Studio711.com – Ben Martens

Wellington

If you’ve read The White Cascade, you probably recognize Wellington as the sight of one of the greatest train disasters in history. In 1910, a couple train got stuck on the tracks by a huge snowstorm and was eventually taken out by an avalanche killing 96 people. It’s located in Stevens Pass and on Thursday, Mom, Dad and I headed there to check it out.

I tried to hike to Wellington on Father’s Day last year but got turned around by snow. This year we didn’t have any problems like that. We drove to the top of Stevens Pass, caught the north end of Old Cascade Highway south down the valley to the Wellington trailhead.

Unfortunately it was raining just hard enough to thwart our attempts at a good hike, but we hiked about a mile underneath a concrete snowshed and saw the entrance to the old Cascade train tunnel.

Since our train adventure ended a bit early, we headed on to Leavenworth. After a quick stop to walk through the shops and get some fudge, we drove south and did the three pass blast in the Subie (Stevens, Blewett, Snoqualmie.)

benmartens September 9, 2009 Outdoors, Travel

Moran State Park Camping Trip

Every year around December, we check out the Washington State Parks website and see which campgrounds are filling up. There are usually some good campsites left at those parks and we snag one for the following year. Previous trips have been to Deception Pass and Fort Flagler. This year it was Moran State Park on Orcas Island.

The first challenge was getting everyone to the campsite. Tim, Andy and I headed up on Thursday afternoon after leaving work a little early. It’s a 70 minute ferry ride and there are not a lot of ferries each day. We eventually made it to Orcas a little after dark, found dinner at a bar in Eastsound and then made our way to the campground.

Our campsite was perched up on a cliff overlooking Cascade Lake. The site had a nice view but there weren’t any level spots to set the tents which made sleeping interesting.

On Friday, Tim, Andy and I hiked with Tucker around Cascade Lake and Mountain Lake, drank some beverages and played cards. Matt and Laura arrived just after dark, and Tyla and Chelsea arrived after 11. Tim and I were getting a bit nervous that they may have gotten lost, and with no cell reception at the camp site, we headed out to track them down. Thankfully we spotted them on their way to the site so we flipped a u-turn and led them to the campsite.

Saturday was a full day of hiking to the top of Mt. Constitution (the highest point in the San Juans), bumbling about in rented row boats, and playing cornhole.

Sunday morning came too soon and we had to pack up to leave. Thankfully we got on an even earlier ferry than we had planned (it was late because of fog) and we made good time coming home.

It would have been nice if the whole group could have been there longer, but I’m really happy that we got to go. I wouldn’t stay in that same site again. There are a ton of good ones to choose from though and the park is gorgeous. Thanks to everyone who came!

Photos are in the photo gallery.

benmartens August 31, 2009 Outdoors, Travel

A River Runs Through Me

Sunday was another hot day, so Tyla and I decided to take a little adventure. Three Forks Park (just north of North Bend) was one of the first places I discovered on my motorcycles rides. It’s not much of a park, but it is a good place to access the Snoqualmie River about a mile upstream from the falls. Normally I just relax on the bank but on Sunday, we decided to try to swim for a bit too.

We walked along the bank until we found a quiet spot away from the few people who were there. The smart people brought some shade with them, but we weren’t that smart this time. After swimming around for a while, I found a place to cross the river and ferried our stuff (and Tyla) across the river. We chatted, read books, and had a great afternoon.

I hesitated to write about this place at first because I don’t want it to become overrun. Then I realized that the three people who read this probably aren’t going to go anyway.

benmartens August 6, 2009 Outdoors

Mowich Lake

Saturday was our one year anniversary. 365 days ago, Tyla and I had our first date, and for some reason, she has put up with me for a whole year. To celebrate, we drove down to Mowich Lake.

Mowich Lake is located in the northwest corner of the park, a part I have never been to. It is the deepest and largest lake in the park. You access the lake via a 17 mile long dirt road. Before you go, make sure you check the website to see if the road is open. It just opened last Thursday so it takes them a while to get it ready for traffic. I think the next time we go back, we’ll take an SUV or a truck. The Subie survived, but I felt a bit bad about bouncing it along those washboard roads. Thankfully, the dirt road keeps a lot of people away and there were not a ton of people around. Don’t worry about trying to find a spot in the tiny lot, just park along the road and make your way down to the trail that circles the lake.

We found a very secluded spot right at the water’s edge to have a private picnic lunch. I was tempted to go back to the car for my swimsuit, but after wading in up to my knees, I realized that swimming in a glacier fed lake wouldn’t last too long. It was frigid! By the way, this was the second weekend in a row that I have played in the snow on dormant volcanoes. Have I mentioned I love the Pacific Northwest?

After lunch, we hiked to the south end of the lake where most of the crowd was. There are about 30 camping sites, but it’s really just a big rock field where you can pitch a tent. If you were doing a lot of hiking in the area, it might be worth it, but otherwise I think we’ll skip that campground.

Normally you’d see majestic Mt. Rainier just over the hills but there were too many clouds to give us a good view. You can check out the photos in the photo gallery or view the panoramic shot by clicking the image below (~17MB.)

We finished the day with dinner at Matts’ Rotisserie and Oyster Lounge in Redmond Town Center. (Minus eleventy billion points for auto playing background music when you open their site.)

Thanks to Tyla for yet another wonderful adventure. The last year has been full of them and I can’t wait to see what lies ahead!

benmartens July 27, 2009 Outdoors, Panorama

Artists Point Panorama

It’s been a while since I’ve done a panoramic stitch, but Saturday’s ride to the top of Artists Point was the perfect opportunity. There are a couple ways to view it. First, you can open the JPG directly but be warned that it’s about 9MB.

 

I also made an HDView page for this. (HDView is the Microsoft research project for viewing large images. You can read more about it on their site.) You’ll need to download the latest version of the plug-in if you haven’t used it lately, but once you do, it provides a very nice browsing experience. You can zoom and pan your way around the image.

benmartens July 21, 2009 Motorcycle, Panorama

Artists Point

I’ve driven the road from Bellingham to Mt. Baker a few times, but it has always been in the winter with skis on top of my car. On Saturday, I did it on the motorcycle.

BenH and I met up at Denny’s for breakfast. Tyla joined us too since it was right by her apartment and then headed off for a day of shopping. Ben and I pounded the pavement all the way up I-5 and then headed east on 542. It’s a fantastic drive and a great motorcycle road. Once you get up to the Heather Meadows base area, you can continue past up to Artists Point. Skiing there in the winter, I had no idea there was a road there. A mile or two through some incredibly tight switchbacks (don’t take your RV) take you up to the top of Artists Point where you are greeted with a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains.

This is the earliest that the road has opened in a while. It usually takes them until later in the year to clear out all the snow, but due to the low snowfall last winter and the hot weather this year, it went faster than normal. You could still see spots where the plows had carved through drifts 6-7 feet high.

We hung around for a while at the top, took some pictures, watched kids sledding, and wished we had brought skis. You could get in a football field or two with about 100-200 foot drop. Nothing serious but not bad for July and August.

On the way back, we made a minor deviation and cut down US 9 to US 20 and then back down I5. It’s about 10 miles shorter than going through Bellingham and I think it’s a little quicker.

At a gas station in Burlington, we met a couple guys who were traveling the country on their bikes. They have been gone for a couple months and one of them was from Kokomo, IN (the Indiana license plate sparked the conversation.)

All in all, it was another great ride. I love the feeling you get after a long ride when you feel completely in tune with the bike. It really makes me want to take a long multi-day trip.

I was also reminded how much safer it is to ride with another biker beside you. We rode almost 250 miles together and then split up for the last 10 miles. In that 10 miles, I was almost hit three times. Two people on the highway merged halfway into my lane before they saw me and then somebody tried to make a left turn into me coming off a side street. I know we’re small and hard to see, but it’s summer. Please double check those blind spots. And if you see a motorcycle approaching in your rear view mirror, make sure you know where they are before you change lanes. If you don’t see them, don’t assume they turned off.

Photos are available in the photo gallery.

benmartens July 20, 2009 Motorcycle

Mt. Rainier Ride

On Sunday, I hopped back on the bike for another ride. I recovered surprisingly quickly from the 440 miles on Friday. This ride took Tyla and I down to Mt. Rainier. It’s a very nice ride covering mostly two lane roads and then a very nice windy road up to Sunrise lookout. There was heavy traffic, but not as much as I was expecting considering the holiday. Plus, traffic always seems lighter on the motorcycle since it is much easier to pass.

The view from the top was outstanding. We took our time at the top having lunch, a snowball fight, and a walk through the nature center.

It was a great day for the ride, and I hope that it’s just the start of our Mt. Rainier adventures for the year. I want to take the car back next time and do some hiking either from Sunrise or one of the other entrances.

That wrapped up a 600 mile weekend on the motorcycle for me. On those two rides, I went from sea level to above 5000 feet twice, saw three different active volcanoes and numerous alpine lakes, watched roaring rapids with rafters and a 100+ ft waterfall, had a snowball fight and sweated in near-100 degree weather. Seattle positively rocks. The more time I spend here, the more confused I am about why the entire country doesn’t live here.

Photos are available in the photo gallery.

benmartens July 9, 2009 Motorcycle

Cascade Loop Review

Not only did I survive the ride on Friday, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! I took almost the exact route that I talked about in the post on Friday. The only deviation was that I took US 97 Alt right through Chelan to check out the lake. Impressions from the ride:

  • I have now been through all four east/west mountain passes in Washington over the Cascades. Highway 20 (the northernmost pass) has the best scenery. It’s absolutely gorgeous and I can’t wait to go through again! The pictures do not do it justice. You could easily spend a whole day stopping at each lake (there are lots of dams along the river) and relaxing.
  • It was HOT (upper 90s) on the east side of the Cascades. I tried riding with no coat for a while, but that didn’t last long. I think it was cooler with the coat on because it kept me in the shade. At some temperature, the increased wind speed actually makes you hotter instead of cooling you off. It’s a giant convection oven. That’s my theory anyway.
  • This motorcycle is awesome. I got a number of compliments/questions when I stopped for gas. In particular, I get a lot of questions from taller riders who are curious what modifications I made to the bike for comfort.
  • I was able to go about 100 miles per run (that number decreased toward the end of the run.) I was able to stretch out my knees fairly well, but there was no rest for the butt. I think I might try biker shorts next time to see if that makes any difference.
  • I got great gas mileage. Normally I get in the very low 30s around town but I averaged over 40 for this ride.
  • The AutoCom system I put on the bike is marvelous. I had music for the whole ride. It was an eclectic mix of Jason Mraz, Little Big Town, Flobots, The Hush Sound, and a few others. The audio highlight was listening to Preston and Steve’s Drunk Day podcast from last Thursday. Best morning show ever.
  • The audio system performed well even with the ear plugs that I wore for the entire trip. I had to turn up the volume, but in the end, I think I heard the sound better than without the earplugs. The plugs took out much of the wind noise and the audio made it through nicely.

The total ride was 440 miles and I covered it in exactly 10 hours. I don’t think I could have done it much faster as I kept all my breaks to a minimum.

I can’t recommend this ride enough! However, take two days to do it if you have the time and it will be even more enjoyable. There is so much to see!

 

Photos are available in the photo gallery.

benmartens July 7, 2009 Motorcycle

Cascade Loop

Ever since I arrived in Seattle with a motorcycle, I’ve been told about the Cascade Loop. It covers some of the most beautiful roads in Washington, but it’s also a big trip for one day. Today, I set out to conquer the loop.

You can see my basic route below. The actual Cascade Loops includes a run down Whidbey Island, but that would make a big day even bigger and I’ve traveled that road many times anyway. The highlight of this ride is going to be the northern stretch along Highway 20. That 5500 foot high pass is closed all winter long, and I’ve never been there.

The route is about 450 miles. I average about 50mph on long trips due to the need for frequent stops so that puts me at 9 hours. Factor in some extra sore muscles from a full day on the bike and I’m hoping to tackle this in 12 hours. I’m planning to Twitter my progress along the way so you can watch for updates on my feed.

I’m still undecided about whether I will come back through Stevens Pass or Snoqualmie Pass. Stevens is more scenic and gets me out of the hot weather on the east side of the mountains. Snoqualmie is 70mph interstate. I’ll make the call when I get near Cashmere. Interestingly it’s only 1 mile extra to go through Stevens than Snoqualmie, but I expect it’s about 15-30 minutes longer.

benmartens July 3, 2009 Motorcycle

Lake Easton State Park

Tim, Chelsea, Andy, Stephanie, Nick (an intern at Tim’s company), Tyla and I spent the weekend about 15 miles east of the summit of Snoqualmie Pass at Lake Easton State Park. We all convened at campsite 109 after work on Friday and crammed five tents onto the tent pad. The rest of the weekend was filled with cornhole, beverages, campfires, delicious food, and hanging out down by the water. The lake was beautiful, but the campground was very loud. I-90 was only a few hundred yards away. I guess when you try to cram train tracks, a lake, a campground and an interstate into a mountain pass, there’s not a lot of leftover room. It was great for a weekend trip considering how close to home it is(60 miles from my house.) On Sunday morning, we packed up and visited Mountain High Hamburgers on the other side of the interstate. It’s a Scherschel family favorite and made a nice end to the weekend.

Thanks to everyone for coming, and special thanks to Tyla for putting up with Nick and me talking about skiing all weekend. This winter he’s going to be living the dream: ski bum at Alta. Combine that with his lifetime full of 100 day ski seasons at Killington and I’m pretty jealous.

The next camping trip on the calendar right now is in late August when we take a trip out to the San Juans.

Photos are available in the gallery.

benmartens June 30, 2009 Outdoors