The summer is fast drawing to a close in the Methow. From March through June we marveled at the
week to week transitions we saw in the valley.
July and August were filled with heat and fires and if there were week
to week changes, they were too subtle for my smoke filled eyes. Nighttime low temperatures have now dropped
yet another fifteen degrees and sunrise temperatures are in the thirties when
four weeks ago they were in the sixties.
Even with afternoon temperatures in the upper seventies,
the shadows are surprisingly chilly and I started my Sunday ride wearing arm
warmers. The kids are back in school and “downtown” isn’t as packed on the
weekends as during summer vacation. The days are shorter but that makes them
even sweeter.
Hottie and I snuck in a ride Friday afternoon. I'm not a good picturer..
Saturday I did a ride up Beaver Creek and rode past a
gate that said the road was closed to all motorized traffic. There were some trucks parked at the gate that
I correctly assumed were bow hunters. I
was glad I wasn’t wearing a brown jersey this day.
I soon found out why the road was closed..
The damage water can do when it is upset is amazing
I met two bow hunters on my ride and I answered their
question before they could ask it. “I’ve seen nothing,” I blurted as I rode
past them.
On Sunday my gravel explorations took me south to Black
Pine Lake via Poorman Creek road. After
a warm up climb on the Winthrop trail to Patterson Lake I traversed the lake
Not too sucky.
After passing the lake I took Elbow Coulee to the Twisp
River Road. The sun was out and I was
warming up and glad I was carrying three bottles of liquid. After a short section of pave’ I turned on
the gravel of Poorman’s cutoff road.
After getting on Poorman proper the grade picked up ever so slowly. If my brief map review was correct I had over
500 meters to climb before reaching Black Pine Lake.
Poorman’s Creek drainage
The road went in and out of shade and the grade continued
to pick up. The climbing was enough that
I unzipped my jersey and churned along. The views back down the canyon were all
peek-a-boo so I didn’t take any photos.
You’ll have to trust me. I
encountered three motorcycles coming down and later two trucks. The road didn’t look like it saw much
traffic.
When I reached the lake I was shocked to see campers and
tents and lots of activity on the lake itself.
I began my descent down Buttermilk Creek Road A.K.A Forest Service Road
43.
The gravel on the descent told me that this was the
popular vehicle route to Black Pine Lake.
After a fair bit of gravel I encountered unmaintained pavement. This is
perhaps the most dangerous surface for cyclists as you feel like you can just
let it go but there are potholes that are frequent, huge and capable of
destroying wheels and even bikes. Shadows across the road made spotting the
bike eating potholes a challenge. Like
all good alpine descents there is one corner that keeps you honest and the discs
on the Bomber did their job.
Before long I was back on Twisp River Road and the five
mile descent to Elbow Coulee then back onto gravel. As I crossed the cattle
guard on Elbow Coulee I remembered riding this road with KB amid patches of
snow almost six months ago on the last day of March. That experience seemed distant, but I also
know the snows would be coming back soon.
Back at the cabin
I cleaned up myself, ate a sandwich and then cleaned up the bike.
The spring and summer have been an adventure. Gravel riding began as a novelty and
developed into a passion. The fires
taught us how fragile this dream actually is.
Sharing the cabin with friends and family has been as rewarding as we
hoped. Fall is a beautiful time with our
anniversary, vibrant colors and Cyclocross.
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