The vast majority of my hiking takes place in, and around, Olympic National Park because it doesn’t require a ferry ride. Wanting to see some fall colors, I reviewed some of the popular hikes in the I90 corridor on the WTA site and Rachel Lake was a frequent addition and the photos suggested wonderful fall scenery would be on display.

I rarely ride out-and-backs and when I do it’s usually a hill climb. The ride up Icicle Creek Road isn’t as impressive as Hurricane Ridge or Mt Baker but it offered an exceptional experience on an early morning ride.

A nice morning loop around Icicle Creek with a variety of forest, hill, and water views.

With the snow mostly gone, I opted for the classic hike to this gorgeous alpine lake.

I had signed up to ride GFL in 2020 but, like most events, it was cancelled so I eagerly awaited an opportunity to ride it when it was next scheduled.

Though this ride is short it packs a lot of awesome into its 20 miles. There are wildflowers, terrific gravel, great views, and abandon railroads. I was delighted with this loop.

I finally had time and cooperative weather to ride this classic PNW loop through the mountains. The Seattle Randonneurs have a 200K brevet route but since I was riding on my own I decided to short it by ~30 miles and avoid some of the less scenic city riding.

I started this ride by entering through the Park entrance at Longmire and parking in the day use lot behind the lodge.

I’d been planning this ride for months ever since reading about the climb to Babyshoe Pass in BQ. The climb from Highway 12 to the summit at the intersection with FS 2150 has an average grade of 6% and a max grade of 20% with soft, loose gravel and rough washboard making it tough to keep traction and rhythm.