Ben

Tour (was) de Blast

This year we decided to do “Tour de Blast”, the annual ride to see Mt. St. Helens. It’s put on by the Longview Rotary and they do a great job supporting this ride. Unfortunately it was only to Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center this year but it was a rare visit, as most people don’t stop there, continuing on to Johnston Ridge.

Here’s the usual comparison to the Tourmalet day we will have in July. Not as high, but longer. The ride is much longer and continues “off the profile” here.

Serene, my niece, came along with us and she was a trooper. She hadn’t ridden a whole lot before that and a 10 miler was giving her hand numbness, but she bravely went along. It was a press but she made it to Hoffstadt Creek at 1500′ and 39 miles. She came back down the road in the rain but she was still smiling at the bottom. Chapeau!

There were a lot of signs of history along the way. Abandoned Shell stations, Trucks with trees and chain saw carvings.

Then I saw this guy, and I thought “Cryptids unite!” I had to get a picture with this awesome fellow. He was cheerfully greeting cyclists as they passed. A lot of people think the “flyover” towns along the STP are full of hateful bigots, but it’s not the whole story.

This guy’s name is Cary, and he was friendly and happened to be from the town I went to high school, Cathlamet. He loves and cares for the elk herd by his camp, carves silly things and frankly didn’t need the mask to be squatchy.

Hoffstadt Creek Bridge

Everything about this stop was amazing. The bridge was amazing, the food was amazing…they had baked potatoes and hot coffee. The people were amazing.

Notice the tiny specks of riders. This is where the road really turned up, and the weather turnt up! It got sunny!

One mile, you have the mist and mystery of being in clouds.

The next mile, you have glorious sun and the clouds are but dressing.

There were some great rock formations. Not sure if this was “Elk Rock” on the left, but it was pretty and loved the juxtoposition of the liner cement. The blobs below were also fun.

Speaking of Elk Rock, they not only had hot dogs…appropriate really, but also more garlic potatoes, bacon, egg rolls and HALIBUT. In true SW Washington fashion, they had halibut. These people were super nice and gave me a warm dog right off the grill.

My photo mojo was off that day and the pics do not do it justice, but the valley was spectacular.

I planted a sticker by the Coldwater Visitor Center but a respectful distance from park property. Road signs are fair game.

This is Coldwater Lake, formed when the mudflow from the eruption dammed Coldwater Creek. The sediment delta is covered in green above the lake and beyond you can see the still exposed flow that came from the mountain.

The peaks behind the creek, one of which is “Minnie Peak”, like my sister’s name.

On the way back I planted another sticker at the Forest Learning Center. If you can learn about the forest, you can learn about kids needing help.

“Riverdale Raceway”, the motocross track on the way up, was full of racers getting air. All in all a great ride and I hope to ride to the crater next time!

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