RR : Lopez Island, WA

This weekend was our innaugural trip to the San Juan islands off the WA
coast. Arrived Friday on Lopez Island to share a place with some friends who
won a weekend rental at a silent auction. Very cool place, pretty laid back.
Sadly, it was grey, cloudy and rainy for most of the trip up from Portland,
so limited sightseeing. We arrived early at the Anacortes ferry, hoping to
get a ride in a Cranberry Lake, but it was coming down in sheets at the
time, so we bailed.

Buddy Bill was jonesing for a ride on his new Heckler, so we brought bikes
even though we expected available rides on the island to be limited to dirt
roads or gravel paths. Saturday started out rainy and grey, so we really had
doubts about any riding at all. Riding a nice trail in the rain is OK if
you're not doing trail damage, but I can sure pass on riding asphalt or
gravel roads in the rain.

Turns out Bill had spent the previous day driving around the island and
talking with the locals to find options for off-road riding. His criteria
was: no cars, single track (if possible) and legal. He ended up being
directed to the island librarian, who knew all the local trails and their
restrictions. She told him about some hiking/biking trails, drew a circle on
the map, and gave directions to a tiny parking area and trailhead. Seeing
the area outlined on the map, we had serious doubts - I mean the area looked
like it was about 1 square mile, and the whole island looks like placid
rolling farmland with spots of forest. Bill was already reading bike mags
when we woke up, so there was no denying him ;-)

Started from the 2-car trailhead parking between the trees, up a wide grassy
path that dwindled quickly to dual-track heading up a steady grade in the
dense forest. The trail got narrower and got a little boggy - that slick
black mud mixed with rocks and roots. After spinning over several roots and
managing to stay upright, I started to think this was going to be fun. We
climbed a little higher and the ground miraculously dried out quite a bit.
Lots of big exposed granite slabs, cedar and spruce with tons of roots, and
tiny little singletrack weaving it's way through the trees and brush. Lots
of terrain with sudden ups and downs, wet enough to require full attention
to keep traction, and lots of spots with zero tolerance for error. As you
might guess, we got dumped plenty of times, luckily not seriously. There was
lots of gnarley rock that framed most of the trail obstacles, so the
occassional bail was allowed.

So after a couple of hours the sun come outs and does the "magic mist"
thing - a layer of gentle fog rising off the wet ground. Sunlight streaming
down between the trees, birds singing, the works. We start taking off layers
as things warm up, and having a blast. Then we recognize sections that we've
already done, but we're having too much fun to realize we're pretty much
lost. And besides, I'm clearing stuff I missed the first time around ! A few
more experimental side trails, and we found a circus that somebody was
working on. Big ramps and bridges between old growth trees down a narrow
ravine, very cool. I think about the high bridge formed from stripped logs,
even walk over and check them out. They are slick and really slippery, and I
tell myself I'll save them for a dry day.

We decide that we'll head back towards the car and join up with our
non-biking friends. We stop at the next trail intersection and discuss where
to go. It's a three-way branch, and between the three of us we manage to
totally disagree on which way to go. To make a long story short, we end up
finding that particular intersection a couple of more times before we get
out, which is almost an hour later. It's still a lot of fun, but a little
disconcerting to lose yourself in such a small area.

Anyways, an anticipated bust turned out to be one of the most enjoyable
rides on technical singletrack ever. Ya gotta love pleasant surprises. If
you've ridden any of the upper trails at Cranberry Lakes (Anacortes), you'd
find this pretty similar.

Gary

"GWood" wrote in message
...
This weekend was our innaugural trip to the San Juan islands off the WA
coast. Arrived Friday on Lopez Island to share a place with some friends
who
won a weekend rental at a silent auction. Very cool place, pretty laid
back.
Sadly, it was grey, cloudy and rainy for most of the trip up from
Portland,
so limited sightseeing. We arrived early at the Anacortes ferry, hoping to
get a ride in a Cranberry Lake, but it was coming down in sheets at the
time, so we bailed.
We decide that we'll head back towards the car and join up with our
non-biking friends. We stop at the next trail intersection and discuss
where
to go. It's a three-way branch, and between the three of us we manage to
totally disagree on which way to go. To make a long story short, we end up
finding that particular intersection a couple of more times before we get
out, which is almost an hour later. It's still a lot of fun, but a little
disconcerting to lose yourself in such a small area.

Anyways, an anticipated bust turned out to be one of the most enjoyable
rides on technical singletrack ever. Ya gotta love pleasant surprises. If
you've ridden any of the upper trails at Cranberry Lakes (Anacortes),
you'd
find this pretty similar.

Gary

You lucky dog. I haven't been in the San Juans since the last half of my
Honeymoon (almost 20yrs ago), and love those islands.

CDB

Sounds sweet. I definitely have to check out Lopez.

GWood have you ever been to Orcas to ride? Moran St park has some incredible
single track with breath taking views from the top of Mt Constitution. We're
hitting it the last weekend in April, can't wait.

i live in washington and just about 30 minutes north of seattle...so i
understand your weather problem...but latly other then a few showers
its been really nice out, i havent been to lopez island for riding
before, but it sounds fun...id like to try it

~Scott


--
Muddy Beast

"GWood" wrote in message
...
This weekend was our innaugural trip to the San Juan islands off the WA

Snip, nice read...)

Gary


Pleasant surprizes are the best, glad you got one.

Dave (luv reading this stuff!)

Nope. First trip out that way, but not the last. The talk of riding at
Orcas is one of the things that made us think Lopez would have limited
riding options. Lopez is that much smaller, flatter, etc. Certainly no
views on our ride ;-)

Have a great trip.

"Chris K" wrote in message
...
Sounds sweet. I definitely have to check out Lopez.

GWood have you ever been to Orcas to ride? Moran St park has some
incredible
single track with breath taking views from the top of Mt Constitution.
We're
hitting it the last weekend in April, can't wait.