cycling – Page 9 – besthike.com

July 21, 2016July 21, 2016

cycle hiking Orcas Island

Cycle hiking the Islands – trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

I crossed the amazing bridge between Whidbey and Hidalgo worried about my front tire.

After the third time pumping more air I inquired at a general store as to the nearest cycle shop. A gentleman there offered to drive me the 8 miles to Skagit Cycle in Anacortes.

IMG_1831 (1)

I don’t trust myself to fix a tire correctly. 😦

Waiting on the next ferry, I cycled up to the Little Cranberry Lake area.

Nice, but from the little I saw, NOT impressed with Anacortes. Too big. Too much traffic. Not much to write home about. But there is a Jack in the Box. 🙂

During the summer it’s a busy ferry over to Orcas.

Hydration is important. 🙂

As is keeping your paniers locked to your bike.

I’d been looking forward to Orcas and – as it turned out – it was my favourite island, so far.

I cycled directly to Eastsound. That’s the main town.

I checked the hostel. It cost US$50 for a dorm bed. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $30.

So I cycled on to Moran State Park. Wild camped near the campground.

Stinging nettle was my only gripe. There are a few mosquitoes too.

Moran encompasses over 5,000 acres of various terrain including forests, wetlands, bogs, hills, and lakes. It is the largest public recreation area in the San Juan Islands and the fourth largest state park in the state. …

The park offers 38 miles of hiking trails …

If you go to Orcas for hiking, be sure to find a copy of the free brochure.

Next morning I climbed out of the tent and walked directly on to the Twin Lakes trail via Mountain Lake.

A crew was doing trail construction at Twin Lakes. I had lunch and watched them. Good work.

Returning via a series of cascades, I resolved to return one day to bike these trails. After Sept 15th they are all open to mountain bikes.

Back to the tent to relax. Then on to my next adventure. Cycling to the summit of Mt Constitution.

… the highest point in the San Juan Islands. A stone observation tower patterned after a medieval watch tower stands at the summit. …

I resolved to only go as high as I could make it without getting off the saddle. It’s 5 miles at an average 8 degree slope. Turned out I made it to the top. 🙂 Beautiful vista.

After a steep and fast ride back down the 5 miles I headed on to lovely Doe Bay resort.

I could definitely stay here for a few days. 🙂

But I wanted to stay near Eastsound that evening. I ended up wild camping in an excellent city park called Crescent Beach Preserve. It was close to a superb coffee shop – Enzo’s.

I rode next to Westsound. En route I hiked Turtleback Mountain.

I started at the north trailhead and hiked up to Waldron overlook. The trail is better for mountain biking than hiking, I’d say.

On the return I stopped at North Valley Overlook, a tranquil, rural scene.

And finally all the way to Deer Harbor.

Time to celebrate.

July 19, 2016July 21, 2016

cycle hiking Whidbey Island

Cycle hiking the Islands – trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

I caught the ferry from Port Townsend. Immediately cycled to Ebey’s Landing for the Bluff-Ridge Trail.

I started from the trailhead at the end of Ebey’s Landing Road. Here’s the view looking back to the start.

minimum 3.7 mile loop

This hike is ALL GOOD. The best I’ve found in the islands, so far.

There’s a prairie section leading to the bluff.

Plenty of interesting things to see along the way.

Almost everyone starts along the bluff, returns via the beach trail. But I enjoyed the breeze and vistas so much I decided to stay on the high road both there and back. 🙂

To celebrate the great hike, I stopped in next at Kapaws Iskreme on Front Street in Coupeville.

Coupeville is a nice little tourist town.

Though I’d heard nothing about it I decided to stop in at Dugualla Bay State Park.

Turns out I could have cycled the trail, but instead I hiked it down to the ocean.

The famous State park is Deception Pass. I decided to camp there. Next morning I’d cycle across the bridge to Hidalgo Island.

It was a good spot. I slept in until 7:30am. Enjoyed a pot of coffee. And decided to explore the trails of Deception Pass by bike and on foot.

Unfortunately I’d somehow acquired a slow leak. Adding air only worked for short bursts.

I opted to head for the nearest bike shop. Save Deception Pass for future adventures.

Turns out it’s the most-visited park in Washington with over 2 million visitors / year. I’ll plan to stay for a couple of days next time.

related trip report – Whidbey Island – Ebey’s Landing

July 16, 2016July 14, 2016

cycle hiking Pender Island

Cycle hiking the Gulf Islands – trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Pender Island is home to about 2,250 permanent residents …

North Pender and South Pender, which are separated by a narrow canal originally dredged in 1903. In 1955 the islands were connected by a one lane bridge, as it remains today.

I arrived Pender very tired. And worried. My guidebook said it was one of the hilliest islands. A local cautioned me that many of the steep decent had dangerous right angle turns at the bottom.

Arriving we had a bit of excitement. Two bald eagles. They spend a lot of time on this perch.

So far on this trip I’d seen plenty of deer. Quail. Bald eagles. Some sort of mink. Turkey vultures. The largest garter snake of my life. …

I rode directly to the Roe Lake trailhead. Wild camped. Too tired to eat, I watched Game of Thrones on my laptop until tired enough to sleep.

Did not get out of the tent until 8am next morning. That’s sleeping-in for me this summer. I packed up. Then walked to the trail.

It was far better than I had anticipated.

At the start you might expect you could mountain bike that 1.5 km loop. Not so. There are some very rough sections.

Psyching up, I headed (literally) for the hills. But before I got far I happened upon Vanilla Leap Bakery Cafe. One of those west coast hippie establishments enjoyed by all.

Free wifi. Good coffee. I ended up staying perhaps 90 minutes.

THEN I (literally) headed for the hills. And they are rough. I pushed my heavy bike up most of them.

But I managed to cross the waters over to South Pender. I wanted to climb Mt Norman, the highest point on the islands at 244m.

It’s a short, steep slog up to a gorgeous viewpoint.

On the way down I managed to miss a turn, ending up at a different trailhead on Canal Road. Rather than admit my mistake, I walked Canal Road back to my bike. Creating my own loop trail. (Not recommended.) 🙂

Again I needed to psych up for the return to the ferry. On Pender it’s uphill each way.

I should have stashed the bike in the trees and stood by one of the Car Stops. These are official alternatives to hitch hiking on some Gulf Islands.

Rather than a bus, locals are encouraged to stop and give free rides to anyone standing at one of these places. Good idea. At your own risk, of course.

With time to kill before my 4:20 ferry I hung out at Port Browning Marina. Very posh.

On to Mayne Island. 🙂

July 15, 2016August 2, 2019

cycle hiking Galiano Island

Cycle hiking the Gulf Islands – trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Galeano Island is 27.5 km long, 6 km at its widest point, and 1.6 km across at its narrowest point …

… population of 1258 inhabitants. …

Seeing a campground an hour out from the ferry landing at Sturdies Bay, I went to check out Montague Harbour Marine Provincial Park.

Nice setup. But the cost was $25 / site for up to 4 people. I prefer the pricing model $10 / person.

So I turned my bike around and wild camped nearby.

In the morning I packed up early and rode back to the campground to make coffee. There’s a good hike there called the Gray Peninsula Trail. About 2km.

I cycled on to the Pebble Beach hike trailhead. Breakfast was cold pizza on this bench.

You reach the coast at Cable Bay. Then saunter over to Pebble Beach.

On a trail map it looked like I could cycle a mountain bike trail to Laughlin lake, the largest body of water on Galiano. That’s a bit risky on a hybrid bike. Happily, it worked.

Four guys in this boat arrived for a picnic. Boat and kayak are the best ways to get to Dionisio.

I returned via the dead end Bodega Beach Drive seeing only 2 vehicles in 3 hours. An ideal place to cycle.

The best hike on the island was yet to come – Bodega Ridge.

Bodega started much like any other hike, a welcoming soft temperate rain forest trail.

The fun starts when you get up on the ridge. A steep drop with marvellous views.

Galiano was a hard day for me. I could barely keep my eyes open on the ferry to Pender.

I’d like to return one day. Kayak to camp at Dionisio. And climb Mt Galiano, the highest point on the island.

June 17, 2016June 15, 2016

C-Level Cirque, Banff

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Elevation gain: 455 m (1,500 ft)
Maximum elevation: 1920 m (6,300 ft)

I’d wild camped the previous night, rushing to the first discrete spot I could find when thunder and lightning started.

Hanging food in this kind of forest isn’t easy. This time I bent a small tree to the ground. Let it spring back to vertical with my bear bag in place.

Next morning I loaded up the panniers and headed for the trailhead. That had been my first night ever bike camping. 🙂

My goal was C-Level Cirque on nearby Cascade Mountain. One of the most popular day hikes out of Banff.

Looked like new snow had arrived the previous night.

The trail begins its ascent through a pleasantly varied forest of lodgepole pine, aspen and spruce, where calypso orchids, blue clematis and many colourful violets bloom in early summer.

Within a half-hour you reach two skeletal buildings, the remnants of an anthracite coal operation that flourished in the area from 1904 to 1922. A town of nearly 1,000 inhabitants called Bankhead was spread across the valley where the trail begins, and these old buildings were a part of the “C Level” operation—the highest coal seams worked within the eastern slope of Cascade Mountain. …

Banff – C Level Cirque

By the time I reached the first viewpoint, it was snowing. Rather than continue, I opted to turn back here.

I did see some fresh bear scat on the way down.

related – Hiking with Barry trip report on a sunny day

June 16, 2016June 14, 2016

Sundance Trail, Banff

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

In 1985, the United Nations declared Banff National Park, as one of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, a World Heritage Site. Banff remains one of the most popular tourist destinations in Canada. …

Millions of people visit each year. The Cave and Basin Centennial Centre is not the best tourist attraction in Banff. But it is popular.

Throughout most of its long history, the short 2 km loop trail leading through Sundance Canyon was accessible by road from the town of Banff. In the mid 1980s, the road beyond the Cave and Basin was converted to a paved walking and cycling path, which made the trip longer but more scenically varied. Many people bike to the canyon on the broad, paved trail, but the first half of the trip is an open and pleasant route for walkers as well. …

Banff.ca

End of the road is a picnic area and bike rack.

From there it’s a surprisingly steep climb up along the creek.

It’s a 2km loop with switchbacks on the final descent.

So convenient to Banff, this day hike is highly recommended.

related – bikepirate – Sundance

July 17, 2015July 18, 2015

climbing Mount Sopris, CO

trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles

I’m arrived Colorado. 🙂 Only my second hiking trip to this fantastic State.

As a warm-up leg stretcher, on Saturday I attempted Sopris, the imposing peak above Carbondale. Elevation 12,953 feet.

Sopris

We were up at 6am. My host, Brion, owner of Independence Run and Hike, wished it had been 5am. The Colorado Rockies are famous for mid-day lightning storms.

At the trailhead Brion took off for a training run. I turned the opposite direction to start up Sopris.

Brion warned me of aggressive cows and possibly even bulls. They weren’t aggressive with us. But they were a bit of a pain.

I met Matt – recently moved to Colorado from the East coast – at the start. He and I walked together to the top.

We took no breaks up to the Thomas lakes. Happy with the speed of ascent, we decided to carry on and have our first break above the treeline.

Lunch on the ridge was terrific. Big vistas down both sides.

Above the treeline the scramble up Sopris begins. The trail disappears at times up unstable boulders.

Our goal was the first summit. It looked an easy hour from our lunch vantage.

Up on the scree ridge footing gets easier leading to the false summit. Many stop here as the views are just about as good as on the summit. But Matt and I felt good. Wanted to go all the way.

And the weather was holding. Check this blue sky. 🙂

Sadly, in the other direction big scary clouds were rushing up the valley. When we saw the first lightning bolts, we turned back. 🙂

I planned to hurry down to the lakes. And cool my feet in cold alpine waters.

It’s far more dangerous going down than climbing up. Be careful.

A real highlight this time of year is wild flowers.

As the weather worsened, I increased my pace. But still got caught in a downpour the last 20 minutes to the parking lot.

I hid from the rain at the pit toilet, changing clothes for the long mountain bike ride back to Carbondale.

I always carry empty dry bags in my pack just for this kind of soaking rain.

It was a fun, muddy roll down the mountain. The best part of the day.

more photos

related – Hiking in Colorado – Mount Sopris

March 28, 2015March 26, 2015

Expedition Alaska Adventure Race

I’m planning to volunteer for Dave Adlard’s NEXT expedition race. Social media. Photos. Video.

June 28th – July 4th, 2015.

Over almost 7 days, teams will undertake a 340 – 600 km (200 – 350 miles) expedition over some of the most beautiful, epic and challenging terrain on Earth.

Racers will use a map, compass and their own wits to navigate their way over a (mostly) unmarked route by mountain biking, rafting, paddling, trekking, canyoneering, coasteering, glacier travel, orienteering, trail running, fixed ropes, and a few other surprises through the amazing expanse of Alaska’s Kenai peninsula!

expeditionak.com

March 27, 2015March 26, 2015

Danny MacAskill’s Solar Eclipse

On Friday March 20th a Solar Eclipse plunged Europe into darkness. Photographer Rutger Pauw teamed up with Danny MacAskill to capture the moment on Danny’s homeland, the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

With just one small window of opportunity to get the shot he had dreamed about, Rutger and the team spent days scouring to select the perfect location. This clip gives a unique behind the scenes look at how they found the spot and how they managed to capture one of the most creative shots of the year.

grindtv

Click PLAY or watch the story behind this photo on YouTube.

(via Adventure Blog)

October 30, 2014October 27, 2014

Danny Macaskill: The Ridge

#TheRidge is the brand new film from Danny Macaskill… For the first time in one of his films Danny climbs aboard a mountain bike and returns to his native home of the Isle of Skye in Scotland to take on a death-defying ride along the notorious Cuillin Ridgeline.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.