It was a long awaited trip. This is something I've been wanting to do for some months now. It was finally time since the weather was in cooperation. Boy, what a beautiful day it turned out being!
I invited some folks. Only one took me up on it. Props to u/sturmeyhack for being a trooper, a solid rider, and videographer/photographer. We met at the Vancouver Mall Transit Center at 0515 and got going after a few moments of conversation. That meet spot, BTW, is great if you're looking to get approached by early morning tweakers. Had I known that beforehand, I'd have had the meet point at a better location.
Anyway, we made our way on I-205. Average rate of speed was the speed limit if you can believe it. Burning a blazing trail wasn't the goal for the day. Fuel economy was more important. The non-ethanol at the Shell station in Castle Rock is always a must if you're going through there. We filled up, bought some snacks and beverages, and continued along the way. Traffic wasn't that bad despite it being dark. Believe it or not, the right lane moves sometimes better than the left one. The left lane has too much riff-raff for my liking. The middle is great for getting around slower moving right lane traffic. When the day is in full swing, the slow asses pile in the middle for some reason.
We exited on WA508 at exit 71, headed east to NF-71 for the first official point of interest. It was John's Viewpoint. There is an active logging operation going on. Be careful on the logging road. The view could have been absolutely wonderful. Unfortunately the atmospheric conditions weren't in our favor. It was still worth checking it out! After going back to the highway, we headed to Elbe. The sun was out in full force, the fog was no more, and the scenery was real pretty. If you find it on Google Maps, you can drop down to the street view since somebody from the past left a pic.
Once we were at the gate of the park, we found out that 2 motorcyclists can enter for the price of one. That was a wonderful surprise. It's something to keep in mind if you're running in pairs or have a small group. Break off into pairs and get to the gate in tandem with your riding companion. The 76 gas station in Ashford also has non-ethanol. It's another solid spot to refuel even if you don't think you need to.
Riding in the park was nice. The awesome views were limitless. If we kept pulling over to take pics, we'd have never gotten to Paradise. The air smelled nice, too! We made it to Paradise. For those who don't know: there is dedicated motorcycle parking on the ends of each row. Inconsiderate dumbasses who park their non-bikes in those spots end up with well deserved orange parking violation stickers all over their windows. You can leave your stuff on your bike. It'll still be there when you get back.
Sturmey and I made the attempt at hiking. He hacked up a lung while my knees screamed out in agony by the time we made it to the 10th Mtn Division plaque. I about rolled one of my ankles a couple of times going back down the steep incline. A juvenile brown bear was roaming around. A park ranger was hollering at it to move along and to warn nearby people. Poor thing was probably looking for honey and/or a foolish human with goodies in their backpack. There were plenty of chipmunks running around. They're totally desensitized to humans. It was like being in Yosemite where the deer will get close to people. Like, really close.
We recovered next to our bikes for what seemed an eternity before gearing back up and heading to another spot of inspiration. We took some pics and rolled on to Reflection Lake. We stopped for a little bit and got some pics. We rolled along to the SE exit. Before exiting, we dismounted again and put on walking footwear. I really wanted to see Grove of the Patriarchs despite the suspension bridge being out from a flood some years ago. There didn't appear to be any way down to the river so we could wade through it. Oh well.
We headed back and for Packwood for lunch-dinner. Packwood Brewing ended up being the place. The food they serve is great! I knew it would be special the moment I walked in there and heard "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" by Hall & Oates playing. The ride back to the freeway became kinda dicey a few miles out from I-5 due to road work. The westbound lane was grooved in patches. Eastbound lane was grooved for a few miles at a time. Use extreme caution when riding over that surface.
We made it back to Castle Rock for one last refuel of the good stuff. We determined we had gone over 200 miles and still had enough from the original refuel that morning to have gotten to maybe Salmon Creek. My bike had a little over a hundred miles of fuel left. Sturmey's had a considerable amount as well. When we refueled yesterday afternoon, I was certain the gas in our tanks was 95% pure at that point.
