Triangle Pass and WA BDR scouting

Overview

Chris and Olivier put a couple of dirt bikes in the Tacoma and went to check out the unpaved roads near Carson WA, especially the beginning of the WA BDR.

Our original plan was to ride the 35 mile Triangle Pass Loop. But then we decided to scout some of the WA BDR Section 1 to see how it began. Then with the cold and a wrong turn, we ened up doing something quite different.

Triangle Pass and WA BDR scouting, Sat Nov 20, 2021


Drive 1 hour, 48 miles, from the Chalet to the end of the initial paved section of the WA BDR.



This is what we did. Including the wrong turns and backtracking, we did about 44 miles in about 2.5 hours.


Truck unloaded and ready to ride


Ride started about 12:15pm

Stunning views



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A brief stretch of pavement on S. Prarie Rd


This is where NF-68 turns paved at S. Prarie Rd


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Cold!

We rode up S. Prarie Rd to NF-1831, then down NF-1831 until we hit pavement again at Oklahoma Rd. We were getting cold and had just passed through a bunch of big puddles (ponds?) so our boots were soaked. We were worried about gas range, so we turned back. On the way back, we turned off S. Prarie Rd too early onto NF-6605 and Chris led a long way before Olivier convinced him to turn around. Then, back down NF-6605, turn back (correctly this time) onto NF-68, then we didn't stop again until we got to the point labeled "Stevenson-Carson" where the Triangle Pass route forks from the WA BDR route.

Fork in the road


This is where the Triangle Pass route forks from the WA BDR route.
We warmed up here for a while before deciding the warm truck sounded like a better goal than completing the Triangle Pass loop on uncertain fuel.

Nice little waterfall


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Back to the truck


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This is where we parked the truck where Bear Creek Rd turns onto NF-6808

Ride finished at 2:50pm, elapsed about 2h35m for 44 miles, average speed ~17.5 mph.

Conclusions

I think this would all be doable on the Ducati Multistrada with some dirt-oriented tires. I'd want to take it a bit easier with a heavier bike with bigger dropping consequences, but the dirt roads would be OK, the GPS mount would be better, I'd have no fuel range anxiety, and I could carry camping gear. But a Yamaha Ténéré 700 would be ideal.

In the end, this is what we did (in red) and how it compares with Triangle Pass (in green) and Section 1 of the WA BDR (in blue).