Questor rides the WABDR with CJ designs and friends

Another Questor report.....living through them vicariously, one RR at a time.

It got really cold last night. (Well it is September in northern Washington... )
I made a quick breakfast, complete with French roast coffee and oatmeal with dried strawberries. We packed up camp. We CJ and I did. Jeff just rolled off the table and was ready to go.

Soon we were back on the trail. This was the first day of the WABDR. I was interested to see what it would be like.
It was dusty again, but we spread out and we took turns leading.


It turned out to be a mix of forest and ridge line type riding.


When you were in the valleys, the views were.... well all you saw was a lot of trees.
But when you got up onto a ridge the views were very nice.


We approached an old forest fire area.


It must have been quite a fire as the area we covered with burnt trees was large.


But it was kinda cool to see how the vegetation had grown back.


The trail kept climbing...








It was a crisp beautiful morning.


We got closer to the summit.
Time for KTM prOn.


A panorama shot.


Jeff goes zooming by...


Eventually the trail led us down off the ridge, and we had to do a bit of pavement to get to the next destination.


Had I done some more research on this trip, I would have been nervous now...
The Ruby Ridge hill climb was not something I was aware of.


The trail pretty much went right up a steep hillside by means of a few really steep switchbacks. (No. I didn't stop to take pictures...)
Most people who do the WABDR do this hill as a descent, but as a hill climb I have to admit I was extremely gripped. The climb was exposed, steep, and had many loose rocks. I know of many folks who have boiled brakes coming down this section.

Needless to say when we got to the top, I demanded a rest break to let my nerves calm down.

Once on the top of the ridge, the trail was a bit sandy, but not too difficult.


A while later we stop to regroup.
I pull a bonehead move and grab a handful of front brake while making a right turn in the sand.
No problem. It's not the first time I've dropped my bike.


A while later down the trail we re-emerge into 'civilization' and stop to get more gas. But there is already a group of WABDR riders there. Instant party results.


I bought a mega-dog.


and signed the kiddie blackboard.


Oh. It looks like I took a self-portrait.


Soon we were back on the trail, moving quickly and gaining elevation.


(I'm starting to realize I did not take many pictures... I guess that's due to the fact that we were really moving along a a good speed. A lot of people do this ride in 5-6 days, we did it in 4, and CJ insisted in doing all the difficult sections...)

The next section was quite scenic as we were up around six to seven thousand feet in elevation.


Nice views up here.


and yeah, were are riding in very remote areas...
Going off the trail here would be a serious logistical challenge to get the bike and rider back to safety.


We later arrived in Cheley and stopped to feed.


Bacon Cheeseburgers! Nom Nom!


We weren't the only riders here.
These guys were riding all the single track in the area.


They were happy but exhausted.

We decided that we needed to bathe, and headed to the nearby State Park for showers and a night of "civilization".


They had a space for us and we set up our portable fabric houses.
Camp Snuggly.


CJ's portable cave.


and even Jeff decided to sleep "indoors".


I remember we met some other riders that evening, and proceeded to drink all their beer.

Another nice day...

Stats for the day:
170 miles Moving average 27.9
Moving Time 6:11 Stopped 3:56 Total 10:10

Q~

hey questor, thanks for posting this. I'll be riding the wabdr this summer and all the info and pics help with planning. keep up the good work....john

Wait for "Baby Head hill" also known as Bethel Ridge.
Q~

Oh oh ... Q's gone home from "work" for the week. Now we have to wait till Monday ...

Questor, You mean Lake Chelan? Glad Dockingpilot isn't the only one butchering the names!

Hey Q, I been wondering what's up with you. I just stumbled on to this and THANK YOU! I have been in need of some good reading to get me though the winter. Weather is just starting to break a little over here, so needless to say your RR is getting my riding itch to flair-up....... keep it coming. Also a big to to Byways.

Great photos so far. I half expect the Wans to show up at some point for some mid trip KTM witchcraft (maintenance) and wacky Japanese video links.

sub'd

i-Sam lives!! Good to hear again from one of Idaho's greatest ADVers ...

Just what I needed after shoveling out 24 inches of snow today. I'm laying on the couch in front of the pellet stove reading a Q report. YEEHAA

Thoroughly enjoying this and looking forward to more. Thanks for sharing another adventure with us.

Subscribed to this one. Great report and pics.

plugged into another Questor report

keep it coming, looks like you guys had/having a blast. That curry gorp looked really good, thanks for the simple food idea, making me hungry.

Been waiting for this! some real ADV! Thanks for all the hard work Q~

Ok.
So here's the disclaimer...
CJ was the guy who wanted to ride the WABDR.
Also, CJ is a really good motorcycle rider.
Also, CJ has an AWD 950 with a Rekluse clutch.
So what does this mean?
It means that we HAD to ride all the hero routes. No alternates, and no skipping sections.

So this morning we leave the campground, and almost immediately the WABDR becomes a trail... a narrow overgrown trail.


A twisty narrow trail.
(The green route is the trail we rode, and the yellow is the road that is the sneak route.)


A steep twisty narrow overgrown trail.


Again, I was only able to stop and take pictures on the easy sections.
I know CJ has some good "action shots".

But when we got to the top, the views were amazing.
Looking forward...


Looking back the way we came in yesterday.


And down there is the lake we were at less than two miles ago.


At this point, we connected back with the main WABDR, and followed forest roads along the ridges.


This was easy riding with great views.


And this kind of riding went on all day long.
We spread out to avoid each others' dust, and just rode.
Every 10 miles or so, we would regroup and make sure we were all doing OK.


Basically the WABDR links up a series of forest roads, and they have done a really good job of finding the most scenic ones.
We would ride for hours never seeing anyone else...


The views were impressive, and it was easy to let your mind wander.
We would stop every once and a while and just take in the amazing views.


The riding was easy, but you still had to pay attention. A simple lapse of concentration could result in a very nasty accident in a very remote location.


Here comes Jeff enjoying the ride.


I stop to take a panorama shot.


At each high point there were amazing views. You could see for miles and there was no sign of civilization.


We were deep in the wilderness.
Eventually we get to the summit of Mount Chumstick. Elevation 5810.
It's an amazing alpine environment, and the location of a former fire tower.
Time for victory pictures.




After enjoying the views, we head down to the next town of Cashmere.
It's been a tiring day, and we didn't get much of a breakfast.


Rumor has it that somewhere down there is a great BBQ place. That's what kept me going. I was getting grumpy due to lack of food.

But on the way down, we see these two Urals on the side of the forest road.
Lo and behold! It's my good friend Mr. Cob, and Spot the wonder dog!


Holy heck, what are the odds of this?
I've known Mr. Cob for years, and rode with him a bit many years ago when he did his cross country ride to New England. It was amazing to see him again.
Russian Iron.


Spot the Wonder Dog meets his new best friend in Jeff.


But soon it was time for us to get back in or on our vehicles and continue.
Bye Spot.


About an hour later we go to town.. and found what I had been dreaming of since breakfast... BBQ!


We have been riding hard for days now, and honestly have not been eating as well as we should have. So now it was time to PIG.




Huumm... What should I have?


We stuffed ourselves!




and then the food coma hit us hard.


After our naps, we fueled up the bikes, filled up our water reserves, and headed into the mountains again.
Were headed to the Beehive reservoir area.

We got to a section of the trail that was closed due to extensive trail damage. But we ignored the sign and pushed on...
And soon we discovered that the sign was right.
Do we turn back? Of course not! We're studly tough ADVenture riders.
The stream had eroded the road.


Is there a way through?
I think we can sneak long the right side. It's narrow and the drop into the stream would be bad, but we go for it.


I make it without any drama, but it was tricky. I felt like a circus bear on a bike. Move slowly, and keep your balance. It's too narrow to even "duck walk" the bike.

Here comes CJ.


and the final surge through the stream back onto the road.


We all make it through without any problems.
(But we heard that an earlier rider went off the edge and his BMW R1200 ended up upside down in the stream.)

Anyway, we're good, and the trail goes on...


There were even a few downed trees to keep things interesting.
It's really interesting on a fully loaded Adventure bike... :eek1


We climb up over the ridge and notice that a big storm is coming.
So we drop down the other side and find a protected place to camp near Beehive reservoir.
I quickly set up Camp Snuggly before the heavy rain starts.


We slept soundly listening to the rain on the tents.

It had been a difficult day.
The steep twisty section this morning, lots of riding ridges in the afternoon, and the final washed out section all took their toll on us.
As a group, we were holding it together, but there was definitely the possibility that any one of us would get tired and say or do something that would upset the dynamics.
We had been riding hard, for almost a week with very little rest and relaxation. I know I was getting irritable at times. But having good, experienced, and understanding friends makes a big difference.

Stats for the day:
112 miles. Moving Average 21mph.
Moving time 5:20 Stopped 4:05 Total 9:26

Yay! I'm glad you guys did that washed out section!




go KTM!

I told you the Wans would show up. Where is the Mameshiba link?

BT

Like this? www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjmQw3JaTsE


Gosh you guys are demanding.
WABDR and talking beans...

Sometimes I wonder...
(Kelly? How do you do all that you do?)
Q~

Great read and pics!

hey! I've been here (post #5) :ddog



Maybe you'll see BigWan when Q gets to the KTM rally!

(Mameshiba? ooooh. I try not to drag the crazy into other people's reports...)

Whoops. There's the crazy! Heh heh. Thanks, Q!

hope you don't mind some nuttiness seeping into your story.

I was trying to be good, too.
It took a lot of self control when you mentioned big buttes on page 1...

Sorry for the hijack!
♥ kelly