Enjoying the Last Gasp of Summer

It would be a shame to waste such a wonderful fall weekend in the Pacific Northwest. I hopped on the KLR Sunday morning and decided to try and get lost in the Cascade Foothills.

October 14, 2007
Total Miles: 110 miles
Seattle, WA to Cascade foothills
Tickets: 0
Mishaps: 0
Puckers: 0

Click map for larger image

The foliage wasn't spectacular, but I was finding some really great roads. A lot of them were names that I had heard of from other riders and it was a pleasure to finally experience them for myself. I kept to the side roads and traffic was mercifully light.

Looking east across the Snoqualmie Valley	A "real" military bike (Indian?) in Carnation

I had all day to go nowhere so I took my time to explore side roads to see if they connected to other roads. They didn't, true to the "Dead End" signs posted at the corner of the turn offs. But having previously come across one such sign and finding that the road (gravel) did indeed go through gave me the impetus to try more of them. Today I met with failure at every turn (literally). But not all failures are bad.

True to its sign this road did not go through, but it was fun to try!	Paragliding landing field near Issquah, WA

I was on the hunt to find access to the gravel road that leads to the top of Tiger Mountain near Issaquah. There is a takeoff field up there used by many paragliders and I knew that there had to be a way to get up there, somehow. I took every road around the base of the mountain but to no avail. Finally I stopped at the landing field itself and asked one of the jumpers. He informed me that the gate was locked and access was allowed only by the shuttle bus that had a permit to move the jumpers up to the top. Well, at least now I know. It was too bad, too, as it was a great day for the view.

Coming in for a landing	Sunny skies and warm temperatures made for a perfect day