A tale of mud, Jeep, big wood, a hog and some heavy Iron.

[GSguy]

The day started off like any other spring day in the great Pac NW. The weather man was calling for showers, clouds and sun clearing, meaning they really have no idea what is going to happen. I usually don't ride by my self off road but just really did not have any hookage with other riders so off I went to go bomb some forest service roads.

I love this time of the year, everything is starting to grow and take color. Some start to bloom



And others are still just poping there heads out to say hi and show there true colors in a few more days.



Okay, enuf of that, now on to the ride.

About 15 miles from home and I'm looking at the cloud cover that I will be heading into and wondering if the weather will clear at all.



I make it to Northbend and look at the clouds hovering over Mt Si.



After a few more miles I have hit the dirt on the Middle fork of the Snoqualmie River, and hey more cloud cover.



But things are looking up and there is some clearing in the sky.



Oh but you know I'm heading that direction.



With all the rain we have been getting the middle fork is runing real high and full of silt.



The sun keeps trying to peak thru




Find a nice spot to take a quick break.





You can't make out the sign in the picture but it says Road Closed I'm thinking, but thats when it gets fun. Due to the rather large ditch they cut in the road with the very large rocks in the ditch it makes it unpassable.



This time of the year with the snow melt and rain the roads are really thick with this layer of slimey mud, makes for slick ride.





My first clue that something was up should have been the unsual tracks in the road.



I go a little bit farther and the road ends due to road repair from flooding so my ride along this road was cut short. I turn around and start heading back when I come around this corner and looking me dead in the eye is this rather large dump truck hauling rock up to the job site. The road is very narrow at this point and the dump truck driver was not going to slow down for me to try and get out of his way so I hit the side of the road as best as possible to let him pass and his back wheels end up runing over the knobbies on my back tire (sorry no pictures this guy was not stoping or slowing for any one) I inspect the bike for damage and it all looks okay and the wheel still turns so I head on my way back down.

On my way up I saw this turn off so I stop to take a look and have lunch.



Ahh, just as I had expected, I have come across the Chinese Mud Garden. Eat lunch and go check it out.



As some of you know the prefered lunch of Gsguy on the road is.......



A little mud porn.



Look around while eating lunch and find a little bit of color on these sticker bushes.



So after a quick bite to eat I enter into the Mud Garden. Don't make it too far down the road when I run into these two guys.









They had been there for several hours and it looked like they had several more hours to go before they may get this thing out of the road. The truck that they where using to try and pull it out was blocking the road in a way that I could not get around so once again I turn around.

I hit a few more dead ends and then take a break by the river.



By this time I had the vents on the jacket opened up and it was getting a bit warm. I was looking at this as a diving board and thinking that sounded good about now.





A shot of the road as I call it the Chinese Pot Hole Garden, and this road was full of them.



So I stop to take a picture of this on the way out.



When I get passed by this, and this is the hog part of the story.



I saw the bike back at a camp site approx 10 miles in but there was a pick up and trailer so I was thinking this guy hauled it back for some reason but I guess not. There is one guy that rides the thing to ride because it was muddy back there, just take one look at my bike and you can see the mess I have to clean up today.

And off he goes.



I had a hard time catching up with him, he was hauling butt.

So I wander around the area a little and head to the North Fork. A picture at the base of Mt Si and as you can see the sky looks a little better than the picture in the morning.



I buzz into the second bridge and time to turn around.







Not a lot of real good pictures around this area due to the logging.







On the way out I have my come to Jesus revelation with the Dolly Lama (yes her name is Dolly)



So I still had a few minutes to kill so I stop in the small town of Snoqualime. This is when the big wood comes into play so if you are sensitive to this sort of thing close your eyes and continue down the page.



I'm okay with my manly hood but that is some big wood.



The town is kind of known for its historic train collection. They have restored some of the old cars and they are in use and sometime they plan on having all of these restored but my guess at the man power and the funds it may be a few hundred more years.

This is when the heavy metal comes into play.













The original train station.



Now this guy is cool. This is what they used to clear the snow from the tracks back in the good ole days.





For any locals with kids the Northwest Railway Museum puts on a Thomas the train ride. If interested PM me and I will send you a link to buy tickets all the money goes to restoring the old trains. The tickets sell out every year so don't put it off too long if you want some.

Now its time to head back to town.



Bike porn





Thats all folks.
Cheers.

[BikePilot]

What a great ride

[Cannonshot]

A fabulous way to spend the day!

[GB]

Fantastic ride!! Gorgeous scenery... good thing you too didn't get stuck in that mud!!

[toothy]

Nice Dale.

That sure was a pretty day.

[Road Rash]

Nice report.................................Thanks for the reminder that I need to get my ass.........and bike back up there

[m0x]

i love the big wood part, and that neat looking prop, is that a snowblower of some kind or a vaccum cleaner like thingy.

[DarkRider]

Nice pics

[ktmbmw]

Nice pictures, I really like how green it is there .

[All4Fun]

Boy, am I jealous. Open space. Green forests. Trails. No cars. Lucky guy!

[wachs]

yeah buddy - the PNW is the best! going out on the east side of the Cascades for a little snow check this afternoon.

[RiverRat]

Beautiful place for a ride.

Originally Posted by m0x

i love the big wood part, and that neat looking prop, is that a snowblower of some kind or a vaccum cleaner like thingy.

It looks like a snowblower. I'd hate to be a deer or what not and get sucked up in it.

[GSguy]

Originally Posted by m0x

i love the big wood part, and that neat looking prop, is that a snowblower of some kind or a vaccum cleaner like thingy.

Very large snow blower. Back in the good ole days was used to clear the tracks going over Snoqualime pass.