OlympiaFJ60

When driving the back roads of Washington you are likely to encounter all sorts of roads and vehicles. I would like to address “logging roads” through the forests of the Northwest.

Having worked in the woods for a number of years, I have become accustomed to driving logging roads and “dealing with” other logging road users. Weekends are a little easier but during the week logging roads can be down right dangerous to the unaware driver. There can be a wide range of vehicle traffic such as foresters in pickups to fuel and lube trucks servicing the heavy equipment at logging sites to loaded log and dump trucks. While drivers can seem rude at times, remember this is THEIR place of work. Their livelyhood relies on traveling these roads.

A few basic rules to follow while driving these roads are common sense. First of all SLOW DOWN and turn your headlights on. It may seem like you are the only one out there at times but 35 mph on a gravel corner can be really fast when that loaded logger lumbers into view, and according to the “law of gross tonnage” you will not be the winner. Many of the roads are not posted with speed limits, unless it is part of the county road system. 10-15 mph is a good speed for most locations with a narrow 1 or 1 1/2 lane road. Wider roads with long lines of sight and well maintained can be safe at 35 mph. Remember there are spur roads (short dead end roads) all along the way and they are often difficult to see from a distance. Headlights make it a lot easier to been seen as you pass from clearing to timber. If the oncoming car is in the sun and you are in the shadows you will be very difficult to see.

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In a recent article by the Seattle Times titled “Off-roading turned meadow into mud hole” it was reported that 6 individuals have been charged with malicious mischief for the destruction of a natural meadow near Wenatchee, Wa.

WENATCHEE — One night of destructive fun has altered the course of nature in a peaceful meadow south of the city and left six off-road truck drivers mired in legal trouble.

It reports that underground springs were opened and irrigation piping that feeds many of the local orchards were damaged. One of the suspects has already been sentenced to 22 months in prison for his participation in the destruction. The remaining 5 (one is a minor) will be in court in the coming weeks.

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DNR will be hosting a safety summit and a trail clean up.

Follow this link for more information DNR to Hold Safety Summit for Off-Road Riders

March 15th event at Straddleline ORV Park will feature free equipment inspections, safety tips, and classes

OLYMPIA – With warmer weather and longer hours of sunlight just around the corner, the State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will present an ORV Safety Summit. The free event will be held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, March 15, at Straddleline ORV Park, which is on State Route 8 between McCleary and Olympia.

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Again we visited the Ahtanum area West of Yakima.  This time there was a little more snow.  We traveled the North Fork Road up past Snow Cabin.  We were able to make it within 2 miles of Darland Mountain from the north on this road before the snow (and snowmobile tracks) halted progress.

We spent the first part of the day at Snow Cabin Campground (there was no cabin that I could see).  This is a nice campground at about 4700′ elevation.  It has about 6 camp sites with fire pits and picnic tables.  There are 2 unisex latrines as well, but no running water.  We setup for at one spot for lunch.  I had forgotten to bring firewood, so we scavenged a few of the other fire pits for semi dry/charred wood to use.  After an hour of trying to start a fire (while I was making lunch on the camp stove) we gave up.  We ate lunch, then decided to head further up the road for deeper snow.

Once we were denied access to the top of Darland Mountain, we headed back down the road a little for a good sledding spot.  We ended up finding one at an intersection with the 2300 road and spent an our sledding and having a snowball fight.  There was about 18″ of snow here.  We were just under 5700′.  I could only trek to the top so many times before I was worn out. 

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This isn’t a trail run, more like a snow report. Veterans Day weekend we were over in Yakima and decided to look for some snow. On the trip over we went Hwy 410 through Chinook Pass and there was just a crust of snow left on the side of the road from the plows, and only at the summit. We figured we would have to look a little higher. We took the Ahtanum road out of Union Gap and headed up the North Fork road at Tampico. At the snow park (and end of paved road) we took the A2000 along the middle fork Ahtanum creek to Treephones campground. You can stay right at the intersection and it looks like (on the map) you will get to roughly the same place, go by Cougar Flats and another Snow cabin.

Treephones is a state campground managed by the DNR and has many camp sites and is set up for horse and pack animals. There are several large sites with trailer parking and a large turnaround parking lot. Treephones has a nice building built by a local snowmobile club the ?ski benders. It is a large hall with several large picnic tables and a wood stove in the center. We started a fire in the stove and cooked our soup for lunch. We also figured it would be nice to have a warm place to return to should we find good snow.

The Ahtanum area uses the green dot road managment system and some of the roads are closed to vehicle travel. We ended up taking the road behind Treephones up to Eagles nest and Clover Flats camp ground. This is were we started to get a little snow. We continued on to the top and Darland Mountain and Narroneck Gap. This is were we ended up playing, just below 7,000 feet. You can continue along the road and end up looping around to Cougar Flats and back to the North Fork road.

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