Aaaaah, winter riding in the Northwest…what was on tap?  Mud, mud,  and then some more mud.  Fortunately a day scheduled for 40% chance of rain ended up being overcast and 48 degrees with occasional sun-breaks!   A couple of us headed out to Grand Ridge in Issaquah to continue on with our winter training. 

There are a number of ways to get to Grand Ridge, so check out the Evergreen Trail Wiki and search for Grand Ridge.  Not only will you find directions, descriptions and a great map, you’ll find a link to other great winter riding destinations in Washington.

As we climbed up to the first road, we came across a couple of groups of WTA work parties doing maintenance on the trail.  We chatted with them as we went by and thanked them for their efforts.  As we continued on, we could see that WTA had been working hard throughout the winter to keep the trails in good shape. While there was plenty of mud in sections, there was evidence of features put in to assist with drainage in many areas of the trail.  The new bridge was also in on the backside so we could clear the first bog without navigating the old planks through the muck. 

We navigated the second bog, then headed up to Duthie Hill Bike Park check out the progress and see who was out playing at the bike park there.   There were a few folks out checking out the jump lines and we took a turn down the LUNA drop line, then headed out to the bootcamp loop which has some fun berms, a little mini pump track, and a 300’+ log ride.  No efforts were made on the log ride, with the wet and mucky conditions, we just weren’t willing to make the attempt.  

We headed back towards home, and found Angela on the trail coming towards us.  We stopped to chat for a moment, then continued on our through the long slog back up to the ridge.   By the time we had climbed most of the way out, Angela had caught up to us and we started our final descent. 

We came back through where the WTA work party was still hard at work and stopped to get the skinny on their efforts.  We learned that they had already hosted 20 work parties throughout the winter here at Grand Ridge and they had many more to go before the biking season truly kicks in.  We complimented Dave Schuldt (long time Evergreen member and avid trail-meister) and the rest of the crew on the “freaking amazing bridge” that they had built with on-site timbers cut from huge trees.   If you get a chance, go check out the WTA website and sign up for a work party.  If you need more than the amazing trails we get to ride on, they have “rewards” for participation.

End stats on the ride – 17.7 miles, 4000+feet of cumulative elevation according to that little iGotchu gadget.  Hope to see you out on the trails soon!