Finally got a chance to hit one of our favorite trails; Old Man Pass/Falls Creek in Skamania County, WA. This is a great area, crisscrossed with a number of challenging mountain bike trails.
I was a “Locals Special” ride with Jeff Logosz of Slingshot Sports, who make some of the best kiteboarding and wakeboarding gear in the world and Don Stevens with Gorge Delights, a local company that makes the Gorge Delights and Just Fruit bars that are so popular with cyclists.
Don managed to blow out the rear shock of the hardest working bike in the MTB business so it looks like a shock rebuild is coming up in the next few days.
Met a nice couple from the Virgin Islands who had rented a VW camper and were on a mountain bike vacation. What a change of scenery that must be!
Looks like another nice week coming up. Saw a few fishing boats around the local rivers on the way to go mountain biking, maybe the steelhead fishing is picking up. It’s been pretty windy and I’ve been really lagging on getting out there and shooting some kiteboarding, so I’ll have to motivate and work on that. The nice summer months go by really quickly around here.
The warm weather has dropped the water levels in the alpine lakes and it’s been kind of windy, so we can’t really do a lot of fishing. As long as there are trails and open road, we can still ride our bikes, and that is what we are doing. Yesterday we did a nice off road loop around the local mountain and the day before that we cruised up the road to Mt. Hood.
We didn’t have a camera on the day of the ride, but on the way down the mountain, I stopped at my buddy Cliff’s garlic farm. Organic garlic; so tasty and good for you. Cliff is a full-on organic farmer and grows killer garlic. He is getting his website going, so if you have any interest in growing or cooking with garlic, you should contact Cliff.
Can’t blog any more, going into the kitchen and cook some chicken breasts with thyme, onions and garlic. Can’t wait until we catch a salmon or steelhead to BBQ with fresh organic garlic and all the fixin’s.
After a nice 15 mile offroad ride yesterday, I decided to go for a little ride up the road to Mt. Hood before the weekly shopping trip at Safeway. Kind of hot, and as most roads up to mountains are, mostly uphill. Up and down; about 35 miles on OR SR 35 out of Hood River to Parkdale.
Sorry, no photos today, busy riding.
Well, I got up at 3 AM this morning to head east for some smallmouth bass and walleye fishing in the Columbia River. The forecast was for relatively calm wind and hot temperatures. It was hot but as I drove further east, it got windier and windier. When I got out of the truck about 5 AM, the wind was blowing 10-15 mph; too windy to be kayak fishing on the Columbia.
Back home we go, but all is not lost. It was a beautiful summer morning, still not blazing hot, so grab the mountain bike and off to hit the local trails. I hadn’t ridden the mountain bike for a while because my disc brakes were at the Hayes factory being checked out. I put the brakes back on yesterday and they are working great, better than when they were new, so thanks to Hayes for the great customer service.
Usually, you have to wait for it to warm up around here to go riding, but this time of year you have to get out there in the morning before the sun rises above the trees. This time of year, the hottest part of the day is in the late afternoon/early evening. The big trees keep it cool on the trails.
It’s been very hot and rain free for the past couple weeks. The snow is melting on the local mountain peaks pretty quickly and the glaciers are getting smaller every year.
Some of the vegetation is turning brown with the mid summer heat but there are still a few patches of green and alpine flowers.
Best bet is to hang out in the woods and take advantage of the shade.
Would like to get out and do some fishing, but the trout fishing is slowing a little on the alpine lakes because of the heat. It would be great to get out on the Columbia River for smallmouth and walleye, but it doesn’t look like the wind is going to die down, so probably more bike riding tomorrow. Maybe a road cruise up towards Mt. Hood.
The wind here has been 20+ mph for the past week or so, putting a real damper on kayak fishing. Today, the wind died down, the sun was out and it was a beautiful summer day, so we headed up to Goose Lake in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Got up real early, which turned out to be a good call and got to the lake just before sunrise.
The lake level has dropped a couple feet since the last time we were here in late June, reducing the size of the lake quite a bit. The fish have moved to the deeper parts of the lake as the water gets warmer and shallower. Before sunrise, the trout were surfacing in large groups. Casting into the schools of surfacing fish yielded some nice browns and cutthroat trout.
As the sun came up, the trout stopped coming to the surface and the bite died off. Switching from casting to trolling got a few more fish, but the warmer it got, the slower the bite. Paddling the kayak on this mountain lake when it’s dead glass, warm and sunny is something that doesn’t happen that often. Not to mention that the warm weather gets the bald eagles and ospreys flying around early and often. Always cool to see a big bald eagle skimming the water for fish. When you get a chance to get close to eagles, it is amazing how big these birds are.
The weather keeps getting warmer, the snow on Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood is melting quickly so the high country lake fishing may be over soon. Time to look for walleye and bass and wait for the salmon and steelhead to start running up the Columbia. Or head to the ocean for a couple days.
The great support team at Hayes brakes is taking care of a few minor issues with the disc brakes on my mountain bike, so I’ve taken to the road to keep the summer riding going. I usually ride my bike into town, but I live on top of a knarly steep hill that takes a little fun out of it. Dodging the logging trucks ain’t so hot either. There are so many great places to ride around here, why not check them out.
Off we go to the small farming community of Trout Lake, WA. Trout Lake is a nice little town on the edge of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the gateway to Mt. Adams. There is a lot to do here, more on that later. As far as road biking goes, there is a great fifty four mile ride that starts and ends in Trout Lake that has challenging terrain, awesome scenery and hardly any vehicles.
The ride I’m talking about is known as the Forest Loop. It starts and ends at Trout Lake High School, which is right on the main road into Trout Lake. Park in the school parking lot and turn right on the main road. There is a community ride(which is awesome if you can make it) and they have painted directions on the road(the GREEN markers are the ones you want) and there is a map of the Forest Loop here.
It takes about five minutes of riding to realize what a great time you are going to have.
A look at the snow capped Mt. Adams makes you realize that you are heading into the mountains and there will be some climbing to do. The climbs are not super steep, but they do go up and they can be five miles long or more. Leave the racing block at home. The good side of a slow climb is that you get to check out the fantastic scenery on both sides of the roads.
The climbing starts almost immediately and rises past the entrance into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Even though you are in the foothills of a 12,000′ mountain, the roads are in amazingly good shape; smooth with very few bumps and potholes. There are a few short gravel sections, so use your Paris-Roubaix tires. The road surface varies; smooth asphalt, cinder chip on the less traveled routes and a few very short gravel sections.
Even if you are intent on a pure training ride in the mountains, with all the great views of Mt. Adams, you’ll have to stop for a quick photo.
The Forest Loop is a challenging ride. It climbs out of Trout Lake, drops into a hilltop saddle, then has a steady climb about 27 miles in. This climb on Road 88 is long and comes after an initial big climb and a downhill run that makes you think the worst is over. When you turn onto Road 88 from Road 23 to head back to Trout Lake, you cross a bridge over a beautiful mountain stream. Take a break, eat something and drink some water; you will be going uphill for about six miles through woods that look like Sasquatch is going to run out of the forest in front of your bike. If you go too slow, the bugs will eat you.
The last climb on Road 88 is a real challenge. Not super steep, but long. And by this stage in the ride, the average cyclist is going to feel it. This road is so remote, you will feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, which you pretty much are.
Once you clear the last climb, there is a pretty fast downhill run past the Mosquito Lake turnoff and into Trout Lake.
Some useful information; take plenty of water. Two big bottles plus two 16 oz. bottles in your jersey pockets. Something to eat that will give you energy and prevent cramping. I like the local’s choice: Gorge Delights Just Fruit bars. A pack of Clif Shot Blocks at the Road 88 bridge won’t hurt either. Forget the gels, you need at least an hour’s worth of energy.
There are plenty of reasonably priced places to stay in Trout Lake. Check the community website. There are also mountain bike trails, high mountain lakes for fishing and lots of hiking and exploring. Not a lot of night life, but you can get something to eat, have a drink and enjoy the sunset over a live volcano. Maybe watch a baseball game at the High School and meet the locals.
Leave the city behind and spend a day or two in the country.
I’m not sure exactly how many people follow this blog, but to the folks that do, I’ve been kind of slacking off on the blog posts lately and I’m sorry for that. Finally, the weather has been nice so we’ve been out enjoying it. I have a bunch of photos and video but it’s hard to get down with the tedious computer work when the weather is so nice, but I will try to get a couple fresh posts up here in the next day or two as well as photos and videos on the WatermanAtWork.com website.
Of course, we are big cycling fans and the world’s biggest bike race; the Tour de France is going on right now. Lance Armstrong, seven time Tour champion, has announced this will be his last Tour and the farewell party is not going so well. Lance has had an incredible run of great athleticism and good fortune in the Tour, but this year, Lady Luck has turned her back on Armstrong. He has had a horrible run of bad luck and is pretty much out of the race. There is a lot of controversy around Lance, especially this year with convicted doper Floyd Landis stating everyone who has any success as a pro bike racer has used illegal substances, especially Lance. Maybe Lance is a doper, maybe he’s not; only one person on earth knows for sure. Until proven otherwise, I’m going with Lance. Personally, I think even if he used PEDs before getting cancer, I think after what he went through, he would not put his body at risk. And to let down all those cancer patients, especially the kids? I just don’t see it. Armstrong may not be the nicest guy in the world, but I just don’t see him failing all those cancer patients. If you want to check out the Tour de France; there’s great coverage on CyclingNews.com and good video coverage at VeloCenter.com.
My friend Jeff is trying to get his new TV show off the ground. It’s called the Ample Adventurer; the outdoor action show for the average American, so we’ve been trying to get some content for that. Below is a video of Jeff headed downhill again after a few years of standing in front of a microphone and playing guitar. He raced the Mammoth Kamikaze downhill back in the day, so he’s getting back to his adventurous roots.
Then, my buddy Chris is moving with his new wife for a new job. The facts of life in America these days means if you want to pursue a career or make the money you’re worth, you might not be able to live where you want, gotta follow the money. Chris is a good dude; a worthy fishing/snowboarding bro and all around adventure guy. His wife is a real sweetheart. Now they are leaving. I guess that’s the way it goes. I have friends all over the world, but it’s not the same as having them as your neighbors.
Mountain bike is parked; brakes are being fixed(more on that later) so after a road ride tomorrow I will try to get the blog moving again and get some stuff on the website.
After catching and releasing a brown trout while kayak fishing up in the Washington backcountry, a bald eagle, attracted by all the fish splashing, swoops out of a tree and grabs a fish right in front of the kayak.
I’ll be posting more kayak fishing videos and photos, as well as more mountain biking stuff on the WatermanAtWork website.
After a pretty good day of fishing yesterday, I decided to get up at 3:15AM and catch the dawn patrol today. Good call. The fishing was off the Richter. I caught at least fifty trout, and that’s no BS. Browns, cutthroats and brookies; biting like they were dying of hunger. At times, I got hooked up on every cast. I caught a nice trout, looked over my shoulder and saw a bald eagle scoop up a fish about twenty feet away. Totally cool and I got it on video.
I’ll be posting photos and videos on the WatermanAtWork.com website. Stay tuned…..
