Pacific Northwest Backroad Adventures

VANCOUVER, WA - Join us this fall for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest’s tenth Annual Pick Up the Pinchot (P.U.P.) clean-up events.

There are three P.U.P. events scheduled for Saturday, September 27. These events are part of National Public Lands Day events scheduled across the country in late September.

“On National Public Lands Day, we all have a chance to contribute to the well being of our public lands for this and future generations of Americans,” said Al Matecko, Acting Forest Supervisor. “Last year, more than 150 people participated in PUP events, and worked on projects to remove trash and help restore the East Fork of the Lewis River. We hope that people will continue to join us and volunteers around southwest Washington this year.” (more…)

BLUERIBBON COALITION ACTION ALERT!

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wants the public to contribute ideas that will help establish priorities for recreation on land managed by the agency. Throughout the month of September 2008, the DNR will hold a series of nine workshops across the state to gather input from individuals and user groups to help create a new vision for recreation on DNR-managed forestlands, aquatic lands and natural areas. (more…)

Join us in Naches, Washington to explore Forest Service, Department of Wildlife and DNR roads on and around Clemen Mountain. Clemen is actually a 4000′ high ridge that separates the Naches and Wenas Valleys and most of it lies within the Wenatchee National Forest and the Oak Creek Wildlife Area. It is not unusual to spot elk and big horn sheep on Clemen and sometimes in one particular area the deer are so plentiful it is almost impossible to keep count of your sightings.

Read more at Clemen Mountain Tour.

Help us celebrate our 10th Anniversary of exploring Northwest backroads and a new outlook for the next ten years. That’s right, Backroad Drivers Northwest is celebrating a decade of announcing, driving and reporting on backroad driving throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho and beyond.

Join us in Everett, Washington and follow in the tire tracks of our very first tour ten years ago including the Mountain Loop Highway. Lunch and an informal celebration will be held in Darrington and our route from there will depend on vehicle capabilities. Most roads will be paved, but there will be a few miles of gravel. High ground clearance will not be necessary so bring what you have.

Details to follow, but mark the date on your calendar NOW!

Read more at Mountain Loop 10th Anniversary (10-25-08).

Over on the forum at OBCDR Trip Report, Decidion posted up a web page with a trip report of a recent 4-day trip through the Oregon Backcountry.

Decidion describes the trip as follows:

“The Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route is a series of gravel and offroad/4×4 trails that leads from the California border all the way up to the Washington border along the eastern edge of the Cascade mountains. It is primarily US Forest Service roads, some of which are maintain, but a lot of them have not seen any cleanup since the last person who ran the route.”

Read the trip report at Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route Trip.

Join us for a day of easy four-wheeling north of Cle Elum, Washington. We plan on exploring the Fortune Creek Mining Area near Salmon la Sac and that includes three “easy” 4×4 trails and possibly a fourth rated as “more difficult”.

First will be the Fortune Creek Trail, 4W301 (rated easy). This trail offers beautiful scenery and along the route we may spot remnants of rusting mining machinery. The highlight of the Fortune Creek Trail is Gallaher Head Lake where there is a small primitive campground that would be a great place to camp if you so desire.

Read more at Gallagher Head Lake 4×4 Run (09-13-08).

No. 08-103
May 29, 2008
Contact: Princess Jackson-Smith, 360-902-1066

Public Hearings Will Be Held Around The State In June

OLYMPIA - The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is in the process of revising Chapter 332-52 of the Washington Administrative Code, pertaining to recreation on DNR-managed lands. The rules provide basic standards for public safety and natural resource protection when accessing and recreating on these lands.

The department invites the public to participate by reviewing the draft rule language and attending one of the public hearings to be held in June in the following locations: Mount Vernon, Port Angeles, Hoquiam, Issaquah, Vancouver, Ellensburg, Olympia, and Okanogan.

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Generally, I don’t like to travel on holiday weekends, especially when it involves going to Eastern Washington. However a day trip on a Sunday isn’t bad - no Monday stop and go traffic over Snoqualmie Pass to contend with.

On Sunday, my son Steven, our dog and myself headed out around 6:00 a.m. over Snoqualmie Pass to Eastern Washington on a photographic tour. After a stop in Ellensburg for gas, coffee and food (plus a few stops on the way for the dog), we headed east on I-90 to Vantage, across the Columbia River and south on SR 243 towards Beverly to head up Lower Crab Creek.
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Who would have thought that a Friday trip to the Whiskey Dick Road Management Area near Ellensburg, Washington would bring out more participants than most weekend trips.

Well Jerry (aka SoggyMountain) picked a wonderful day for a Backroad Drivers Northwest tour of the Whiskey Dick. Hands down, this was the warmest day of 2008 to date.

The meeting place that morning was the Bar 14 restaurant in Ellensburg. In attendance for the days trip was of course Jerry from Yakima driving his full size Jeep SJ Wagoneer; (and if I get the names wrong, please forgive and let me know to correct them) Phil and his son Travis from Newcastle, driving the white Ford Explorer; Paul from Tacoma driving the other Ford Explorer; Jim (stucky) driving the white Chevy Pickup (I forgot to ask where Jim was from); Trish and Tammy from Bothel driving a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon; John and Cindy from Monroe driving a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon; Sid from Renton driving his Jeep Wrangler, Peter and Don (I forgot to ask where they were from or if I did, I didn’t write it down) driving the Sportsmobile van; myself in my 80-series Toyota Land Cruiser; and Bill from Ellensburg who joined us for breakfast but had to supervise a fencing property today so he couldn’t join us.

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The photos I shot during the Backroad Drivers Northwest trip to the Whiskey Dick Road Management Area are now posted for your viewing. You can view them at Exploring the Whiskey Dick

Enjoy.