Great Wet North 2009

Check out what group rides people are planning, or planning to attend! Questions you have BEFORE the ride takes place should go in here.

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LumpyCam
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Great Wet North 2009

Post by LumpyCam »

Attention all riders from or passing through Canada's west coast this summer: Here's a thread for you!

This primarily includes British Columbia, but Alberta, Washington State, and all points in between are welcome too.
  • Find a good ride you want to share?
  • Need advice interpreting that dotted line on the map?
  • Questions about the best place to stay?
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Re: Great Wet North 2009

Post by LumpyCam »

snag wrote:Lumpycam and Jedi: I'm planning a trip with my bride this summer from Edmonton through Whistler via the Duffy Lake Road, over to the Island to Tofino, then on to Washington to visit some friends and then home through Northern Wash. Any comments on good roads would be appreciated. We've got family in Whistler, Vancouver and Victoria, but the map is otherwise unmarked.

Doug
Duffy lake road is definitely a highlight.

Another option is to come into Vancouver via the south and do Duffy lake as a day trip from Vancouver. Then you'll hit wine country and the rolling hills of the okanagan. The "lillooet loop" (map) is a great day trip (600km).
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Re: Great Wet North 2009

Post by snag »

Lumpycam,

We did the Crowsnest from Hope to Nelson in the truck last fall, great road, but drove straight through wine country on the way to a rack of lamb in Gray Creek. I think that we'll probably save that one for later this year or next.

My goal for Vancouver is to stay out of it, no offense meant, just want to stay out of the traffic. Daughter is in North Van so I figured I could just slip in and see her on the Upper Level Highway and then catch the ferrry to Naniamo. Is there anything north of Naniamo on the Island that's worth it, or is the run out to Tofino the best use of time?

I'm really in the dark about Northern Washington from Seattle up to the border at Osoyoos or Nelson/Creston. Any suggestions here would be real helpful.

I've done HWY 3A from Creston to Crawford Bay a number of times and it is rated the best road in BC, but HWY 31A from New Denver to Kaslo is freshly paved and IMHO is the best road in Canada that I've been on. No traffic, no houses and nothing but curves. If you get the chance, I would highly recommend it.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. [-o<

Doug
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Re: Great Wet North 2009

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snag wrote:My goal for Vancouver is to stay out of it, no offense meant, just want to stay out of the traffic. Daughter is in North Van so I figured I could just slip in and see her on the Upper Level Highway and then catch the ferrry to Naniamo. Is there anything north of Naniamo on the Island that's worth it, or is the run out to Tofino the best use of time?
Staying out of Vancouver is certainly not a bad idea. There's no riding of particular interest. Of course, there are a bunch of things to do around the city but you're either coming to take it all in or stay away and be free of the city stress. Unless you happen to be around on a Saturday or Sunday and you can go for a ride through the downtown with the roads mostly to yourself in the morning. It doesn't get busy until around 10am and is exquisitely beautiful if you catch good weather.

North of Nanaimo I'm going to say "no." Last spring i did the ride from Port Hardy to Victoria and HWY1 is nothing special. There are just too few roads on the island to have nice out of the way gems... unless you have a dual sport and can take advantage of the thousands of kms of logging roads.

I know you know i know you know this, but take care on the road from Port Alberni to Tofino. It's one you really have to respect.
snag wrote:I'm really in the dark about Northern Washington from Seattle up to the border at Osoyoos or Nelson/Creston. Any suggestions here would be real helpful.
The Olympic Mountains are huge and beautiful. I've never ridden around WA so i don't have much feedback there. Check out the Destination Highways guide as they have a terrific overview of all the best roads.
snag wrote:I've done HWY 3A from Creston to Crawford Bay a number of times and it is rated the best road in BC, but HWY 31A from New Denver to Kaslo is freshly paved and IMHO is the best road in Canada that I've been on. No traffic, no houses and nothing but curves. If you get the chance, I would highly recommend it.
I've actually got a ride to New Denver planned for this spring so that's great feedback on the 31a - thanks!
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Re: Great Wet North 2009

Post by snag »

Lumpycam,

You're going to love 31A. Thanks for the heads up on the Tofino road, I've never been and I'll have the bride either sleeping or listening to her tunes on the back so I'll take it easy. The same caution applies to 31A. It is a wonderful road built on the old railway alignment. There are a number of off-camber and decreasing radius turns that can catch you by surprise. When my bud (on a new K1200S) and I did the road last year, we got caught behind a local on a lovely Honda Ascot. We stayed with him and he literally kept me out of the rhubarb. I would have been much more aggressive and would have probably paid for it. When you live on the prairies, twisty mountain roads are like free crack to a recovering junkie, you kind of lose your mind.

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Re: Great Wet North 2009

Post by Airman »

Lumpycam,

The North Cascades Highway, (hwy 20) is not to be missed. A good loop would be to take hwy 20 off I-5 at Burlington, take 153 south at Winthrop to 97 in Chelan which will run you into the westbound leg of hwy 2, another great mountain road. That would take you back to I-5. One of my favorite roads is hwy 410 East out of Enumclaw, WA over Chinook Pass down into Yakima. From my house in Federal Way it's a 132 mile run and there are various interesting roads around Mt Rainier. Coming back from Yakima you can cut over on hwy 12 through White Pass, then hit 123 and go up into the Mt Rainer National Park if you like. 410 I think is open early. The last time I was up there was in July and it was pretty cold up in the pass. Of course it was over 90 degrees F in Yakima.I know the road (123) through the Park is sometimes blocked with snow as late as June.
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Re: Great Wet North 2009

Post by snag »

Airman,

Thanks for the information for Lumpycam, this will be a big help for me once I get to planning my trip as well.

Doug
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Re: Great Wet North 2009

Post by LumpyCam »

Agreed - that's great info for Washington state. I'm headed to California this weekend and plan to ride some roads in the north there, but plan several trips to WA once the weather gets a bit better.
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Re: Great Wet North 2009

Post by Mollygrubber »

I like the Mount Baker Highway too, maybe I've been lucky but I found it relatively free of cages. +1 on the warning about the highway to Tofino...
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Re: Great Wet North 2009

Post by LumpyCam »

snag wrote:I've done HWY 3A from Creston to Crawford Bay a number of times and it is rated the best road in BC, but HWY 31A from New Denver to Kaslo is freshly paved and IMHO is the best road in Canada that I've been on. No traffic, no houses and nothing but curves. If you get the chance, I would highly recommend it.
I'm off to try out these roads this weekend. Thanks again for the tips!
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Re: Great Wet North 2009

Post by snag »

LumpyCam,

So how was it?

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Re: Great Wet North 2009

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snag wrote:LumpyCam,

So how was it?

Doug
Spectacular! I can't imagine how things could have been better. We covered 2,500km in 4 days and rode pretty much every road in the west Kootenays. Maybe my favourite was from New Denver to Kaslo. Creston to Salmo was a fun ride with a big 5,800' summit and Slocan to New Denver has spectacular scenery. Really, you can't go wrong any way you turn.

I'm slowly getting some pics up on Daily Rider, but here's a panorama from Osoyoos (click for large):

Image

Thanks for the tips!
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Re: Great Wet North 2009

Post by snag »

LumpyCam,

Great pics on Daily Rider; I don't know where you find the time to get all that up on the net. I have a tough enough time just stopping to take the pictures. Glad you liked New Denver to Kaslo.

Doug
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Re: Great Wet North 2009

Post by LumpyCam »

Airman wrote:The North Cascades Highway, (hwy 20) is not to be missed. A good loop would be to take hwy 20 off I-5 at Burlington, take 153 south at Winthrop to 97 in Chelan which will run you into the westbound leg of hwy 2, another great mountain road.
Thanks, Airman. I'm off to Washington and Oregon states next weekend and i'll definitely check out these roads.
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