Rode to the end of the Mount Baker Highway.
While working on these photos, I was still learning how to properly handle white balance, so please be kind!
More after the break…
Outbound
I started shortly after sunrise and headed to I-5 via N 80th Street. Shortly before actually joining the freeway, I had a bit of a scare making a left onto the ramp. I did the usual wait at the yield sign, but just as I was getting going, a white van without any lights on came out of nowhere, which caused my heart to skip a beat. While I didn't go down, I did let a few cars go by while I caught my breath in the shoulder of the turn pocket.
As I passed through Everett, I saw someone riding a new-to-them Aprilia sportbike. As we made our way through traffic and I moved to the right lane to leave the freeway, we kept leapfrogging each other, and this wouldn't be the the last I'd see of them.
My route from Arlington to parts north was along SR-9, as I wanted some nice small highway riding away from the hustle and bustle of the freeway. Along the way, I made a quick stop at the shut down Lake McMurray Store for photos.
And another stop in Big Lake for similar photos.
By the time I got to Sedro–Woolley, I was pretty hungry, so I looked for food. At first glance, I didn't see anything, but upon closer inspection I saw a diner across the street. The vibe when I entered was definitely that of a small-town diner, with good food and a nice staff.
I'm at Bonnie Jo's in Sedro Woolley, WA https://t.co/zbsMeTkJsr pic.twitter.com/9acefRkOdW
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 13, 2022
Once I was done with breakfast, I walked around town to get photos.
And before leaving town, I stopped by the same gas station as last time.
My route took me further north along SR-9, passing along picturesque farming valleys. I thought about getting some photos in Acme, but decided to do it later. (In the end, I never got that chance, but more on that later.) The only thing of note along this leg of the highway was that I passed a car that was going pretty slow, which I wouldn't do most of the time due to traffic. And when I did, I saw their brake lights come on as my engine revved while executing my pass.
I left SR-9 at SR-542, where it wasn't long before I was stuck in a long line of cars. As the line slowly passed the obstacle, I saw that we were stuck behind a huge group bicycle ride heading up to Artist Point. As we slowed down even more up a hill, I had to do a rev-matched downshift since my engine was spinning too slow for the quickshifter. Since I usually use the quickshifter on this bike, and my other bike has a much heavier flywheel, I ended up revving my engine a couple times before executing the downshift properly. Whoops!
My next photo stop was in Glacier, a small town with a good collection of shops. Not long after I pulled in, an SUV pulled in behind me and a woman got out to flag down the cyclists as this was a rest stop for them too.
As I continued along the highway, I took note of several places I'd like to get photos of on the way back, including Maple Falls and a very nice view of the North Fork Nooksack River.
The further along I went, the more winding the highway became, with speed advisories as low as 15 MPH in some spots! I took those turns very carefully, as I've heard horror stories of motorcycle riders behind hit by cars crossing the center lines on these kinds of roads. When I finally got to the Mount Baker Ski Area, I breathed a sigh of relief before getting photos as usual.
Since it was well outside ski season, it was pretty dead. However, the Heather Meadows Cafe opened right as I was getting ready to leave. Since I'd gone a little ways down a one way road and didn't want to go the full loop to get back to my route, I waited a little while until the cafe employee putting out flags on the side of the road went back into the cafe, then slowly made my way up the shoulder to the intersection and made my left back onto the highway.
The road up Mount Baker is scary!
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 13, 2022
My next stop was at the Heather Meadows Visitor Center. Unlike on past rides, I decided to do the right thing and get a day pass for the National Park. I was surprised when I was able to pay with a credit card on a tablet and asked about mobile phone service. The clerk said that a few carriers were okay up there, and that there were a few cell phone towers in the bowl a little downhill from the visitor center. I pretty much only had luck with service between the visitor center and the parking lot on the edge of the highway, just enough to post a few tweets. I also made use of the vault toilet before getting my usual photos, which were a bit annoying to get because of the mist falling everywhere.
I'm at Heather Meadows Visitor Center in WA https://t.co/91T36UZ2L2
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 13, 2022
While I was getting those photos, I saw a number of cyclists going both up and down the highway, and even got a chance to chat with one of them who was taking a break. He said that he started at Glacier and only had a little bit further uphill before the end of the highway at Artist Point. Oh, and I saw a huge group of mostly Harley riders head up the hill.
Lots of bicyclists and motorcyclists were on it, too.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 13, 2022
Above Heather Meadows, the highway had even tighter hairpin turns. The first one was so tight that it caught me off guard such that I deployed (but didn't dab) my feet for balance, and I almost went over the center line on the uphill side of the turn. The pavement soaked by the mist certainly didn't help visibility or my confidence in the grippiness of my tires, either.
I didn't bother with the Lake Ann Trailhead, as it was packed with cars and didn't present anything of interest to me with the thick fog around.
When I finally got to Artist Point, I had to hunt around for a while for a parking space, and ended up in a spot that would be too pinched for a car to fit on a curve. This was my introduction to the tiny ice caves around Artist Point, which I'd never seen on such a small scale before.
As I got my photos, I saw a guy walking out along the Table Mountain Trail with his dog, right past a "no dogs" sign. I guess dog people will be dog people.
I also saw that huge group of cruiser riders start on their way back downhill and managed to get a photo of the tail end of the group.
Separately, there was a group of several riders parked near the entrance to the parking lot.
While getting photos, I realized that I'd forgotten to turn on the eTrex GPS I usually use for photo walks, so I turned it on and took some location reference photos…which I'd later end up not using since it was pretty obvious what was where.
Once done with photos, I drank my energy drink and ate some beef jerky I'd brought to give me a boost for the return trip. After that scary highway on the way up, I really needed a confidence booster!
Inbound
As I descended back down the hairpins, I had to get a shot of the valley above the ski resort.
And at the bottom of the descent, I got some photos of a nice looking WSDOT maintenance facilities near a crossing of the North Fork Nooksack River. Now, I thought that it might've been the crossing I wanted to photograph earlier, but I kept an eye out for the actual crossing. I had no problem getting a few more photos!
As I rode along the low portion of the highway, I started hearing what I thought was a Harley in the distance. When I got a good look at my 6 o'clock, I saw that it was a twin-powered sportbike of some sort. Since I was held back by the car in front of me and wasn't about to pass it on this somewhat twisty highway, the rider got impatient and zoomed past us on a straightaway. Shortly after that, I saw the actual crossing I wanted to photograph at the Douglas Fir Campground.
That just left Maple Falls, which was below Glacier on SR-542. I first stopped at the gas station…where all of the pumps were out of order. Then, I looked for food…whose options were a tiny food cart and a grocery store attached to a mini-mall containing several non-food businesses. Guess I'll be getting both later!
It was at this point where I decided to just take SR-542 all the way to Bellingham to save time on my return trip. I set my sights on the North Fork Brewery for lunch…which was surrounded by people lined up. When I asked if there was a wait (without dismounting my bike), the people in line said there was, so I continued on my way, resigning myself to getting food in the next town I hit. I made good time, and even passed someone again. Gotta love the big inline-four in my Ninja!
Thankfully, I didn't have to wait that long! The Welcome Grocery had a sign saying that they had burgers, so I decided to pull in for lunch there. The burger tasted good, like something you'd get at any small diner or would make at home. I started on the fries without ketchup, but the saltiness compelled me to ask for some. With the ketchup pump not functioning, I had to ask for packets.
Before leaving, I thought it'd be nice to support the place by buying gas there, so I asked one of the cashiers if the ethanol-free gasoline was the 92 octane that my bike required. She had to fetch the manager (owner?) to confirm, and he told me it was 87 like the ethanol gasoline. Since there weren't any gas options I could use, I continued on my way to Bellingham.
After picking up gas in Deming—
—I headed straight for I-5 in Bellingham for a fast ride home. Traffic was mostly okay (heavy but not slow) until Marysville, where it really bogged down. At that point, I really needed a break, so I pulled off and looked for a parking space at the Seattle Premium Outlets, only to find no spaces in the "normal" parking lot. In the end, I parked behind a car in a corner of the lot for 10 minutes or so before continuing on my way.
Traffic went back to being okay like before for most of the way home. At one point, I did a dangerous thing and passed a car in the merge lane to the left of the HOV lane we were both in, and later on a car almost merged into me from the lane to the right of the HOV lane. I could tell the exact moment they realized their mistake when the car bounced left to right as they went back into their lane.
After taking one of my normal return route options via Northgate, I got home at about 5 PM, so not too late.
This was my big ride since recovering from COVID. For most of the time, I felt a bit sad and dissociated from my surroundings, which I think is why I did some risky things in traffic. (Strange how that works out, huh?) As of writing this post, I'm pretty much back to normal and being more careful
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