WABDR: Section 1

Section 1

We end at the beginning

Does it feel like this trip will never end? Epic adventures tend to last a bit longer than just an average one. So….on with our tale.

We got our bikes all packed up and continued over White Pass. The first time we went over it, it was a cloudy day. Thus, the visibility of the mountains was not much. I was expecting the same on our return trip to Packwood. Therefore, it took my breath away when I saw the mountain off in the distance for the first time. The beauty was so overwhelming, I teared up.

I continued to watch the mountain until I could see it no more. Soon we were in Packwood. Back where we started. After a quick breakfast at the local coffee shop, we were on our way.

I may have taken a few minutes to ride the big bike first…

Not too long though, because someone was ready to get moving.

Jennifer had some friends that were camping at Walupt Lake, which is right on the trail for Section 1. The plan was to find them and visit for a while before heading on our way. We waited...they never showed. Come to find out, they decided to camp elsewhere. Without a cell signal, it was difficult to get the information. So we enjoyed the lake for a bit.

Before too long we were back on the trail to the next lake….Horseshoe Lake. Another stop to enjoy nature.

It was to be a day of lakes. Jennifer’s kids were camping at Tahkhlac Lake as were several other people. The campground was full. Because we were not allowed to cramp their style, we stayed long enough to visit, watch them prepare a meal of MREs, and get some pictures.

Soon we were searching for a place to stop for the day ourselves. We ended up at Trout Creek Campground. Once again, I tried to get pictures of the sunset. However, we were too far in a valley to see the painting of the sky.

To bed I went. It was my first experience sleeping in a hammock. I was rather sad when no deer awoke me like they did Jennifer in Conconully. No worries. It was a great night of sleep.

We were up and on the trail early the next day. But first, a quick side trip to the ice caves.

The ice caves are naturally formed and still had snow in them! Needless to say, we did not have the majority of recommended safety items. We went in anyway. Check out the ice crystal still hanging from the cave.

I went on exploring the smaller caves while Jennifer filled our tanks with our reserve gas. I am so glad she was paying attention to the details! Standing outside of each cave was like standing outside a freezer. Cool air greeted me at each one.

Right down the road was a sign for natural bridges. We stopped. I am sure it will be no surprise to anyone that I did not walk over them. It wasn’t as big of a drop-off that I had been dealing with. But it was enough that I would admire it from afar.

We stopped A LOT on our last day on the trail...due to cloud cover, we did not have a consistent signal on our GPS. We relied on it to know what roads we needed to be on. Many of them are unmarked. Some have numbers. Either way, our challenge was set for the day. I should probably mention that Jen had paper maps in her backpack. We didn’t really want to go through the rigamoroll of getting them out. Thus, we stopped so Jennifer could check in hopes it was working.

Instead, we used the compass on my phone and going south...I think...

We stopped and asked some campers if they knew how to get out. We took a picture of their handwritten directions to follow it backwards.

We never did use them…we stopped a rider we saw and asked him. Finally we found out way back to tarmac. There was one more fire road to find….we never found it. However, we did find Wind Mountain. When I tell you the wind was strong, that is an understatement. Once again we were being blown all over the road, except this time traffic was heavy.

Eventually, we made it to Stevenson and our next celebratory meal.

We finished it!! All SIX sections! Ok, we didn’t go over the Bridge of the Gods. Not sure Jennifer could have handled me riding over the grates of the bridge showing the river way down below.