Our fourth annual summer road trip! This year we were stoked to return to the PNW to check out some of the mountain bike hotspots we missed during our pervious trips; places like: Raging RIver, Cle Elum, Darrington, Oakridge, and Alsea Falls.

Several became instant classics in our books! Raging River and Darrington are unreal and will only get better as trails are being developed as we speak. Darrington defines loam! Put them both on your list for sure! Then Oakridge! oh man lived up to its reputation! The whole package for sure, several zones with many route options, some awesome swimming holes for your apres ride soak! The boys had several days in swimming holes, some included perfect spots for cliff jumping!

Non biking highlights included exploring the sea stacks, beaches and coves down the Washington and Oregon coasts. Becoming tradition now is visiting our good friends Dane and Kat and their beautiful Island Farm-Stay: Plum Nelli. So grateful to them for our mid-trip refresh. Oh then all the oysters, ciders and backyard campfire conversations, so good!

Kristin and I by the end of the trip biked close to 450 miles of world class singletrack, totaling over 120,000’ of vertical descent for the trip! It seemed like every ride we did was the best ever. Then ending the trip with Alsea Falls, legitimately one of the best flow systems I have ever been on. So good we decided to stay an extra day and ride it some more!!!

The boys were rock stars on this trip! Its fun watching their interests change each year on these trips. Each year they are willing to go that much further, opening up some many adventure options….Still working on the MTB with them…..one of these days family MTB rides!!

Running from approaching high tide - Rialto Beach - WA

Cliff Jumping - Willamette River, Westfir, OR

Cape Kiwanda Blow Holes - Pacific City, OR

Barn Yet’s - Plum Nelli, Marrowstone Island, WA

Abandoned McBee Park made for awesome camping!!

Dinner served - Pacific Crest Trail, Snoqualmie Pass, WA

Critter Hunting - Kinney Point, Marrowstone Island, WA

Alpacas love to play with water - Declan, Liam and Dane

Banana Slug Wrangler - Tiger Mountain, WA

The Days Catch - Oysters w/ Dane and Kat @ Plum Nelli

Late night view from vanski camp - Darrington, WA

Loam Heaven - Hoot Owl Trail, Darrington, WA

This one going on the wall - Rialto Beach, WA

Cheering Section - Skyline trail, Darrington, WA

Water Gun - Whatcom Falls, Bellingham, WA

Interactive Maps of the Ridelogs from our Favorite Rides:

Route highlighted in yellow
Click on ride title to open Trailforks App for further details
- including options to save the route to your phone to help navigate

-Landscapesuntitled-July 06, 201862345.jpg — **Big Boy**

Shenanigans

Our second annual summer road trip. Again we found our self in the pacific northwest...way cooler summer temps then at home, and destination mountain bike trail systems. This year we decided to check out the bike scene around Jackson and the Tetons, followed by Helena, MT.. Next we traveled west to the Bellingham area, that we had heard so much about. It did not disappoint, Mt Galbraith was insane, so many trails, all styles of riding including insane man made features, monster berms, gaps, jumps and table tops. Tiger Mountain just outside of Snoqualmie, WA was one of my favorites!! On the return stretch back to CO we rode some of Oregon's hot spots, finally finishing with some biking in Park CIty, UT. Kristin and I by the end of the trip biked over 400 miles of epic top notch singletrack throughout 5 states!

At the trips midpoint we were spoiled by our friends Dane and Kathyrn at they're beautiful homestead!! Plum Nelli

"Plum Nelli is a micro-farmstead offering farm-stays and creative retreats, with an emphasis on pure and simple living. We host an artist residency program one month out of the year and offer pop-up art, wellness and food events. We also host weddings, family reunions, and more..."

The boys were rock stars on this trip! Living on the road out of the van was a breeze this year... they are growing up so fast. Well almost a breeze... Henry the crab from Indian Island did get out of Liam's cage once and hid out who knows where in the van before we finally noticed him one evening by the slider door. Henry made it all the way to Bend, OR where he finally was put to rest by the McKenzie River :) Liam is already counting down the days when he can find the next Henry.

And

Boys Chasing Prairie Dogs - Grand Teton National Park, WY

The Sink of the PoPo Agie River - Sinks Canyon State Park, WY

Vanski Breakfast - Mt Helena Ridge Trailhead - Helena, MT

Old Faithful - Yellowstone National Park, WY

Geyser Steam - Yellowstone National Park, WY

This was taken from inside the van upon opening the slider door, as we took both boys out of their car seats the fella walked within a few feet of the door. Declan: "Is he going to eat me"?, that was our queue to shut the door and slowly pull away