscapeFJRtist does not qualify for senior breakfast while Fontanaman does. Truth be told a senior breakfast is just a smaller portion something Fontanaman would have benefited from long before becoming senior.

There are a lot of great roads near Monroe and EscapeFJRtist knows them all so he led the way to Arlington, all along good back roads.

No photos yet and you are all getting bored with Fontanaman refering to himself in the third person, right?

So he whips out his camera near Lake McMurray and starts shooting.

The road is twisty around Lake McMurray.


After Lake McMurray Hwy 9 snakes up toward Big Lake with a view of the lake and golf course along with a couple of tight turns that are fun despite the lower speed limit. Just after Big Lake I shot these photos of Mt. Baker.


For a closer view of Mt. Baker.


Too bad it was an overcast day. 

We press north on Hwy 9 until we the turn off for Lake Watcom along a scenic road leading to Bellingham.


Once in Bellingham head toward Chuckanut Drive a eleven mile section along Puget Sound carved into a cliff. A few nice views but today photography was tough so I found some photos on on the web.

By eagle7cmg https://ssl.panorami.../photo/10138063







After Chuckanut Drive we head on down the Edison Cafe for lunch. After lunch we continue down along Puget Sound, to LaConnor and point south including a ride along the Skagit River to see a few eagles.

We even notice an eagle soaring along with our spirits after a great day of riding.