In July my family’s headed on a vacation in Washington St. and Oregon and I’m going along for the ride (and hopefully also for the RIDE). I put together a google maps of the rough itinerary at http://tinyurl.com/ddwdrg , is there anything (especially muni, but xc is fine too) that I “Can’t Miss™” while I’m out there? The itinerary is fairly well set, but there are certainly spots where I could break off and rejoin the family later in the day.
What do you guys think? The time frame is from 6/30 leaving Seattle, Portland on 7/7 (and a possible flight out of Portland if I’m wanting to save some vacation days for later), then out of Seattle on 7/11 if not.
Help me out, all you guys on the opposite corner of the US from me… what advice do you have?
billnye
John M
P.S. Camping at Wallowa St. Park includes a jaunt to Hell’s Canyon, I guess I didn’t put that on there.
Boisei, care to elaborate on “abound”? Anything online I can check out? (especially on the muni side)
After discussions over a dinner visit last night, we’ll probably scale back the road trip loop, to free up a couple days on the overall trip and create more flexibility, leaving us with something more akin to http://tinyurl.com/bux3cq .
This variation makes a possible early departure out of Portland a more productive option as far as more vacation days saved, but I still don’t mind spending the extra week if it means not passing up the chance to ride somewhere after Portland on the loop or gives the time to ride somewhere else before Portland and keep truckin’
I’ve probably got a few more days to a week to keep dragging my feet on the decision before we need to pick up tickets, so regale me with your tales of muni excellence, you NW Corner-ners!
Wallowa Lake is great place to spend a day or two, I grew up near there (Elgin & La Grande). I suggest emailing the folks who run the tram to see if they will allow you to ride at the top (http://www.wallowalaketramway.com/). That would be an amazing ride!
As far as riding in Portland I’d try contacting ducttape to see what he suggests.
Phil: If I go for the full 2 weeks, I’ll get around to Spokane where my sister and bro-in-law live, and I’ll have a couple extra days… I’ll definitely look you guys up if that’s the way things swing.
Blueharmony: I remember hearing about Snoqualmie a lot, during that year’s festivities… I’ll have to check out some of the old “coverage” and see what I can see.
I appreciate the input so far; anybody else got any related or unrealted comments? Where’s mister Greg “Grandfather Mountain” Harper on the subject?
Stupid memory of mine keeps fading, but Mountain Bike magazine used to have a staff writer/editor whose real name now eludes me; he wrote a column called “Ask Uncle Knobby.” He lived in Bellingham, WA, and the trails around there seemed spectacular (from his descriptions, anyway). You might check MTBR.com for trails near there.
If you were willing to devote a day away from Portland, you could drive south about 150 miles and ride the MacKenzie River trail, which is truly an epic (I think it’s one of IMBA’s top epic trails in the US)–25 miles one way. I’ve only ridden it as a shuttle, on a bike (didn’t muni back when I lived in Eugene), and holy crap, is it an amazing trail.
In Portland, Mount Tabor is a small park with fun trails on the eastern side of the city. But locals may be able to guide you to much better riding there; I just know of Tabor because a friend took me there to ride once, and it left a good impression on me.
Near Salem is a freeride MTB park. Black Rock trails near Falls City. They’re freeride style trails with purpose built technical trail features (jumps, ladder bridges, skinnies, etc). Ride up a dirt road and ride down hill on the trails. Look on YouTube for “Blackrock freeride” to see some videos of the trails there.
Near Portland are some trails in the Columbia Gorge. There are XC style trails with views of the gorge. There are also some freeride oriented trails near Hood River (Post Canyon trails). The XC style trails would be more visual (views of the gorge are always a good thing). Rides around there will involve climbing.
Glad you mentioned Blackrock John, that was the first thing that popped into my head. The Columbia Gorge is a very nice place to ride, it’s not too technical but it’s a nice view as you ride along. There’s quite a few trails around for MUni near Portland that I’ve never ridden. The Unicycle bastards would know more about that than me. I didn’t know you moved down into the Portland area John, that’s cool.
Grandfather Mountain will be leaving for Thailand on either 6/30 or 7/1. Hopefully some other of the SARs riders will see your thread and organize a ride with you when you’re in Seattle. One difficulty is that 6/30 is a Wednesday and organizing a ride with these twerps during the week is next to impossible. Good luck while you’re here and enjoy the Pacific Northwest.
Thanks, guys, I’ll check out some of your suggestions there, and as far as the scheduling at the start of the trip goes, right now the plan is flying into Seattle on 6/27 (probably not conducive to a ride, though at least I’m gaining time on that flight) and sightseeing, etc. on 6/28-6/30, then headed to Das Wallops for camping the night of 6/30.
I don’t know if that frees things up at all, Mr. Harper, since you’re still in the last prep days before your trip there, but that’s where I’ll be when (at this point in the planning).
