Photo Journal: Mountain Biking Washington

July 2, 2019

n June 2019, we offered a spe­cial 7‑day sin­gle­track moun­tain bike ride in beau­ti­ful Wash­ing­ton State. The ride explored ancient Pacif­ic North­west rain­forests and the beau­ti­ful Cas­cade moun­tain range. Home to giant Dou­glas firs, Orca whales, bald eagles, wild white-water rivers, strong cof­fee, count­less IPA’s and unbe­liev­able moun­tain bik­ing — The rid­ing in Wash­ing­ton is not eas­i­ly equalled, nor is the awe­some tight-knit moun­tain bike com­mu­ni­ty. There is also more world-class moun­tain bike trails than you can shake a drop­per post at.

Think­ing about moun­tain bik­ing in Wash­ing­ton and explor­ing the beau­ti­ful Pacif­ic North­west? Our inau­gur­al Wash­ing­ton moun­tain bike trip went so well, we’re bring­ing it back for 2020. Join us for the trip of a life­time on our Wild and Sacred Seat­tle ride and check out the pho­tos below to whet your moun­tain bike appetite.

The week start­ed with a warm-up ride that fin­ished at the Ever­green Moun­tain Bike Fes­ti­val. The fes­ti­val is orga­nized and spon­sored by the Ever­green Moun­tain Bike Alliance,a non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tion with eight chap­ters rep­re­sent­ing 1000’s of rid­ers. Ever­green is com­mit­ted to sus­tain­able recre­ation, advo­ca­cy, edu­ca­tion, trail main­te­nance and trail build­ing. It was awe­some to see a strong and vibrant moun­tain bike com­mu­ni­ty in action. The fes­ti­val was held at the Duthie Moun­tain Bike Park, home to an impres­sive array of hand­built moun­tain bike trails out­fit­ted with incred­i­ble fea­tures, includ­ing board­walks, skin­nies and drop zones. After brows­ing the fes­ti­val booths (which includ­ed oogling over brand new bikes and gear from Giant, Piv­ot, Nor­co and more), we enjoyed ses­sion­ing var­i­ous drops with the guid­ance of Matt and John, our local Sacred Rides guides.

On Day 2, we ven­tured to our guides favourite local trail net­work at Tiger Moun­tain. Home to machine and hand-built sin­gle­track, a lot of sweat and many hours went into build­ing this incred­i­ble trail net­work (a big thank you to the Ever­green Moun­tain Bike Alliance). After a long grad­ual climb, we were reward­ed with stun­ning views of Mount Rainier in the dis­tance and a deli­cious trail­side pic­nic lunch. It was all down­hill after lunch, as we hit up fun flowy and tech­ni­cal sin­gle­track that left us smil­ing and eager for more. Of course, no moun­tain bike ride is com­plete with­out a cold post-ride bev­er­age and the cool­er was full of local brews, white wine and coconut water to quench our thirst.

Day 3 brought big ancient trees, remote wilder­ness and adven­tur­ous sin­gle­track. We ven­tured to the Mid­dle Fork Sno­qualmie Riv­er and climbed up a back­coun­try road to incred­i­ble moun­tain views. After stop­ping for a river­side snack, our local Guides, John and Matt, pro­vid­ed some tips for descend­ing and cor­ner­ing for the group to prac­tice on the descent. We were reward­ed with a sin­gle­track descent that fol­lowed a pris­tine riv­er, com­plete with water­falls, stun­ning riv­er cross­ings and a few hike-a-bike sec­tions over downed trees from the win­ter — all part of the adven­ture! A cou­ple of brave souls cooled off in the glacial riv­er (brrrrrr!) after the ride.

Next up? We enjoyed lunch in an old-growth for­est sur­round­ed by giant trees .

The ride on Day 4 climbed high into the alpine and explored the snow-capped Cas­cade Moun­tains. Snow angels, snow­ball fights and riv­er cross­ings ensued. To fin­ish the day, we checked into a stun­ning house and enjoyed a fam­i­ly-style meal, hot tub and pool.

On Day 5, we ven­tured to the old min­ing town of Roslyn which has revived itself with an impres­sive moun­tain bike scene. The quaint one block main street has all the ingre­di­ents for an incred­i­ble moun­tain bike town… a bike shop, awe­some café, and a pub for post-ride.

We com­plet­ed two incred­i­ble rides on Day 6. First up, a famous Wash­ing­ton clas­sic — the Dev­il’s Gulch trail. A 19 km trail that descends1,400 metres… yes, please!

Our sec­ond ride was based out of Leav­en­worth, Wash­ing­ton. Leav­en­worth was put on the map after the city coun­cil decid­ed to give the town a Bavar­i­an theme. All the build­ings, sig­nage and busi­ness­es bought into the idea and now it’s kind of like Bavar­i­an Disneyland!& After a quick lunch stop to enjoy some Bavar­i­an sausages, we suit­ed up for an after­noon ride that took us to view­points over­look­ing the Cas­cades and the town below.

On the last day of the trip, we did a morn­ing ride at Rag­ing Riv­er out­side of Seat­tle. After a long grad­ual climb, we were reward­ed with stun­ning views of Mount Rainier and an extreme­ly fun, flowy, bermy descent.

After 7 days of moun­tain bik­ing in the heart of the Pacif­ic North­west, we took a moment to reflect on the amaz­ing week. We came to moun­tain bike, but we left with so much more. — new friends from around the world, a deep­er appre­ci­a­tion for the nat­ur­al world and a renewed sense of adventure.

Here’s to many more adven­tures. Where will your moun­tain bike take you next?

CLICK HERE  for more infor­ma­tion on our Wild and Sacred Seat­tle ride.