Once I stopped working the nine to six, Tuesday thru Saturday, that's been taking up my time lo these many years, I find myself staring at an actual physical roadmap laid out across the kitchen table. The idea I've got is to, at last, take the 'Big Block' on a four corner, Washington state ride. As I live on the 'wet side', in the central west of the state, and it's a bloody large area, relative to many of the other 49 states (18th largest of 50 @ 185,000 sq kms/71,000 sq miles) with which it shares a name, it requires some planning. I won't be riding from corner to corner round the edges, but will cover the map in an X pattern, the better to see more, plus the roads don't really cross the top from the NE to the NW corners due to wilderness and a certain 3286m/10,781' andesitic stratovolcano called Baker (Kulshan, or white sentinel).

The dry side is the larger area, mainly rural and agricultural, desert-like, with tall snow-covered mountains, crustic small towns, meandering rivers, industrial scale dams, orchards and wheat fields for miles. It is the classic American west without endless and dessicated desert terrain. Hell, you still even see a few cowboy hat-wearing pickup truck drivers raising two friendly fingers at you from atop the steering wheel as they pass by on a country road.

With that picture in mind, I set out to do a dry run over the Cascades to the near east. I rode the '06 K1200R so I could 'make some time'.

First stop, Mount Rainier (Tahoma, mother of waters) National Park, about 80 miles from my home.

Working my way up to Chinook Pass, state route 410. The heavy winter snow is slowly melting, feeding the rivers, farms and communities below with silty, glacial freshness.

Just round the bend from Lake Tipsoo, the high point of highway 410, officially on the east side, with an elevation of approximately 1656m/5430'. I settled in behind a fast-moving queue of cars and campervans down to the town of Naches, near Yakima, for my first fuel stop. $4.89 per (US) gallon of premium. I managed 47mpg out of the often thirsty 165hp beast, when my usual best when commuting is 39mpg.


Heading up a lonely canyon to see if I could sort out a shortcut to Yakima Canyon, rather than going towards Yakima, then Selah, I found the roads! It had been at least five years since I'd passed that way with a group of riders from the local Beemer club and wasn't paying keen attention to the various turns the lead rider knew that day. The ride along the Yakima River is sublime. When I reached the end I turned round and re-rode it. Once thru the snaking river canyon with a beautiful ribbon of road beneath my wheels I decided to stop for lunch. Fitting the Americana theme I stopped at The Red Horse Diner in Ellensburg. Elvis and Marilyn were nowhere to be seen.



The soundtrack wasn't 1950s Bill Haley & the Comets, Elvis, Buddy Holly or Little Richard, but early '70s Who, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Grateful Dead, Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, Quicksilver Messenger Service & etc - the music of my younger youth. It made the spicy grilled chicken chipotle sammich with pepper jack cheese, tomato & lettuce, taste all the better. As the day was a warmish 80f/26.5c, I gulped three 'endles refill' non-sweetened iced teas to slake my thirst. The younger waitstaff might have had a hand in the rockin' music choice. I thanked the waitress for not playing Elvis, tho' I acknowledged to her the theme would've suited him better.
 
Time to explore some camping possibilities...heading north out of Ellensburg, I decided to see if I could wend my way over the low hills to state route 97. The road narrowed, eventually becoming a single lane, still sealed, 'til it topped out at the peak as gravel, with multiple choices to try. Fires had raized the forest, already precarious, but now almost completely wiped out at the top. I probably should've turned round when the road got rough, but who doesn't like to explore?!

At this altitude the pines are relatively low height, dense and scrubby. Plenty of places to roll up a dusty track a few hundred metres from the sealed road and find a flat spot beneath the trees. Water was springing abundantly from the ground in places, fueling a late spring, rapid growth of skunk cabbage, ferns and reeds.

The urge to turn around wasn't as strong as the urge to see what was around the next bend. Here is the 'false summit'. The road surface was still smooth, with only a few large rocks. The arm-tiring ruts and berms would arrive later.

Where I had come from. A few 4WD vehilces were up there. I stopped to enquire of a thru road from a bloke who looked like he and his crew were surveying. Turns out a scoped rifle was parked on his tailgate and the tripods his buddies had several hundred metres away were not for viewing the terrain. "You might be able to get through. We came in from the south. We're just up here for shootin" was his response. I commented that this was an idle spot to blast away from. There was evidence of chainsaw activity with Forest Service signs suggesting a permit for firewood gathering. Blackened firepits were scattered about. I saw no litter. I reckon it'd be a sweet spot to stay overnight. Thanking him, I pressed on into the burnt and dried out timberline.

I managed to stumble upon the Lion's Head, and a mesa, appropriately called Table Mountain, but never got more than a few rough miles down the other side before I came upon impassable roads covered in dried, fallen timber. I imagine snowmobile could easily get through in the middle of winter when the white stuff covers these hills by several feet. 4WD cars and trucks could not pass, unless they had a chainsaw. Not too discouraged, I turned round three times when the road was stopped, and backtracked to head back down a bit into the green. The view from the top was endless, top of the world stuff. The K12R handled it all with aplomb. I reckon some more gritty tyres she'd climb like a mountain goat....err, maybe not. My arm and leg muscles and neck were stiff as I settled in for a sleep. Tomorrow's another day and there're more roads to survey.

Nice ride report Daz,  

Now I would probably ride to Walla Walla just for a looksee.  It sounds like one of those silly place names that you find here in Oz.  Usually named for some odd reason that no one can quite understand nowadays.  

This two fingered salute you speak about.  The curiosity in me has to ask which way the fingers were facing    You being on the moto and all.  

Are there any restrictions on camping around there, or is it just a matter of not being seen?

sounds good to me .....  enjoy

TacKler wrote:Nice ride report Daz,  
Now I would probably ride to Walla Walla just for a looksee.  It sounds like one of those silly place names that you find here in Oz.  Usually named for some odd reason that no one can quite understand nowadays.  
This two fingered salute you speak about.  The curiosity in me has to ask which way the fingers were facing    You being on the moto and all.  
Are there any restrictions on camping around there, or is it just a matter of not being seen?

I've got three words for you, mate, Walla Walla onions. That's what the town is famous for. It got its name from the First Nations "many waters", as told to Lewis & Clark, America's version of Australia's Burke & Wills, but who actually survived afterwards, except for Clark, who, sadly, necked himself some years later, suffering depression.

Now picture a driver coming towards you in a dusty old Ford, his hand wrapped round the top of the wheel. Which way do you reckon might be the most comfortable, casual and friendly way to raise the index and middle fingers, held together, simultaneously? Nothin' cheeky or untoward about it, just a genuine translation of "howyagoin', mate" in a lot of American west rural folk.

As for parking up and setting a spell, there are many state and national forest areas where it's totally cool to set down a tent or tarp next to a creek or river and while away the time, overnight or longer. I think there might be a fortnight limit in most places. Of course, there are heaps of actual NF campgrounds available for cheap, too, often with just a dunny and sometimes potable water.

Great Pics! Oh how I miss the Great Northwest! It has the most beautiful country in the lower 48. Lived in the Portland area for 6 years. Learned to fly fish and appreciate the great outdoors. I may have to do a bucket list ride out there with a Fly rod and some steelhead flys. I surely do miss the Great Northwest...

It is a fine place to live, geographically, with different terrain & altitudes, from a beautiful coastline to towering forests, to soaring, snow-covered mountains. The west side is the more crowded, with the Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia metro area & the I-5 corridor where most of the population live - & vote - often much to the chagrin of the east siders. The wintertime on the 'wet' side of the Cascades is reasonable enough, weather-wise, to ride all year round, while the 'dry' side gets more snow & stays colder longer, & is much hotter in summer months. 

I regret to say that the once-excellent fishing is drying up, literally. What was once a mainstay for survival of the local tribes, salmon, is greatly in danger due to less snow, more use of water, wildfires which ruin the undergrowth of the forest, the extensive dam network (which provide much-needed renewable energy) not to mention the taller tree cover, leading to erosion and a loss of 'game' & habitat loss. There are still rivers that produce fish, a former colleague fishes quite regularly, but has to travel to reach his secret spots. 

While over here, I have lived in the New England states of Massatucky & Vermont, the desert southwest of New Mexico, Arizona & Colorado, as well as Oregon & Washington state, & a spell in Calithumpia 40+ years ago. I have American 'rellies' from my dad's side in Maryland & in Mississippi. I've ridden in all fifty states over the years, with Alaska being the last & most recent in 2016. I choose to live here in the Pacific Northwet because it is still relatively green, mainly rural & lovely, it's easy to get into the hills to ride & camp, & I've been able to earn a livable living doing the motorcycle gig thing, until retirement recently.

I suppose I'll stay on, tho' Australia always beckons, with family & culture & that generally easy lifestyle we enjoy Down Under. Pity it's become so bloody expensive for the basics of life the past coupla decades.

As the Kerouac quote belows reads, when you're a traveler far from home, never really settled into the place, always a bit of an outsider, even where you come from, All of Life is a Foreign Country.

Ride on.

That sounds like a GREAT RIDE ! Enjoy your retirement and ride far.