Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Over The Mountains.

I have been watching the weather(and my busy schedule) and chose today to take a motorcycle ride to central Washington and back. I rode over Chinook Pass, through the Yakima River Canyon and I90 over Snoqualmie Pass to return.

The weather was perfect. It was a little cool on the western approaches to Chinook Pass, but as soon as I crested the summit, it warmed up. The traffic was light on most of the ride and even the boring(to me) I90 highway over Snoqualmie Pass was pleasant. Even the ongoing construction was not disruptive.

I have not been on some of these roads in a long time. Probably the last time for the Yakima River Canyon Road was the late 1960's.

I made a side trip to Roslyn(where "Northern Exposure" was filmed) and a quick stop at the Factory Outlet Stores in North Bend.

The traffic through Tacoma was stop and go and by the time I got home in the afternoon, the temperature was warming up. I was tired by the time I got home.

Total riding distance: 360 miles.


Mt Ranier and Lake Tipsoo. The lake is still partially covered with snow and the parking lot is completely plugged with snow.
Mt Ranier.
Looking east down the valley from Chinook Pass.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was surprised at the amount of snow still around the lake. Did you notice the large slide, that occurred last fall, in the valley?

Dan said...

Yes I did. The main road is closed and traffic is detoured around it on the Nile Road(?). I could see it, but not from very close. Appeared like the hillsided slumped into a large pile of debris.