Trail riding notes: We didn't immediately start on the JWPT, because we began our ride in Duvall and thus began on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail. Duvall is technically the beginning of the Milwaukee railbed trail and leads directly into the JWPT. The SVT is an "easy" ride with a lovely gravel bed and gentle elevation gain that begins around the town of Carnation. The scenery is lush trees, vegetation, wild flowers, rivers/streams, and only a couple of road crossings that are fairly easy. After you cross the Tokul Trestle, the trail ends approximately one mile later when you reach the Tokul tunnel. Climb the steep stairs or steep trail up onto Tokul road; follow the road to the round-about where you can either ride into Snoqualmie or you can continue around the round-about onto Mill Pond Road. Directions for riding through Snoqualmie: continue off the round-about and cross the Snoqualmie River, there is a small bike trail that runs along the right side of the road to the old Snoqualmie train depot where there is a HUGE old growth stump. At this point you need to move to riding on the road for a short distance, turn left on SE River Street, road makes a natural curve to the right and becomes Park Ave SE; follow until you see the Mount Si Golf Course on the left; turn left into the driveway to the golf course and then turn right onto the JWPT. Directions for riding Mill Pond Road: proceed around the round-about and take Mill Pond Road; when you reach the stop sign, turn left onto SE Reinig Road; you will see the trestle on the right side of the road. Proceed up the stairs and onto the trestle to continue on the trail. When the trail reaches Rattlesnake Lake, stay on the trail as it narrows and curves around to the left of the road. You will reach several picnic tables that are perfect for a lunching spot and there are pit toilets to use. Proceed past the picnic tables and follow the clearly marked signs through the narrow, short, winding trail that will lead you up and around to Iron Horse State Park and the JWPT. Turn left onto the JWPT and begin your climbing! The trail gains approximately 1,800 feet of elevation as it climbs to the Hyak tunnel over the next 21 miles. There are several primitive camping spots along the way with pit toilets, water access and dry camp sites. A couple of waterfalls lend themselves to water filtering and refilling water.
Here's the entry...
Super late start as we figured out gear and worked through issues. Excruciating ride! Towards the end there was no break from the grade. So many plants and filled my journal with several. Gorged ourselves on thimble berries and salmon berries. Running low on water when we found a beautiful waterfall to refill from and a short ways up the trail found a flattish spot to setup camp off the side of the trail. Unsure of exact location, ~9 miles from Hyak. Smells of berries ripening in the sun, Hemlock and Douglas Fir pitch.
Wildlife sightings: 7 garter snakes, 2 Douglas squirrels - one with its mouth stuffed with vegetation
Memorable moments:
- Sandy fell, no injury - she earned the trail name of Princess Buttercup as she fell into a patch of buttercups!
- My mom's front bag kept falling off
- Sandy's side bag came loose and had to be retightened
- Stopped to take lots of pictures, pick flowers/plants and eat berries
Vital stats:
33 trestle/bridge crossings
1 tunnel
43.91 miles
ATM (actual time moving) = 6:03:20
MXS (max speed) = 19.3 mph
AVS (average speed) = 7.2 mph
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