I went for a cruise after work last night and ended up at the ORV park south of Lake Bosworth. It seems the DNR folks have been busy removing and/or replacing culverts in the park. Here's what I ran into about mid-park:


(This is the stream draining from the beaver ponds.)

If I could make a request of my dirt bike and quad riding friends. Can you guys...

One word: WOW!

I had a blast! I'm feeling it this morning, though. A little sore from yesterday's escapades, but man, what a ride.

Just recently, I was tipped off to the location of an ORV park just south of Granite Falls by a customer of mine. After some poking around in people's backyards, I finally found a way in and discovered a little slice of heaven on Earth. The park is criss-crossed with tons of single track trails with most of them in the woods...

MVUM? What the hell does that stand for?!? Well, let me tell ya... Motor Vehicle Use Map. And you better have one with you the next time you decide to set a motorized tire on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. That's right. Much like going fishing and hunting in this state, you'll need to have your lawyer on speed dial so you can consult with him before you turn down that gravel road or turn up that overgrown path. Is it really all that bad? Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill? Grab...

I ended up with just shy of 200 miles on the clock and I'm feeling it.

Rider Alert: If you're riding the gravel part of the Mt. Loop Highway be aware they filled in the potholes with marbles. This means every corner must be taken with caution: Pucker Factor 3.7.

Here's a rough map of where I went...


Here's the pics...

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Thanks, Hon, for the new duds!

Aaron (ajohns19 from KLR650.net) and I went out last Friday for a ride in the hills around Darrington. I wanted to share with you all a couple panoramas I shot while standing on top of the world.

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My wife and I took advantage of the sunny weather by hopping on our KLR's for a ride up and over Segelson Pass (I think that's the name of it). We started from Darrington with a lively ride down the pipeline road and then headed north at the power sub-station. After crossing the creek, we made our way up the new logging roads to where they intersected with NFDRd18. From there, it was easy riding up and over...

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April and I went on an expedition to check out the Bornite Mine off of FSR2060 outside of Darrington. We're planning on going back later in the year when the creek levels are much lower. This will make getting to the mineshaft much easier.

I put together a expedition map that has pictures pinned along the route as well as GPS coordinates for various landmarks. You can view the map by going here. You can also view all the photos by visiting the Bornite Mine Ride web album.

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April and I decided to spend Mother's Day this year riding our dual sports on the dirt off the Mountain Loop Highway. The weather was awesome and made for some great scenery. Thank god film is cheap 'cuz we took a ton of pictures. Here are a few I put together in a video slide show. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEL7lU3Pseg

The photo album can be viewed here.

There's probably nothing worse [for me] than to be riding on an unfamiliar dirt road and realizing that you're pretty much lost. Too many switchbacks and too many Y's in the road lead to this predicament.

That's what I was faced with when I last went riding off road April 16th. I had planned a ride for the north side of Highway 530 up by Darrington. I was intending on riding Forest Service Road 18 up from Swede Heaven Road to Forest Service Road 17 and then over to the Concrete area...