Thursday, May 26, 2022

Roslyn and Cle Elum Lake (2022-05-21)

Headed over Snoqualmie Pass again to check out Roslyn, which had been on my list of places to see for a long time. The town was lovely. I also headed up to Cle Elum Lake and the Cle Elum River, despite the weather turning.

Past ride albums:

More after the break…

Outbound

Outbound

I'd originally planned this ride to include my partner as a passenger, so I planned to start at 8 AM so she wouldn't have to get up too early. When the time drew near, she said she was too tired, so this was a solo ride starting at that time.

Getting up to the Snoqualmie Pass was quite fun! Back when I had this Bonneville as my only bike, I thought that it was difficult to get on the side of the tire, but it wasn't difficult at all now. Riding my Ninja must've trained me to be more confident when cornering, so I was able to take I-90's curves at speed.

When I did finally arrive at Snoqualmie Pass, I was surprised at how busy it was compared to last time. When I got a pastry and hot chocolate, there was a line at Laconia Market's till.

Denny Mountain
Guye Peak
The Summit at Snoqualmie
The Firehouse
Snoqualmie Pass

I was also surprised to see someone taking the pass by bicycle, since the Snoqualmie Pass Tunnel is the usual bicycle route. I'm guessing it hadn't opened yet.

Jamis Nova at Snoqualmie Pass: I don't recall seeing the rider anywhere.

My next stop was in Roslyn, one of the main goals of this trip. Back when I joined the 2015 BQ Un-meeting, I recall some riders heading over there, but my knee hurt too much for me to do much riding at all once in Cle Elum.

Parked in Roslyn
W Pennsylvania Avenue, Roslyn
E Pennsylvania Avenue, Roslyn
N 1st Street, Roslyn
W Pennsylvania Avenue, Roslyn
Logan's
W Washington Avenue, Roslyn
Roslyn, Washington
W Pennsylvania Avenue
Roslyn Theatre
Roslyn Fire Department
Southwest Roslyn

A tiny farmers' market was taking place at a little square in town.

Roslyn Farmers' Market
Roslyn Farmers' Market

And there were a lot of amenities devoted to Roslyn's coal mining history, like a miners' memorial and an outdoor museum.

Coal Miners' Memorial
Roslyn Museum: Coal Mine Train
Roslyn Museum
Roslyn Museum: Fire Shed

Oh, and Heritage Distilling has a huge brick building as their location here.

Heritage Distilling Company

I was surprised at all of the folks I saw riding bicycles out there, though they were mainly mountain bikes unlike back in, say, Snohomish.

Ride Roslyn Bikes

The Coal Mines Trail/Roslyn Urban Forest must be fun to explore!

Coal Mines Trail: I should check this out on the bicycle someday!
Roslyn Pioneer Park Restrooms
"Coal Mines Trail"

In the middle of my photo walk, I got food at the Roslyn Cafe, since much wasn't open yet.

Roslyn Cafe

While eating, the server asked why I was up there, and she told me to check out Cooper Lake. Definitely something for next time.


When I left the Roslyn Cafe, the weather was looking a bit sketchy, but I still headed out towards Cle Elum Lake, stopping at the small town of Ronald along the way.

Ronald General Store
Ronald House
Fan House Road, Ronald
Washington State Route 903, Ronald
The Old #3

As I went along Salmon La Sac Road, it started to pour down rain, which prompted me to pull over in a driveway where some bicyclists were looking to turn back. I contemplated doing the same, but decided to suit up in my rain gear and continue along my way.

On Salmon La Sac Road: This is when it started pouring down rain.
Salmon La Sac Road: This is when it started pouring down rain.  These cyclists were taking shelter for a moment before turning back.

Continuing ended up being the right choice. While bicycling (exercising) in waterproof rain gear is a sad affair, motorcycle riding is only slightly uncomfortable, and only when it's warm!

My next stop was at the old Salmon La Sac railway depot. I spent some time walking around the area and getting some of my kind of photos!

Parked at Cayuse Horse Camp
Salmon La Sac Road, Cayuse Horse Camp
Historic Railroad Depot
Salmon La Sac Road and Cle Elum Valley Road
Salmon La Sac Road Cle Elum River Bridge
Cle Elum River
Red Mountain Over Cle Elum River
Old Bridge Abutment
Salmon La Sac Road
Cle Elum River

Seeing all of the gravel fire roads stirred up the idea of someday getting a dual sport to check them out.

"Motorcycles & riders on Forest Service roads must be street legal"

Inbound

The return ride along Salmon La Sac Road featured a number of photo stops since I was so excited to be out in the foothills again.

And I also finally got some photos of Cle Elum Lake itself at a couple of the viewpoints marked with stone walls.


I then proceeded to head back home, with only making a quick stop in Roslyn for the restroom. I kept my rain gear on since there were scattered downpours throughout the mountains, with the last two being on I-90 on the west side of the pass.

Oh, and I also got gas and a some Nacho Cheese Bugles at the 76 in North Bend.


Things were going reasonably smoothly along the freeways the way home. I latched onto a fast platoon on I-90 for quite some time, likely hitting the 100 MPH mark as I followed. However, things slowed down significantly as I approached the I-90/I-405 interchange. Seeing the backup, I headed for I-405, then SR-520, which turned out to also be a pretty bad idea. Traffic was seemingly fine here, too, until I neared the Montlake Boulevard exit. I decided to try my luck at city streets, but was stuck at the exit for a ridiculously long time that was only made worse by overheating in my rain gear, due to the Montlake Bridge closure that I'd forgotten about. After hanging right on Montlake Boulevard, then doing a U-turn, I went along Boyer Avenue to cross at the University Bridge instead.

I thought things were all clear, until I found a long lines of cars all around the NE 40th Street/7th Avenue SE/NE 40th Street intersection. At one point, a car tried to share the lane to my left, and the driver only gave a fake smile as I gestured "what do you think you're doing?" The strangest thing was that there was almost no traffic on NE Pacific Street, so everyone must've been going some other way through the intersection.

Despite all that mess, the rest of my ride home was smooth.

This ride feels like it marked the start of motorcycle season in the Pacific Northwest. I saw all kinds of sportbike riders all over, which I usually don't see during the cold season.

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