Crank Sisters-Ride the Regions-is Going to St Helens International Festival of Trails 2023!
From 08/19/2023
To 08/20/2023
To 08/20/2023
Rides
Katherine Meyer
20
Cascades to Sound, Southwest
Crank Sisters-Ride the Regions-is Going to St Helens International Festival of Trails 2023! (Southwest Region)
Crank Sisters will join the fun at St Helens International Festival of Trails. I haven't done this free event before, but here's what they emailed me after I signed up in Eventbright:
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Email info from St Helens International Festival of Trails:
We're really stoked about our event this year!
Folks will begin to arrive at Base Camp (Marble Mountain Sno Park) starting Thursday, August 17th in the evening. Please remember this is dispersed camping & please pack out what you pack in. There is no garbage service or water on-site. There will be two portapotties (please bring TP).
Saturday's work party details:
Smith Creek Work Crew (you will receive a separate email with additional details if you are on this crew) will leave Marble Mountain no later than 8:30 am. Please be prepared.
All remaining crews will meet for a Safety Briefing at 9:00 am.
PLEASE BRING LOPPERS, HANDSAWS, AND GLOVES.
BBQ for all volunteers will be served at 3 pm. If you are staying with us for the weekend, please come prepared with everything you need to have fun on the mountain.
Finally, we wanted to share with you some group ride opportunities that will happen over the weekend. If you'd like to attend a ride, please email Paul () and let him know which ride you're interested in. He can answer any questions you might have about the rides. All of the rides are no-drop rides. Helmets are required as bikes must be in good working order. You should have the tools and supplies you need to fix mechanicals and flat tires and bring sufficient food for the ride.
This is Mt. St Helens, so all of the rides will have terrific views, amazing forests, and some challenging terrain. Some rides depart from Marble Mountain SnoPark. Others will require riders to drive or carpool to a different trailhead. In those instances, a link to the trailhead is also provided. A NW Forest Pass is required at all MSH trailheads. Departure times listed are from Marble Mountain (either as a carpool or on the bikes directly).
Friday
- Marble Mountain to Ape Canyon
- Difficulty: Beginner,
- chill pace, <4 hrs
- 15 miles, 1,400 ft of climbing
- Leader: Lizzy Fitch
- Departs: 10am; Ride from Marble Mountain SnoPark
- Trailforks: Rideplan: Marble Mtn to Ape Canyon
- Difficulty: Beginner,
- Ape Canyon to Lunch Log
- Difficulty: Intermediate, 6 hours
- chill pace
- 17 miles, 4,000 ft of climbing
- Leader: Andy Crump
- Departs: 10am , Drive/carpool from Marble Mountain SnoPark to Ape Canyon Trailhead
- Ride Departs: Ape Canyon Trailhead
- Trailforks: Ape Canyon to Plains of Abraham
- Difficulty: Intermediate, 6 hours
- Butte Camp Out-n-Back (Winch-n-Plunge)
- Difficulty: Intermediate+, 2.5 hours
- Easy climbing pace but expect some hike-a-bike and a very fast, technical descent
- 7 miles, 1,800 ft of climbing
- Leader: Paul Hobson
- Group Departs: 5:30pm: Drive/carpool from Marble Mountain SnoPark to Red Rock Pass Trailhead
- Ride Departs: Red Rock Pass Trailhead
- Trailforks: Rideplan: Butte Camp - Winch and Plunge
- Notes:
- This is a stewardship ride. Paul will bring some handsaws to cut out a few small logs that have been reported on the trail. Once they're clear, we'll let 'er rip on the descent.
- Bring a small dinner or snack to eat at the top. There are great views from the intersection of the Loowit Trail and Butte Camp Trail
- Difficulty: Intermediate+, 2.5 hours
Saturday
- Samsquanch Lollipop
- Difficulty: Beginner, 1.5 hours
- Easy pace
- 10 miles, 800 ft climbing
- Leader: Paul Hobson
- Group Departs 10 pm; Ride from Marble Mountain SnoPark
- Trailforks: Rideplan: Samsquanch Lollipop
- Notes:
- Fully charged, "see-by" lights are required. Ideally, you have a handlebar-mounted light and a helmet-mounted light.
- This ride is dependent on participant interest (i.e., it won't occur if there are no RSVPs)
- Difficulty: Beginner, 1.5 hours
Sunday
- The ToutleLoop
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Chill pace
- 7.6 miles, 1,200 ft climbing
- Leader: Nancy Stone
- Group Departs: 10 am; Drive/carpool over to Blue Lake Horse Trailhead
- Ride Start: Horse Trail Parking Area (Blue Lake HORSE trail)
- Trailforks: Toutleloop Mountain Biking Route
- Note: bring a swimsuit to swim in Merrill Lake afterward (WA DNR land, so have your Discover Pass handy)
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- The ToutlePop
- Difficulty: Advanced,
- spirited pace, expect some hike-a-bike, fast technical descents, some exposure
- 17 miles, 4,300 ft of climbing
- Leader: Paul Hobson
- Group Departs: 10:15am; Drive/Carpool over to the Red Rock Pass Trailhead
- Ride Departs: Red Rock Pass Parking Trailhead Parking
- Trailforks: Rideplan: The Toutlepop
- Difficulty: Advanced,
We look forward to seeing you on the mountain!
-NWTA
End of email info from St Helends International Festival of Trails
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Two of us Crank Sisters are carpooling down, leaving Seattle around 1:30 pm on Friday. We'll be camping together at the event & doing the trail maintenance party on Saturday. Most exciting, on Sunday we plan to ride the classic Ape Canyon Trail & Plains of Abraham, out & back! Trailforks logs this one at 16.5 miles, 2,903 feet of elevation & descent. The other Crank Sister is a fast climber and I'm less so. She did this ride last summer & is back for more & I've had this one on my list for a while so I'm psyched to be finally doing it! We'll plan to get an early start to the ride Sunday to beat the heat. Finally, Sunday after the ride we'll head back up to Seattle.
Feel free to message me with questions, and/or to possibly caravan: Katherine Meyer (2 oh 6) 849-7699 or ktmeyer4(at)gmail.com
If interested, please check the box below to attend & also sign up on their Eventbright link to this free event to to join Crank Sisters for St Helens Intermational Festival of Trails 2023: St. Helens International Festival of Trails aka..SHIFT Tickets, Fri, Aug 18, 2023 at 9:00 AM | Eventbrite
Crank Sisters-Ride the Regions 2023
Evergreen has 8 chapter regions in WA. Crank Sisters, based in our local Cascade to Sound chapter, is going to try to ride in every region in 2023.
Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance Chapter Regions
- Cascade to Sound (Greater Seattle, including King, Snohomish & Pierce Counties)
- Central (Greater Wenatchee Valley, from Leavenworth to Chelan)-->Scheduled for August 25, 2023
- Cowlitz-Naches (SW WA Cascades, including Gifford Pinchot & Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests)-->Scheduled for Naches Fest, September 22-24, 2023
- East (Eastern WA, including Spokane)-->DONE! Kettle Fest, July 21-23
- Kittitas (Kittitas Valley, including Cle Elum)-->DONE! Roslyn, August 5, 2023
- Methow (Methow Valley, including Winthrop)-->DONE! Winthrop, July 14-16, 2023
- Southwest (SW WA, including Battleground & Camas)-->Scheduled for St Helens International Festival of Trails, August 18-20, 2023
- West Sound (West of Puget Sound, including Bremerton & Port Gamble)-->DONE! Evergreen MTB Festival in Port Gamble, June 9-11, 2023
Some rides may be one-day, and others may involve a weekend camping & exploring as we navigate our way around using Trailforks. We’ll try to join our fellow chapters’ long-standing annual events (like the Evergreen Mountain Bike Festival in Port Gamble in June, Kettle Fest in North Central WA in July & Naches Fest in South Central WA in Sept). We’ll also try to connect with local riders who may want to share some of their best-kept secret trails.
So, keep your eyes on the Evergreen Calendar to sign up as Crank Sisters Ride the Regions!