From the Sammamish Plateau to the high desert of Yakima and back again

It started out simply enough.

We wanted to take a ride over Chinook Pass to Yakima. Greg was told this was one of the best rides in Washington state. And it was indeed a glorious ride. But it became just a little bigger than either of us expected.

We started out from Sammamish, following the somewhat windy and hilly Issaquah-Hobart road south until it connected with 169 in Black Diamond and then eventually, we reached Enumclaw.

Full route map here: http://goo.gl/maps/vZ4gL (note a funny little side route on I-90 that you DON'T need to take).

From Enumclaw, we jumped on State Highway 410 heading east toward Crystal Mountain and Mount Rainier National Park. Be wary that this road is only open past Crystal Mountain in the summer, so this is NOT a winter ride, ever.

On the way, we stopped in the tiny burg of Greenwater to fuel up, not knowing how many side roads we might encounter or trek down on our way across the pass.

The tavern was closed, but many folks still stopped off to see if it was open. Hmmm, maybe on a later trip, I'll come the other way and stop for a drink.

The road wound its way up ever so slowly until at last, we reached the entrance to the park.

This is where the road would be closed if it were winter. In July, however, it is most definitely open.

From there, the road ascended more quickly, with sharp corners and no guard rails – seriously, it's a long way down from up there. It's a fun area to enjoy some tight turns, but beware of the State Patrol and the dangerous edge.

About half-way up to the summit, the road opened up to reveal a stunning view of Mount Rainier to the right and we had to stop for some photos.

From there, the road gets a little bumpy and the speed limit is lowered to a mere 35 mph. My recommendation, though, is to generally stick to it. The corners are a lot less fun due to the roughness of the roadway. Perhaps the more touring-dual sport bikes will find it less painful, but our sporties were feeling everything.

At the top, the views and scenes are almost surreal. Rainier stands over all, with jagged, rocky peaks in between the pass and it. The road smooths out, and the corners continue to be amazing.

At the absolute peak of the pass, there is a tiny lake that was still surrounded by snow when we passed it. It's a great place to stop for a breather, as many people did that day. We, however, rode by, twisting our throttles and laying deep into the stellar corners.

Once we emerged on the other side, the temperature rose immediately and so did the speed limit – all the way to 50 mph!

The views down the valley are absolutely amazing. The road winds quite rapidly along the edge of the enormous valley and offers tight little turns as well as glorious views.

As we reached the valley floor, it got incredibly hot. One word of advice: mesh. I wore my regular, multi-layer touring jacket, while Greg, all the wiser, wore simply an armored vest. I was soaked in sweat before we even got close to the hottest part of the day and he was mildly comfortable until then. Needless to say, I will be picking up a mesh jacket very soon.

We reached Yakima easy enough, and fueled up before a short lunch meeting with a good friend of mine there. After lunch, we decided to take Canyon Road north to Ellensburg, following the Yakima River in the (you guessed it) Yakima Canyon.

This is a rider's road. Short and long corners, hot, sticky pavement and a little water in the bottom in case you get too hot.

We sweated our way north through the canyon, not missing out on surprisingly long and dangerous passing zones and hard corners with certain death close at hand.

Plenty of people were in the canyon that day, mostly floating down the river on inner tubes. We wanted to get in the water, trust me.

After we made our way out of the canyon, our plan was to get on Interstate 90 and head back that way. However, Sunday traffic was stacked up and stopped, so we decided to take Highway 97 north from Cle Elum (it's actually 907 that then connects with U.S. 97).

This highway takes you over Blewett Pass to Leavenworth where we jumped on Highway 2 and headed over yet another pass (Stevens Pass and yes, that makes three passes in one day) and finally proceeded back to the west side of the mountains.

Now, both 97 and 2 are gloriously fantastic motorcycle roads. Tons of corners, wide-open passing lanes (on Highway 2) and stunning views. There is no shortage of places to stop along the way for photos or to eat or even fuel up. We didn't, however, stop much at all, except for a strange little former mining town called Liberty.

Here, we learned that the area was a prominent mining settlement in the late 1800s but eventually became a near ghost town as people moved on and left it behind.

The trip was a total success and I highly recommend it to all.

Next week, look for a trip to Lake Chelan over Highway 20!