The Mountain Loop Highway

It was Saturday, the forecast....hot....real hot.....and time for a ride to the mountains!

Doug, Steve, and I headed out around 10:30 or so for a trip out the the Mountain Loop Highway, a road that heads out of Granite Falls and up into the Cascades. It follows the Stillaguamish River and is a route that used to be a train route that headed to Monte Cristo back when there was hopes for finding a fortune in gold up in them thar hills. Ok, enough history...let's ride!

The Verlot Info Center and espresso....ok no espresso :(

After leaving Granite Falls, the first stop was at the Verlot Info Center. You can purchase Parks passes here plus get some other info.

We left Verlot and headed up the road a while until we started following the Stillaguamish River. After a few miles, we found a great spot to stop and get some pics of the bikes.

Me looking cool and Doug striking a pose?

We motored further along, hitting some sweet winding roads for another 10 miles or so, going thru some cool microclimates where it went from hot to cold then back again...pretty refreshing and then eventually we hit the "end of the road."

That's snow blocking the way and piled along the road behind the bikes

We walked past the gate and into the snow, briefly and the decided to head back. I want to come back later in the summer when this road is open all the way....should make for a great ride. So on the way back, we stopped again for some more pics. There was a pulloff right by the river that made for a nice background.



That's the Stillaguamish River in the background

Cruising further back down the road, we decided to stop for a late lunch. We stopped at the Mountain View Inn, a pretty laid back looking place and an obvious stopping point for bikers on the highway. We walked in and it was pretty empty inside, but about 10 minutes later, we heard the rumble of Harley's outside. One of the waitresses looked outside and said "oh boy.....here they come.." Around 30 or so bikers came walking in, looking like the typical Harley biker types. The place suddenly got ral crowded. I made a comment to Steve.."I wonder how these guys all met...hmm....probable all work at the same accounting firm!" HAHAHAHA I kill myself sometimes...ok...sorry that was lame. Anyway......pics of the place and some of the bikes...






We'll definitely come back to this place. After eating, it was time to head for home as Steve had to get home to setup for a neighborhood BBQ at his house. We zoomed down the highway, out to Highway 9 and then back towards home. Another ride in the books.....

First ride to work

Last Thursday, Doug and I made our first trip down I-5 to work. We also had Steve along with us as he was heading to his Magnolia office for the day. It was foggy and there was a light mist that clung to our windshields, but overall, the trip was pretty uneventful.


Heading home was another story. We have some pretty steep hills to climb getting out of the city and decided to take Highway 99 out of the city instead. Big mistake! It took way too long, with the constant starting and stopping, plus it was frigging hot so it sucked being stopped. We finally decided to cut over and hop onto I-5 and took that the rest of the way home. Much better!

Good ol' Mike giving me the Good morning greeting

Friday we made the trip down I-5 once again. It was again uneventful.

I think Drew really needs that coffee...

That's Jim, my manager...we call Doug "Mini Jim"

And finally, we rode home on I-5 and we lived happily ever after....