Head for the Hills: Conditions Are Ideal for Mountain Biking

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The ski season got off to a terrible start, and the recent unseasonably hot weather likely melted away the last bit of every snowsport enthusiast’s optimism for a winter redemption. While this year’s horrendous snowpack has been a bust for skiers across Washington and has worried anyone concerned with summer groundwater levels, there is a silver lining for those wanting to stay active without being confined to a gym. 

The snowless hills, clear skies and warm afternoons have created near-perfect conditions for the start of an early mountain biking season. Southwest Washington provides ample riding opportunities, with numerous trailheads scattered from White Pass to the coast. Off-road riding also strikes a great balance between covering ground, taking in the scenery and working up a good sweat. But be forewarned, there are some standing puddles out there.

Mountain biking is a bit of a loaded term that, to the uninitiated, can imply barreling down a winding forested trail at top speed in hopes of building up enough momentum to jump a small gorge and the raging creek below — all to outrun the bear chomping at your rims. 

Those trails do exist, but they, and the athletes riding them, are exceptions to the rule; for the rest of us, the options are as varied as the mountains themselves. 

If road bikes were sports cars, mountain bikes would be ATVs. In about two hours a road biker can pretty easily to rack up 25 miles, but a mountain biker with the same period of time would be doing well to get half that much. 

Like a long run, road riding emphasizes a consistent pedal cadence and is hardest on the legs. Hitting the trails on a mountain bike requires varied pedal speeds, and the work is pretty evenly divided between the upper and lower body. The legs are the power plants, but the upper body works about as hard to absorb the bumps and keep everything balanced. 

For those concerned about joint health, mountain biking is a low impact sport — so long as you avoid the trees.

The nearest biking trailheads tend to be at the extreme ends of Lewis County. But, possibly the best and closest rides are in the Littlerock side of Capitol Forest.

The entire area offers a great variety of trails through a lush and waterfall-laden forest that occasionally gives way to some excellent views of the Cascade’s tallest peaks and the valley below. 

Trails around the Mima Falls area are mostly flat and are a great place to ease into the season, but the crown jewel trail starts up the road at Fall Creek.



Dubbed the original poker run, the 10-mile loop connecting Mima 8, Trail 50 and Green Line 6 trails is a great place for riders of all skill levels to enjoy themselves. 

The ride starts will a few rolling hills before building up to a lung-busting 1,600-foot forested climb past runoff waterfalls and through a couple clearcuts. About two-thirds of the way up, the trail crosses a gravel road that, on a clear day, offers a terrific vista of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens, standing like white sentinels above the foothills below. 

From there, electric green moss covers everything — save the sanguine strip of earth leading through the woods and chocolate brown tree roots holding it all in place. The loop is so stunning it leaves one wondering if the world really can be this colorful or if all the exercise is inducing hallucinations. 

At a certain stretch of the descent there are so many technical turns and suspension squeezing drops it feels like riding down a disjointed spiral staircase. All the rocks and roots bashing the front tire put a lot of strain on the grip, but the pain is short-lived. The trail moves across a clearcut hillside where it’s easy to top 30 mph on a trail no wider than a kitchen counter. 

Near the bottom of the ride things slow down and get muddy, and, inevitably, rider and bike will need a shower. The whole ride is over in less than two hours and ends in the same parking lot it began.

Whether you’ll be fresh enough for another loop is debatable. 

With prices ranging from $500 to over $10,000, (plus about $150 per year in tuneups), a mountain bike is an expensive initial investment, but around $45 per month, a gym membership doesn’t come cheap either.

Aside from fuel for the car and maybe a Discovery Pass, riding your bike doesn’t cost you anything, and the feeling of satisfaction garnered from a good afternoon in the saddle couldn’t be matched by a week on a treadmill.