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Mount Rainier-Mount St. Helens
Riders: Jan Heine, Ryan Hamilton
Distance: 275 km (170 miles); Time: 14 hours; Open only during summer months.
Bikes: 1973 Alex Singer; 2003 LeMond Victoire
Tires: Grand Bois 700C x 30 mm; Michelin Pro Race 700C x 25 mm
(Click on thumbnails
for larger view.)
| Our ride connected Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens. Apart from a short stretch on Hwy 12, we saw no more than 30 cars in 12 hours of riding. | |
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To scout the roads for the Seattle International Randonneurs Fall 2008 600 km brevet, we set out to ride part of the course. We started on Skate Creek Road at the South edge of Mt. Rainier National Park, rode up to Paradise, down to Ohanapecosh, on to Packwood and Randle, before taking FR 25/26 to Windy Ridge on Mt. St. Helens. We returned to Packwood, from where we climbed Skate Creek Road to our starting point. (Click on map for larger view.) |
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The first hours on Mount Rainier had us ride in fog and drizzle, but by the time we started ascending Mount St. Helens, the sun came out. |
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A sign that delights cyclists - the road to Windy Ridge is closed for cars. Cyclists have to road to themselves. |
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Sometimes, roads are closed for a reason, and you have to turn around! This is the old highway that parallels Highway 12. |
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More often than not, closed roads are passable for cyclists. |
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Climbing on Forest Road (FR) 26, we thought we saw evidence of a forest fire on the slopes above. |
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As we gained elevation, the views became more breathtaking. |
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Rounding a corner, we realized that the dead trees had been killed not by fire, but by the blast of Mount St. Helens erupting. The entire hillsides in the background are covered by fallen trees. Another washout was easily by-passed. The washout exposes the ash deposits from the 1980 eruption, which are several feet thick here. |
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28 years after the eruption, new growth is covering the landscape. The scale of the blast zone is amazing – we rode for almost two hours between dead trees. Ryan is barely visible here, dwarfed by the landscape. |
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Challenging roads allow exploring the limits of tire adhesion.
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Descending from Independence Pass, the road has not been cleared for general traffic this year. |
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Even in late July, snow remains on north-facing slopes. |
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Spirit Lake used to be an idyllic vacation spot. Today, much of it is filled with mudflow deposits. |
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Windy Ridge, our destination. The road ends here... |
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... or does it? A gravel path invites further exploration. |
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The road is very smooth in places... |
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... a bit rougher in others... |
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... until deep ash deposits force us to walk for a few yards. If we had true Allroad bikes with 42 mm tires, we might have made it through these patches. |
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The road ends where the mudflows have cut across it. The view of the mountain is breathtaking. The sheltered location provides a better picnic spot than Windy Ridge (which carries its name for a reason). Here, Jan is heading back toward Windy Ridge. |
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Wildflowers in bloom provide a contrast to the stark landscape of pumice and ash. |
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70 years ago, most mountain roads probably looked like this. They make for great riding, even on a modern racing bike. We had no breakdowns and no flat tires. |
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After dinner in Packwood, we climb the beautiful Skate Creek Road at the end of a full day. |
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