We met up around 9am and unloaded at the Ahtanum sno-park. There was about a dozen motorhomes and campers parked there with their 4x4s, quads and dirt bikes scattered around. Mitch brought along his neighbor Josh who rode Mitch's old machine. Both of their machines were 2wd sport quads... compared to my 4x4 utility machine.
We hit the trail and started climbing in elevation. Our goal was to get to a place we both knew about where we would have a great view of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams & Mt. St. Helens. While we had both been there previously, neither of us was sure how to get back there... On the way up I snapped this pic.
I also came across this cool old snag.
Eventually we came out on a ridge and were looking down towards the lower Yakima Valley. We knew this wasn't right. We changed course and eventually found we had looped back around and were heading down towards the sno-park.
We then headed out on another road and gained elevatioin again. Before too long we arrived at the Tree Phones campground... which is closed... due to a bunch of downed trees. I hiked around the campground looking to see if this was a place we could bring the motorhome. (It is and the campground is supposed to be open within a week or two.) Since it was noon, we decided to eat lunch by this creek.
We left the campground and headed farther up the road... and soon found some snow. It eventually became too deep for the 2wd quads so we turned around. Here is Mitch (L) & Josh.
We headed back down to the sno-park and took yet another road. We again climbed, and we found another campground called Snow Cabin. This one had a couple of people camped in it and was open. Several empty spaces too! We all decided this was a decent place to camp and will venture back. We pulled out of the campground and headed higher. But we didn't go far before we encountered snow again. It was too much for Mitch and he got stuck.
I could have helped him un-stick it, but I decided I'd rather take his picture.
My machine doesn't get stuck... but the guys wanted to see how my winch worked, so I decided to show them...
We never did get up to where we could view all the mountains. Looking at the map, I think we were on the right track both times we encountered snow. We'll make it sooner or later though.
My apologies for being light on pictures this trip. Too much riding & too few great views...
Oh, and Tom, as were were riding, I couldn't help but think these were the kinds of roads your van would be happiest on. You should plan on a trip to the Ahtanum State Forest.
