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Posts Tagged ‘scenic byways’

Riding is a creative outlet for me. It takes creativity to come up with new places to explore. Sometimes it takes a bit of planning to get the wheels turning, but then something unravels the best laid plan and real adventure begins. Other times riding without a plan is the ticket to new discoveries. I often open topographical and road maps for inspiration. The roads that I enjoy discovering are ever changing. Some forest service roads change so quickly that even a two-year old map is now out of date. New gates aren’t always present on old maps. That is why, even well thought out rides can become sans plan.

Inspiration for motorcycle rides can come from seemingly odd places. Recently, I have found inspiration for motorcycle rides while flying. The flights out of Seattle’s SeaTac airport typically fly past Mount Rainier and over the Cascade Mountains. Upon take off, I scan the ground below for possible roads and trails. This allows a very broad picture of the road characteristics below. The amount of corners, elevation changes and even possible water crossings can be seen from the window seat of a jet liner.

A work trip had me in Las Vegas recently. The morning flight with a window seat had my eyes tracing possible paths out of Sin City and quickly onto lustful mountain roads that may even lead to snow-capped mountain peaks just a short distance from the strip. Perhaps a winter motorcycle trip through the Nevada and Utah deserts is next year’s cure to the socked-in Pacific Northwest winter. Yes, we can ride year round, but a sunny ride through the mountains with temperatures in the 60′s and 70′s sounds perfect to me. A work trip suddenly inspired me to daydream about possible rides through the Sierras, Reno and on to Las Vegas.

As my flight out of Vegas climbed high into the sky it revealed the vast beauty of mountains meeting flat desert valleys over and over again. The mundane sections of this region would heighten the pleasure of each mountain crossed. Excitement built up inside me as the possibilities presented themselves from 5,000, 10,000 and 30,000 feet. My nose was pinned to the plane’s window as the strip faded from sight and a more rural, enjoyable playground presented itself. Oh yes, a winter ride through the desert might be just the ticket next year.

Shoot, I hope this inspiration doesn’t lead to too much planning. I do believe there are ample discoveries to be had, if I can resist studying too many maps in the next several months. In fact, work may have me in Vegas again next winter. A ride to and from may just be in order. You never know from where inspiration for the next great ride will come. The trick is to open the mind and let the daydreaming begin.

Where do you find ride inspiration? Can you resist the urge to plan the “perfect” ride in order to actually find adventure and new discoveries?

Pick a direction and let’s ride.

The Pacific Northwest holds a true abundance of scenic routes. There’s a lot to see in this part of the world. One of the most diverse ecosystems in the world can be found in the northern reaches of Washington State. The North Cascade National Park straddles the glaciated peaks between the lush lowland Skagit River Valley to rugged glaciated peaks to deserts in the eastern rain shadows.

The North Cascades Highway is one of the best scenic routes to view this incredibly diverse and scenic landscape. That’s why the North Cascades Highway is among the most popular motorcycle routes in the state.

People travel from around the world to experience the North Cascade Mountains and surrounding area by motorcycle. These travellers from afar leave quite happy with the ride while missing out on some for the best parts. State Route 20 is a busy route that required a lot of real estate to build. It is the quickest way over the mountain to the other side. Take it, if just getting over the mountain is your goal.

Aerial image of Skagit Highway and Skagit River

If your goal is to take in the true magnificence of the North Cascades region then continue reading. The arterial roads that wind to and from SR 20 offer some incredible riding and little traffic. There are many of these roads that can be spliced together to truly enjoy the most scenic route through the North Cascade Mountains.

Many of the roads are worthy even as individual destination highways. Some are named highways, while others require a good map or GPS to easily navigate.

I set out a couple weeks ago on a drippy morning from the town of Mount Vernon to ride such a destination highway. The goal of the day was to skirt the North Cascades Highway by way of the Skagit Highway (follow link for map). The western terminus of the Skagit Highway can be accessed by heading south on State Route 9 from the North Cascades Highway in the town of Sedro Woolley. After leaving town, you’ll cross over the Skagit River and make a right hand turn onto the Skagit Highway.

The excitement of the ride got me to goose it around the initial corners of the road. Take my advice and find a cleaner cornering line by just taking it easy. Hugging the centerline deep into a right-hand corner served as an early reminder that I wasn’t out to race today. This was a ride to just enjoy the scenery and take in the grandeur of the region.

The Skagit Highway links up with the Concrete-Sauk River Road for a leisurely trip just under 50 miles. For most of the ride, the road hugs the Skagit River. This is the lifeblood of this region. Glaciers high up on the mountains provide year round ice melt that feeds the Skagit River and the nearly two million acres of land that adjoins it along its 150 mile route to the Puget Sound.

Trees covered in moss line the Skagit Highway

Foothills rise quickly from the south and west sides of the road while the river and vast views of the North Cascades spread wide to the north and east. The rugged terrain gives way from time to time providing views of the snow-capped peaks in the distance. The temperate maritime climate provides near constant dampness in this area, despite relatively few inches of actual rain per year. Moss clings loosely to the trees lining the road. At times it creates an eerie backdrop that would be perfectly at home in the opening scenes of a horror movie.

The soft rushing of water over rocks encourages me to stop. The growl in my tummy needs to be fed and a smoothed river rock provides the perfect place to eat my ham sandwich. Of course I found a nice muddy road that led right up to the river. Very enjoyable spot for escaping the everyday business of life.

Up on a ridge for a better view. On a clear day the snow capped Cascades would be in the background.

About 25 miles into the ride and the Skagit Highway runs into Concrete-Sauk Valley Road. This road will continue another 16 miles south before connecting with State Route 530. This entire route is just over 40 miles of soft curves with slight elevation gains and losses. The tree-lined roads give way to open fields and wide views of the North Cascade Mountains. All the while, you’re actually able to experience the flora and fauna of this diverse ecosystem because you found the road that only the locals know. Well, the locals and now everyone reading this article. Get out there and enjoy it because you won’t have much traffic to contend with on this road.

This is just one of the arterial routes that I’ll be writing about along the North Cascades Highway in 2010. By year’s end, I hope to patch together a full listing that will help motorcyclists find a truly unique riding experience in this truly unique area.