Methow Mountain Bike Weekend

A few weekends ago I headed east to the Methow Valley, one of my favorite places in the state to visit, with Chad, Lex, and good friends Tyler, Leslie, Tye, and Christine.  Tyler, Tye and I first got to be friends through working at the ASUW bike shop in college, where we spent long, long hours pondering life through deep conversations while attempting to learn how to work on bikes.  We've been great friends ever since, and have had many adventures together, bicycle and otherwise.

Normally the snowpack this time of year in the Methow prohibits any kind of mountain biking, but this year's low snowpack and warm weather were an exception, so we figured we'd try our luck to see if anything had thawed out enough to be enjoyable.  Local beta dictated that Pipestone Canyon would be the best bet for us to get our early season dirt fix.  We headed east from Methow and, with me navigating, took the, uhhhh, scenic route to the trailhead.  Eventually, we did manage to find the right fire road- we drove up it for a bit, but the slush got too deep for Tye and Christine's car, and soon it was stuck.  After rocking it back and forth a few times, Chad, Tye and I got it unstuck- so we backed down the trail to a slightly drier place, parked, and got ready to ride.   

From Methow Valley MTB weekend 2010