Mt. St. Helens West Side

It's Father's Day. It's a Sunday. It's just a good day to be on a bike. Whichever apply/applies to you and gets you out the door and on the bike for an epic day is the all reason you need. In this ride, we will tackle the western approach up Mt. St. Helens to the Johnston Ridge Observatory. With any luck, we'll all be home for dinner.

Today's route will be an out-and-back from South County Park near Toledo, WA to Johnston Ridge Observatory via Spirit Lake Highway (aka WA-504). Although the incline of the road is not extreme, the duration of the climb to the three peaks of this route will demand your attention. This is a difficult ride: expect to be climbing 6% inclines for several hours, with three distinct summits to and from the Observatory. This is a potentially dangerous ride: in addition to long climbs, there will also be fast descents, with your speeds easily visiting 40+ MPH. This will be a potentially HOT ride: it's mid-June and heat could reach the mid-80s and we will face the sun on the way back to the start. All that aside, getting enough calories and water will be a challenge on this ride, so please plan accordingly:

• Water break at Coldwater Lake Picnic and Boating Site
• Water and snack break at Johnston Ridge Observatory
• Tentative water break at Mt. St. Helens Learning Center
• Tentative meal stop at Fire Mountain Grill

As the usual disclaimer goes, if you want to ride ahead of the pace or otherwise outside of the group, you will be riding on your own! But I highly recommend riding with the group; the pace up the mountain should allow us to converse in short snippets. We’ll make an effort to regroup at the tops of the three primary peaks and at the bottom of the descents into Coldwater Lake Picnic and Boating Site. Please keep in mind that with the heat and limited food/water, time is of the essence.

The final route and food/water itinerary will be posted the Wednesday before we ride! Please email me with any questions, suggestions, or concerns.