Windy Ridge Mt. St. Helens

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Fontanaman

Robin Trower
Joined
Oct 29, 2009
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Spokane, Wa
I started riding around the Mt. St. Helens area in 1968 on a Honda Trail 90. My parents would go Huckleberry picking around Mt St. Helens and Mt. Adams. We would lash the Honda to the bumper mounted rack on my Dad's pickup truck, drive to the Huckleberry field and I would get to ride the Forest Service roads in the area. For me it was the ultimate in summer recreation. I was all of 12 years old at the time.

Sometime in the late 1970's I road a CB450 Honda to the west side of Mt. St. Helens. I was near Harry Truman's cabin watching climbers head up the slope to have their fun. I picked up a piece of pumice about 2 inches in diameter and through it into Spirit Lake. To may amazement the rock floated. Wow man, look at that rock float I exclaimed, as we picked up more rocks and absent mindedly tossed them into the lake.

Those are my earliest recollections of Mt. St. Helens. I didn't often visit Mt. St. Helens for Mt. Rainier aka The Mountain, a National Park, is a lot closer to Seattle and a lot bigger too. Washingtonian's treated Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams like some lousy unloved bastard child for we had The Mountain. Anyplace else in the USA Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams would be National Parks. And so it goes.....

All that changed on 8:30am on May 30, 1980 when Mt. St. Helens exploded loosing 1300 feet of mountain in a matter of seconds. At the time I was sitting in my apartment, reading the newspaper and listening to the radio. Little did I know how good this was going to get!

Having a genuine killer volcano in your geological backyard brings in a lot of tourist. No longer is Mt. St. Helens treated like a spare change mountain.

In 1985 or so I was riding a 1983 Honda Silverwing a most miserable bike, while my buddy Rick was riding a 1976 or 1978 Goldwing. For some reason we decided to head down to Randle, Washington and ride south along the east side of Mt. St. Helens. Along Forest Service Road 99 at Bear Meadow, near the edge of the blow down area, the road went from paved to unpaved. We continued anyway and reached the Windy Ridge visitor center. I will never forget the landscape. I was more like moonscape as everything was gray and the blow down area was nothing short of remarkable. Today vegetation is growing and it is quite different from 1985.

Today everybody flocks to St. Helens. Forest Service road (FS) 25 runs from Randle to just north of the Swift Reservoir. Here is a map. Forest Service 99 is about 25 miles south of Randle and runs west to Windy Ridge. These are great motorcycle roads, less the first 25 miles south of Randle where you will be begging for a dual sport motorcycle with long travel suspension. These road are open from the middle of July through the first snows typically October. One year FS 99 was closed all year due washouts - this happens because the road bed is pumice. Bikers were jonesin' that year. Check out the Forest Service web site before you go.

Last week I had new suspension installed on my FJR by KFG Racing. A new Penske shock grace the backend while GP Suspension fork parts featuring new springs and valves in the front end. What better way to try it out than along FS 25 on the way to Windy Ridge? The inspiration was set and my buddy Curtis joined me for this ride. We met at 6:00am in Enumclaw at Starbucks for coffee and a non-heart happy treat.

We leave Starbucks at 6:45 and this was our route to Windy Ridge.

I did not get far before my first photo stop. All along I was thinking of my first ride to Windy Ridge with my buddy in 1985 and what do I see but this.....

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A 197x Goldwing just like my buddy's bike when we road to Mt. St. Helens in 1985.

Curtis is in the background on his Vstrom.

Our route takes us over Cayuse Pass at 4500 foot pass in the Cascades where it was 48 degrees with snow still on the ground. It was overcast the pavement a bit damp. Meanwhile the rest of the nation is suffering from tipple digit heat. I regret not taking photos of the snow.

Hwy 123 just east of Cayuse Pass at about 8:00am

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Approaching the tunnel along Hwy 123

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We join Hwy 12 and head west to Randle the clouds with us the whole time. No rain though and I was happy to have the clouds as my companion for bright sunlight creates a high contrast lighting riding through the canopy trees on the ribbon of potholed asphalt that is FS25 outside of Randle.

The FJR's new suspension from KFG Racing was performing flawlessly. It absorbed the potholes I missed and I was no longer begging for a long suspension travel dual sport machine. Yes!

The pavement is very good after leaving FS25 from FS99 to Windy Ridge, especially in westbound direction. Watch out for gravel in the blow down area though.

FS99 on the way to Bear Meadow is some of the best twisties in the State.

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FS99 on the way to Bear Meadow

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FS99 on the way to Bear Meadow - camera in one handle throttle in the other.

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FS99 on the way to Bear Meadow - the pavement is excellent.

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FS99 on the way to Bear Meadow after this we enter the blow down area where the trees were blown down by the force of the eruption in May of 1980.

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See no old trees and this makes for terrific site lines - come get it now before the new growth spoils the site lines.

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Near the Donneybrook pullout

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At the Donnybrook pullout you get a view of Spirit Lake

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Spirit Lake

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Spirit Lake

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On a clear day you can see Mt. Adams. It was not clear today so I pulled this one from my archives. Notice the car in the trees lower left side.

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This photo shot in 2006 is the background image on my GPS. Notice the excellent site lines and the sapplings along side of the road? Soon the site lines will be a thing of the past. Get it now while you can.

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Mt St. Helens along FS99

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As I road along the road today my mind wandered. Why are they called Forest Service roads? Do the forests need servicing?

We left Windy Ridge viewpoint at about 10:00am or so. We beat the crowds! Yes. Here is the second leg of our route. Destination Woodland Wa for gas and lunch.

We rejoin Hwy 99 and head south. Thankfully the road is in much better shape than the section south of Randle. The road is very twisty, except where it follows the Clearwater Ridge, going straight for a while then all of the sudden, wake up, for starts some extreme twisties again.

I learned this the hard way in 2001 and here is where I high sided my 1987 R100RT.

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Foxgloves along side the road make for a pretty site.

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A canopy of trees along FS 99 near Cougar Washington

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FS 99 joins FS 90 at Swift Reservoir hugging two reservoirs along some excellent pavement all the way to Woodland. We stopped at the Lewis River Golf Course for a tasty lunch.

Along the way we get stuck behind some slow cars and I manage to throttle my assertive self and avoid passing the cars. Damn that is hard given the howling turbine nature of the FJRs engine.

We manage to avoid most of I-5 and here is the 3rd and final leg of our route.

We go along Telegraph Road to Drew's Prairie Rd crossing under I-5 in an obscure manner. Continuing to Jackson Hwy, Tucker Rd and on to Hwy 508 to Elbe where the train was

.
Engine at the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railway

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The End.

 
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Never even heard of Mt St Helens untill she blew (or maybe though of her at any rate) as a life time WestSeattlelite till shotly before she blew. But did lots of exploring right after she blew her stack, had to go down to Castle Rock to see the damage to the TT track that they held the National at each year that I faithfully attened. FSR 25 was smooth and fun when they first opened it, lots of fun ride.

Lots has changed, but I'll never forget driving in with my family soon after they opened the old route in to Sprite lake, the devastation was surreal!

I don't get down there every year but do try at least every couple!

Thanks for the report F/M.

 
Great ride report. I sorely regretted not being able to ride NF-99 beginning of July as it was still closed at that time. Your ride report only makes me want to ride it even more so! Hopefully next year on the way to Packwood once again [Hint Hint Tobie and Lisa, how about a later date for the RTE next year?].

 
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A 197x Goldwing just like my buddy's bike when we road to Mt. St. Helens in 1985.

Curtis is in the background on his Vstrom.
Because of the rectangular rear turn signals and the round mirrors, I'd say this is a 1979 GL 1000.

Thanks for sharing your ride Jim. Enjoyed it! I too road a CB450 back in the early 70's. My wife and I went to every corner of the state and most places in-between on that machine, rain or shine. I just shake my head at the thought today. :rolleyes:

Keep Going!

 
Great ride report Jim. Hopefully I'll be able to fit this in my ride plans before the snow arrives again... :)

Thanks for taking us along!

--G

 
Thanks for the report. Now youv'e gone and put another ride on my "to do list". When does it usually open?

 
All roads are usually open on July 15 each year. It is open now. Enjoy.

 
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And Spirit Lake still has many logs from the blast? Incredible!

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Great report. Moving up to top of to-do ride list.

 
That looks spectacular - thanks for posting the pics. Forest service roads in North Carolina are gravel and since they wind their way through mostly dense forest not much in the way of views either (once you get past the initial woodsiness). I guess they really are for servicing the forest, whatever that means, and something for adventure riders to do.

 
Jealous of that beautiful riding. But that's ok, come January I'll make you jealous of my riding. For now though, the win goes to you! :D

 
And Spirit Lake still has many logs from the blast? Incredible!

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Great report. Moving up to top of to-do ride list.
Yeah all the logs are still in the Spirit Lake and have been there since May 1980. They move back and forth as the wind blows. Sometimes they are south and other times north. Being a spoilt brat from living here all my life I take most of this stuff for granted, until I leave and go to some place bleak and return home.

It is really a very incredible place to ride. Makes me wish another one of these volcanos would go off. In a few years new roads! Whoo hoo!

 
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Jealous of that beautiful riding. But that's ok, come January I'll make you jealous of my riding. For now though, the win goes to you! :D
I was in Hill Country last December, Llano actually. Lots of deer down there. Relatives said I should ride in Hill Country. My response was with all the deer out here you must not like me or want me dead.

 
Jealous of that beautiful riding. But that's ok, come January I'll make you jealous of my riding. For now though, the win goes to you! :D
I was in Hill Country last December, Llano actually. Lots of deer down there. Relatives said I should ride in Hill Country. My response was with all the deer out here you must not like me or want me dead.
I'm in Dallas. 3 hrs to Hill Country or 3 hours to Arkansas. Hrm....

 
That looks beautiful! Thanks for showing me what I missed last month on the way back from NAFO... I'd like to get back up that way and do some more exploring, including what you have posted here! B)

 
That looks beautiful! Thanks for showing me what I missed last month on the way back from NAFO... I'd like to get back up that way and do some more exploring, including what you have posted here! B)

I can resist. I will show you mine if you show me yours!

Hey Tyler your photos are great. I am green with envy. How to you get the depth of field set so the fore ground is in focus and the background is out of focus. I love that stuff.

 
Good stuff for sure. I had the privilege of riding FS 25 & part of 99 in 2008. I was bummed that it opened too late this year to show the Mrs. how great of a ride it is. However, it is a good excuse to come back and explore the area more. Thanks for posting some personal history on the area which makes it more fun to ride knowing what to look for when up there exploring. Keep up the good work!

 
Mt Ranier is the single most amazin thing I have seen so far. You are lucky to be in a beautiful section of the country. We did go to Mt St Helens. It looks like a broken molar sitting there by itself. We were on the observatory side and did not have time to see the east side. The video at the observatory is quite good (both of them) and the stories are simply amazin.

Thanks for the great RR

Willie

 
Hey Tyler your photos are great. I am green with envy. How to you get the depth of field set so the fore ground is in focus and the background is out of focus. I love that stuff.
When focusing on a close up image with the Nikon, I press the shutter button half way so that it fixes/grabs on the closer item (flower, etc.) and keeps that in focus with the background blurs slightly... I don't know if I explained that right but there it is!! :D

 
Hey Tyler your photos are great. I am green with envy. How to you get the depth of field set so the fore ground is in focus and the background is out of focus. I love that stuff.
When focusing on a close up image with the Nikon, I press the shutter button half way so that it fixes/grabs on the closer item (flower, etc.) and keeps that in focus with the background blurs slightly... I don't know if I explained that right but there it is!! :D
Aperture wide open (low F-stop) will do that for you. Blurs the background and keeps the foreground in sharp focus. If you want the background and foreground to remain in focus. Use a high F-stop.

 
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