Devil's Gulch Ride - 09/15/07

Another early Saturday morning, and Mike, myself, and the ‘Nug’, are heading off to our next objective: Devil’s Gulch, outside of Cashmere, WA. Most who ride it claim it is one of the top 5 descents in the State. I was looking forward to it. It was a beautiful, cool morning to ride the 12-miles of forest road to reach the trailhead.

Mike set what I thought was a brisk pace, but I discovered minimal problems pushing slightly taller gears to match it. The ‘Nug’ was keeping up, so far. The first few miles are pretty moderate, climbing slowly. Soon, the road rears up, and the real meat of the approach starts. Conversations ceased as we all bent to the task. After a break, we continued on and reached the trailhead; the ride up took two hours.

Geared up, once again, we took off down the trail. It was pretty dusty, but still sweet. The trail, in the upper section, is smooth and fast with tight flowing turns. It was a lot of fun. Pretty soon, we were at the junction of the Mission Ridge ride. We re-grouped and then headed out again. This second section was still fast, but with tighter switchbacks and sandier edges. After a creek crossing, we took off again. The trail just continued to be fun, flowing, and smooth. Each section seemed to have slightly different characteristics, which kept it interesting.

We had hoped to ride Mission Ridge, as well, but ran out of time. Next time.