Ape Cave, Lava Canyon, Cougar and Yale

The last leg of Hwy 25 (DH4) from Ape Cave and Lava Canyon to Yale was a marathon.  Man-made Swift Reservoir fairly glistened on my left as I zigged and zagged merrily making for gas and lunch.  More windy road to play with, leaning right then left to take all the esses.  Wheee!  

Hint to anyone riding in this area:  Get gas and if you're really hungry eat in Cougar.  The "bar and grill" in Cougar looked sketchy so I decided to head to Volcano Burger in Yale.  Big mistake.  Yale has absolutely nothing.  Volcano Burger looked like it hadn't been open in months.  Fortunately the shore-hugging Lewis River Road (Hwy 503, DH51) through thick trees along Yale Lake and Lake Merwin was winding and well engineered, making it a fun  ride and almost taking my mind off my growling stomach. There are occasional lakeside parks and residential homes for added interest, and the parks make good pit stops if you need relief.  

I rolled into Woodside hankering for a burger, and lo and behold, the Burgerville appeared on my left like a castle from the lifting fog.  Turkey burgers yay!  After that  I considered going up to Johnston Ridge so I could actually see the crater - the goal of the trip.  But I'd already been there, so I quickly nixed the thought when I realized it would add at least two hours onto my riding day.  My back ached a bit and I wanted to get home so I cranked the tunes and hit I-5.  

After 3 days and 750 miles I rolled up into the garage.  Ahhh, the road is awesome, but like Dorothy says, there's nowhere like home.

Washington's Highway 30 from Carson

Highway 30 north from Carson is full of esses, and once you settle in to them you feel like you're one with the bike and can take the road at 10 mph faster than posted limits in most places. There are a few tight corners where it's a good idea to adhere to the signs though.

Views of the volcano are plentiful. Today the top was cloud covered but otherwise the snow-covered volcano was breathtakingly striking. Yellow and purple flowers were blooming all over the place. I felt like I was in a volcanic Sound of Music.

I met very few cars on the road. Rode to Ape Cave and Lava Canyon next.

Ape Cave is a 1 1/4 mile lava tube you can walk through if you have the right gear, which I didn't. It was named after a local pack of Boy Scouts, there are no primates in sight. Gotta come back for some spelunking sometime.

Go past Ape Cave to Lava Canyon and get schooled on what lava does to the landscape.

Washington's Highway 25 to Windy Ridge- Not!

The road to Windy Ridge is gorgeous, fun, rough in spots, and ultimately impassable. If I hadn't been so hell-bent on come-what-may adventure, I would have found out in advance that Windy Ridge hasn't been reachable for nearly two years. The aforementioned Hwy 141 bridge washout just south of Randle (set to open this 4th of July weekend I'm told) stops you from the north, but it wouldn't matter cuz snow is piled high on the road up to Windy Ridge and has been that way since 2007. So a southern approach won't get you one iota closer. There are gates across the road about a mile north of the Muddy River viewpoint, which by the way, has a view of absolutely nothing except trees and the presumably muddy river. Hmph.

But the road. Oh, the road! Highway 30 (Wind River Road) north past the hatchery got into beautiful shady green forest and curves galore.  Beware for about 3 or 4 miles they just laid down fresh gravel and oil.  That part sucked, but I prided myself on the fact that even at reduced speeds I was still able to go fast enough to lose a motorcyclist behind me.  Five buttes off to the right loom (Lava, North, Middle, South and Big), but I hardly noticed them through the thick trees enveloping the super windy road as I cruised over Oldman Pass.  

Just past Northwoods, which had such scarcity of substance I passed it without realizing it was a town, a volcano viewing area comes up fast on the left.  Too fast.  I caught a glimpse of the massive Mt. St. Helens as I whizzed by the entrance.  Shoot!  Nowhere to hang a U, I kept going.t mile 32.5 where Hwy 51 (now Curly Creek Road) ends at Highway 25, there's a big "closed" sign covering the Windy River mileage sign.  Below that, a huge orange sign "Road Closed Due to Snow."  Shoot again!  I plunged forward anyway, about a mile and a half til I hit a a locked gated and turned around.  

Carson Hot Springs Resort

I had my mind set on Carson Hot Springs Resort pretty much since I left Seattle. Soaking my road-weary buns in hot springs just sounded good. I could have ridden farther today but along the way I became obsessed in my own mind with seeing what a hot springs resort along the Columbia River is like. From the online pictures I expected a cross between a Motel 6 and the Bates Motel.

You find Carson Hot Springs Resort the first moment you hit town coming in two miles from Highway 14 heading West. The sign from Hot Springs Road (what else?) is classy looking, more than I expected really. You drop down a short grade and see in front of you a large paved parking lot and two boxy brown, modern-ish looking buildings. Nowhere is anything that looks like a guest check-in to be seen. After circling the buildings I pulled up to the only thing that looked remotely promising, and kind of haunted, a vintage 1800s white wooden building nestled between two buildings with the words "Hotel St. Martin " painted across its forehead. But wait, I thought this was Carson Hot Springs Resort! Turns out Hotel St. Martin changed hands and nobody bothered either to remove the old name or put up a new one. Something about historic yadda yadda. There's supposed to be a ghost here, and from the looks of the dilapidated cabins complete with dingy lace curtains around the back of the old hotel, I'd guess there's more than one.

Paranormality aside, the resort is spookily tranquil, boasting exactly one TV in the common rec room in the old hotel. The modern buildings come furnished with tables, chairs and a bed and nightstand and bureau. Nothing electronic except a clock. That's it. Good thing. If I had the 6:00 news blasting I wouldn't have heard the bullfrogs start croaking in unison or the crickets merrily chirping in the surrounding woods this evening. You can hear the Wind River, about 200 yards away and accessible by a hidden and very overgrown trail, rushing below. Watch the sun set against the Cascades then go tuck yourself in. Good night, crickets.

It's Fun to Say Klickitat, and Visit it Too

On Hwy 142 between Blockhouse and Klickitat (yes, there really is a Klickitat! There's a market, a restaurant and a trading post with gas station and old fashioned pumps you can't stick a credit card in!). This ride is awesome, with beautiful black rock walls perpendicular to the one lane road. Oh, and there are no guardrails and an immediate drop off to the Klickitat River far below. Fortunately ran into no other vehicles at all 'til some sun-baked pick up driver swerved into my lane just outside town...on the two lane road! Keep yer eyes peeled on this riverside ride. Twists and turns galore, and cool river air. This road makes my personal WA Top 20 list for sure.

More on Hwy 142. Goldendale is a pretty good sized town, relatively speaking, with easy gas and lunch options right off the road. If you're here afternoons Weds-Sat, star gaze at the Goldendale observatory before heading across mind-numbing Pleasant Valley and into Luna Gulch where you'll do a complete 180 down into the canyon and back up, hugging the canyon wall that flanks the treed gulley all the way. Enjoy, this is the funnest part of the ride! More curves and sweeping views of Yakima Valley await at the other end. By the time you arrive in the hardly-town of Mabton, folks'll be wonderin' what put that road-eatin' smile on your face.

Flat Out to Goldendale

Destination Highways puts Hwy 142 from Mabton to Goldendale WA @ #25 on its list. It's a kick-butt road with 15 mph twisties punctuated by long boring stretches of open range land up on the plateau and bookmarked by hills at either end. Smack in the middle is the town of Bickleton, home to resident Bluebirds and a cafe of the same name, reportedly Washington's oldest cafe. Looks it, too. The road is better than it looks where it has been patched, but beware the miles of fresh tar they just laid down about 5 miles north of Goldendale; it's ok once you get the feel of it but it's a surprise to hit in between nothing and nowhere.

The 61 miles will take you about two hours if you more or less observe the posted speed limits. It helps to travel with tunes to break the monotony of rolling brown between Bickleton and Mabton.

Good Place to Rest in Sunnyside

Sunnyside WA Best Western is a good stop for motorcyclists. $99 for a view of a small vineyard, a little swimming pool with hot tub and a decent little fitness center. Your money also gets you a fairly hearty breakfast with sausage, eggs, fruit, cereal, hotcakes and more. Just don't look for any good wine bars around here. The vineyards are just a tease.

Clouds, rain, hail, heat: A Detour Around Mt. St. Helens

I left Seattle just shy of 9 a.m. on a cloudy Sunday morning, headed for the eastern edge of Mt. St. Helens on my 2002 Harley Davidson Low Rider. The road to Windy Ridge is numero two on The Destination Highways Top 74 list of best motorcycle roads in Washington State. I've been wanting to ride up to Windy Ridge for the last few years, and finally I've plotted a trip to do it. On this trip I want to ride as many of the DH roads as I can in three days around South Central and South Western Washington.

Today the plan was to head South from Seattle around the east side of Mt. Rainier south past Puyallup, Elbe, Morton and Randle, checking off DH 57 starting just north of the teensy town of Tanwax (despite the name, there's no spa here) on Highway 7, and ending 32 miles later at Morton. From there I'd continue south past Mt. St. Helens to Carson on the Columbia River, doing Windy Ridge along the way.

South to St. Helens
It was a gray day, so though a mere 30 miles away, My. Rainier was tucked cozily out of sight. Highway 7 is chock full of twists and turns, making fun riding but slow going, with speeds staying between 25 and 35 mph, sometimes slower depending on when the Monaco Coach in front of me decided to hit the brakes.

Forest lines both sides of the road, but a lot of it is new growth from being logged, conjuring memories of the ride heading for the coast on Hwy 101 between Cosmopolis and Raymond. The La Grande post office is cute-as-a-button on the way to Elbe, and just about the time I was ready for a pit stop, Elbe appeared. Not much to stop for except maybe to see the historic church, and bad for motorcycles because every parking lot seemed to be made out of gravel. Since the mini-mart didn't have a restroom I had to stop at the Mt. Rainier Historic Railroad Visitor station, where you can buy railroad-themed souvenirs, for that. More gravel.

Back on the road, I caught a glimpse of a few fishing boats on scenic Alder lake, and cruised through to the official end of DH 57 in Morton, where the deli and espresso cafe is closed Sundays (boo). So, hunger pangs growing, I headed to Randle where I gassed up and got lunch at the Mt. Adams Restaurant, excited to head on to my next DH. The restaurant is at the turn off to DH 4, a 69 mile twisty road nirvana through the Gifford Pinchot National Forest that features glorious DH 2 - Windy Ridge - branching off the middle of it. A fabulous motorcycling two-fer! Except for one thing. A fellow motorcyclist at the restaurant mentioned that the Rte 131 bridge that washed out in 2007-2008 was still washed out. When I double-checked with the waitress, "Is there really no way through?" she just giggled and shook her head. Guess I wouldn't be doing the ride today after all.

Detour East
Undaunted, I decided to hit Windy Ridge from the south. But first I'd have to get there. I decided to head east, then curve back around towards the Columbia River from the Goldendale area. Fortunately, Highway 12 (White Pass), itself a fantastic motorcycle road (DH 7), offered almost enough curves and scenery to make up for the disappointment. Caution to White Pass riders: this road has been banged up pretty good in the last couple years. Bad patch jobs and sudden dips dot the road for about 20 miles heading east from Packwood.

White Pass is a beautiful, curvy road with magnificent views of the Cascades. Today, the mountains peeked out from under a cloud mass that shrouded the peaks but left the snow and tree-covered sides showing. The sun, which dared not show itself all day, finally made an appearance. Sightseers in campers pulled over at every scenic vista and snapped photos. I could see more grey sky ahead, but blue off to the east, so I hoped I'd miss the spot of bad weather. No such luck. About 5 miles from Highway 410, the rain began. In moments it became torrential, and in a few more moments it became stinging hail. I laughed inside my helmet, as I am wont to do when stricken by Mother Nature's unavoidable outbursts while on my bike, and pulled over. Luckily I had thrown rain gear in my bag just in case. Back on the road, the hail and rain ended almost as quickly as it had begun, and gave way to 80 degree weather as I rode into Naches.

A Couple Roads Around Yakima
Gassed up again, shed the rain gear, and in my most impulsive decision of the day, decided to find Naches Heights Road, listed as a "Twisted Edge," (DH's name for a fun alternative road) that skirted Yakima through the hills to the south. I was reminded, as I have been before, that the DH book sometimes gives crummy directions and has cryptic maps. After driving around the countryside for 15 minutes, turning around and guessing at roads, I found a road called Summitview and decided the name had promise for a motorcyclist. Indeed, it offered panoramic vistas of picturesque Yakima Valley farmland set against rapidly browning hillsides and clear blue sky. I was soon in the heart of Yakima, which seemed to teem with police cars, btw, and back on Highway 12.

I considered barreling straight through to Goldendale, but since I wasn't in a particular hurry I decided to head to Sunnyside and hit another DH Twisted Edge road. The temperature was 88 as I leaned the bars toward Highway 24 and the grassy brown Black Rock Valley. The road is flat and smooth, in way better shape than the mountain pass roads, and goes for about 26 miles between Eastern Washington's quintessential hills until the turn to Highway 241 south. Along the way, there are fields of hops and tree fruit, and the most massive stacks of wooden fruit crates I have ever seen - thousands of boxes stacked as high and wide as entire buildings.

Highway 241, the "Twisted Edge," is a lightly-travelled, pretty and windy ride through the Rattlesnake Hills, featuring scrub brush flanked by power lines, dropping into vineyards whereupon I promptly started visualizing of a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc and knew I needed to pull in for the day. The Sunnyside Best Western beckoned on the horizon. It's got a hot tub. :)

Tomorrow I head south to Goldendale and on to Carson, WA, along the Columbia River. I'm aiming to hit at least three Destination Highways and one or two Twisted Edges tomorrow. And if I'm lucky maybe there'll be another adventure or two along the way.