2019_04_20 Carbon River Entrance of Mt. Rainier Ride

Author:  Mike Hassur

We ended up having eleven guys on this ride:  Dwaine Trummert, Mike Richards (1st time), Gary Hoff (1st time), Kyle Dirks, Scott Wagar, John Winter, Adam Abrams, Leon Matz, Martin Katzberg, Lannie Moore and Mike Hassur.

The plan was to be on our bikes leaving Orting at 7:30 AM.

We ended up leaving the parking lot in Orting at 7:40 AM...

From Orting, we headed to South Prairie on the Foothlls Trail and, then, on to Wilkeson via Tubbs Road.

Wilkeson City Hall...

Stopping in Wilkeson for quick bathroom break, food, and fluid...

After our brief stop in Wilkeson, it was on past Carbonado heading toward the Fairfax Bridge (one of my favorite sections of road - winding, tree lined, mountains on the left and deep Carbon River Valley on the right):

We made our way past the Fairfax Bridge (250' above the Carbon River below, will be 100 years old in 2021) and on to the Carbon River Entrance to Mt. Rainier:

Traditional group photo on the Carbon River Bridge...

 On the way back, we opted to detour through the Lower Burnett Road Valley.  Some of our group had not seen it before:

Small waterfall near the south end of the valley...

The road into the valley is narrow, winding, and steep...

At the bottom of the steep descent into the valley is a right hand turn onto a small bridge - be careful...

After exiting the valley, it was on to South Prairie.  Somehow, most of us ended up back on the Foothills Trail leaving South Prairie; and Leon ended up taking the highway:

The Foothills Trail follows the Carbon River as you head back toward Orting:

Back in Orting and finished (I was a little late with the photos here, so some of the guys had already departed)... great to be riding together again...!!

Can't wait for our next ride...!!