Dillon Wilke
New Member
Posts:78
 | | 18 Oct 2009 12:42 AM |
| Alrighty i remember hearing rumor of a rout from Spokane to Seatle that is all dirt trail. The only time you need to had hit the hard pan is to cross the columbia. Does anyone here know anything about such a rout? Just thinking next time i head that way it could be fun... | | |
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Craig Miller
Posts:11803
| | 18 Oct 2009 02:08 PM |
| I can't think of how that would be possible. The land between Spokane and the Columbia River is mostly held by private parties so there aren't many public dirt roads. Even East-West from the Columbia River to the west side is pretty challenging as there are aren't any roads that go over the pass (Wilderness in most of WA).
Where'd you hear about this?
Craig | | | |
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Dillon Wilke
New Member
Posts:78
| | 18 Oct 2009 02:24 PM |
| I heard about this a few years ago in a group of Dual Sport motorcycle people. I always had my doubts, but i figured maybe some of the folks here might know more... | | | |
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Craig Miller
Posts:11803
| | 18 Oct 2009 04:35 PM |
| Sticking to the passes, there is the Naches Wagon Trail, Stampede Pass, and one road that *almost* goes over Steven's Pass.
Sounds like a fun one to work on though.
Craig
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Brian Rutherford
Advanced Member
Posts:667
| | 18 Oct 2009 06:47 PM |
| All roads, that I have ever heard of, west of Stampede Pass are not open to the public as it is watershed property. | | | |
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Dillon Wilke
New Member
Posts:78
| | 18 Oct 2009 08:43 PM |
| thats lame, i was hoping it would be possible to get some trans-WA thing rolling... | | | |
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Brian Rutherford
Advanced Member
Posts:667
| | 20 Oct 2009 10:12 PM |
| A couple years ago I was looking at the most northerly route I could find on dirt or gravel across Washington from west to east. Since I couldn't find any dirt roads over the Cascades, I started in Mazama. I found roads (on maps) that would take me across the state to the Idaho border. Not really a Spokane to Seattle route, but still looked like fun to explore. Brian | | | |
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Terrance Bailey
Basic Member
Posts:352
| | 20 Oct 2009 10:37 PM |
| that would be an awesome trip. if you could link up with the naches trail some how you probably could get a little closer. i would be very interested in joining some one on that trip. i could help with some of the set up but with my random work schedule i dont think i could lead the trip. | | | |
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Craig Miller
Posts:11803
| | 20 Oct 2009 11:57 PM |
| Brian -- you could work from Mazama south towards Lake Chelan, then up and over the ridge until you drop down towards Lake Wenatchee. I think you've driven a lot of this section before. From there, you can follow the Little Wenatchee up and over to Stevens Pass. After that all the USFS roads seem to go North/South instead of East/West.
There would some pavement, but it would extend the route and get you a little further west. | | | |
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Dillon Wilke
New Member
Posts:78
| | 21 Oct 2009 08:07 PM |
| i guess i will start looking at the parts mentioned at least. Those few bits would still make for some neat trips... | | | |
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Brian Rutherford
Advanced Member
Posts:667
| | 21 Oct 2009 09:57 PM |
| Posted By Craig Miller on 10/20/2009 11:57 PM
Brian -- you could work from Mazama south towards Lake Chelan, then up and over the ridge until you drop down towards Lake Wenatchee. I think you've driven a lot of this section before. From there, you can follow the Little Wenatchee up and over to Stevens Pass. After that all the USFS roads seem to go North/South instead of East/West.
There would some pavement, but it would extend the route and get you a little further west. Yeah, I looked at that. When I started I wanted to stay focused on a west to east route. It could become a circle tour. From Lake Chelan over Shady Pass towards Leavenworth. Cross HWY 2 at Cashmere, head towards Ellensburg and then Naches... | | | |
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Todd Eliason
Veteran Member
Posts:3520
| | 21 Oct 2009 11:16 PM |
| Dillon, If you could pull something like that off, It would be fantastic! Don;t give up on the idea... | | | |
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Mike Rupp
Veteran Member
Posts:1355
| | 22 Oct 2009 08:06 AM |
| I never knew about Shady pass. Based on the relatively sparse tree cover, the views must be amazing up there. Are there any other interesting drives in the Chelan / Wenatchee area? We go out there several times a year on weekenders, so these drives would spice things up a bit. | | | |
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Craig Miller
Posts:11803
| | 22 Oct 2009 09:28 AM |
| Mike there are quite a few good drives in that area. Not trails, but nice USFS roads. You should check out Huegel's Washington Byways. He has a couple of ideas in there. Tim Boone and did a couple of Trip Reports on at least one of his routes last year. Should be gorgeous up there at this time of year.
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Mike Rupp
Veteran Member
Posts:1355
| | 22 Oct 2009 10:05 AM |
| Funny that you mention Washington Byways. I did a quick google of Shady Pass and got a google excerpt of that book.
I ordered one from Amazon this morning. | | | |
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Dillon Wilke
New Member
Posts:78
| | 09 Dec 2009 08:47 PM |
| Well i think wile i am not working on the old Jeep, ill start looking for a rout that uses as little hard pan as possible. Maybe in the spring ill start trying to run it and get it together. That should be fun in a 73 Jeep... | | | |
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Grant Mossman
Veteran Member
Posts:1410
| | 06 Jan 2010 08:11 PM |
| Starting to plan for a spring eastbound trip. When I have time, I'll be at the Everett Library to examine maps, plan, dream.
I'll create an event posting on the home page when I know I'll be there.
I'd welcome anyone interested in surveying these routes, and maybe grab a beer after. Or not | | | |
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Brian Rutherford
Advanced Member
Posts:667
| | 06 Jan 2010 08:48 PM |
| Grant, I'd love to join you and help research and plan this route. I still want to drive it myself. I'm considering it for one of my vacation options this summer. Let me know when you are free, or maybe we could meet half way in Mt Vernon and get a couple other folks to show up? I like using http://mapper.acme.com/ because it allows me to bounce between aerial photos, topos, and terrain views all on one webpage. Brian Rutherford | | | |
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Grant Mossman
Veteran Member
Posts:1410
| | 07 Jan 2010 07:47 AM |
| Brian, or Craig- is there a good place in between to meet, with wifi? I'll check if the Mt. Vernon Library has USGS maps | | | |
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Craig Miller
Posts:11803
| | 07 Jan 2010 08:22 AM |
| Well, my house has Wifi and I own every single USGS map in the country in digital form. I have most of the Green Trails maps for the Northern portion of the state in paper form, USFS maps for the Leavenworth Ranger District, several Forest Maps, and many guidebooks for WA and BC.
We have a big table in our family room at "standing height" that works well for map viewing. No light table though. The Mt Vernon library has some interesting maps, but has a pretty small reference section overall. I'm going down there today so I can check it out more carefully. I suspect the Everett library would be better for this sort of thing and is more likely to get people from Seattle driving up. Overall it seems like a better venue.
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