2019_08_23 Skate Creek Loop (aka RATROD) with David Crawford and Dave Wilcoxson

Author:  Mike Hassur

The genesis of this particular ride was interesting.  I’m on Strava like most of the rest of our group, and some time ago I noticed that a fellow named Dave Wilcoxson was following me.  I didn’t know Dave, but it’s not that unusual on Strava for people to be following people that they have never met.  The thing that made this interesting to me was that Dave lived in Indiana.  I figured that, if Dave was interested enough to follow me, then I would follow him so that I could find out more about him.  What I found out was that he rides with a big group of riders in Indiana and that he is fast.  My curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to message Dave on Strava to find out how in the world he decided to follow me.  The answer was that he and his wife had visited Seattle, he had somehow found the Puyallup Cyclopaths’ rides and was intrigued and from there he managed to find my name and follow me on Strava.  I responded that, if they ever were back in our area, I would be glad to take him for a ride on Mt. Rainier.  It didn’t take long.  Kathy and I were having a beer at Narrows Brewing when I received a text from Dave that he and his wife would be in our area in August.  I texted him back and, then, called him.  We decided to do the Skate Creek Loop Route on August 23^rd (which was a Friday).

Once I knew that we would be doing this ride, I sent out an email to the other Puyallup Cyclopaths to see if anyone else was available on that date.  Not surprisingly, most people were working and couldn’t join us.   The night before the ride I received an email from David Crawford.  He had the day off from work and was planning on joining us.  I always enjoy it when David joins us for a ride.  He is a good guy and a fun person with whom to ride.  Here was my problem… we now had three riders (one of whom (David C) was definitely much faster than me and the other who was probably going to be difficult to keep up with)…  still, I was psyched.

We met at our usual Skate Creek Loop meeting place.  Since there are now “No Parking” signs in that location, we ventured a mile or two down the road toward the Nisqually Entrance to Mt. Rainier to find a nice turnout that would accommodate our three vehicles.  From there, we proceeded to the park entrance.

The ride from the park entrance up past Longmire and Narada Falls and, finally, up to Paradise was beautiful (the weather was good with temperatures in the mid-50's and partly cloudy skies).  Since Dave W. had never ridden on Mt. Rainier it was fun pointing out various things of interest as we ascended (e.g. the value of my national park "senior pass" as we passed through the park entrance, Longmire and some of its history as a hot springs destination, Christine Falls, the Nisqually River Bridge, Ricksecker Point Loop, Narada Falls and Stevens Canyon Road running above, and the views of Mt. Rainier as we approached Paradise)...

David C and Dave W and Mt. Rainier...

Dave W and David C at Paradise...

We flew back down the road from Paradise to the turnoff to Inspiration Point and Reflection Lake.

Mt. Rainier as seen from Reflection Lake...

After stopping, briefly, at Reflection Lake for a quick photo; we headed down the east side of the mountain through Stevens Canyon.  Instead of a video, I accidentally had my GoPro taking approximately one photo per second all the way through Stevens Canyon, so I ended up with 1,000 photos of this portion of the ride rather than video.  Here are a few of those photos:

Approaching the hairpin curve just above Stevens Canyon...

The view after rounding the hairpin above Stevens Canyon...

Stevens Canyon just to our right... our road/hairpin can be seen in the distance on the right hand side of the picture...

Tunnel ahead...

Love this rock face on our left...

After the Stevens Canyon descent was the three mile climb over Backbone Ridge, the descent of the east side of Backbone Ridge and passing out of the park by the east side Ranger Station...

David C. and Dave W. passing the Ranger Station on the east side of Mt. Rainier...

From there, we proceeded south past Ohanapecosh for a few miles until we reached Hwy 12 which would take us to Packwood.  We were going fast (~30 mph) toward Packwood when David C. hit a rock which flatted both his front and rear tires (thankfully, he didn't crash).  After getting David's flat tires fixed, we discovered that he had some sort of problem with his chain/rear derailleur not meshing smoothly.  We stopped a few times to try to rectify the problem with no success.  Finally, it was determined that Dave W. and I would would finish the ride through Packwood and back to the vehicles (~30 miles) and that I would return with my van to pick up David.  

The remainder of the trip to Packwood was uneventful which left us with that last 25 miles or so on Skate Creek Road (including a 12 mile climb) to get back to the vehicles.  Unfortunately, Dave W. had a flat heading up Skate Creek Road!!  We got that one fixed (with one tube and two CO2 cartridges left between the two of us) and made our way back to the vehicles.  Happily, David C. had gotten his chain problem fixed and arrived just a few minutes behind us.

This ride is always one of my favorites, and today was no exception (in spite of a few "misadventures").

VIDEO: SKATE CREEK LOOP WITH DAVID CRAWFORD AND DAVE WILCOXSON