Pacific Northwest

This weekend I got to spend some time on the East side of the mountain range... our very own guy's weekend. After a long day of working on the dirt bikes and their constant need for maintenance we decided to venture out to an area we have been wanting to visit. We also made a decision to trek out there on a Sunday morning at 2:00 a.m. . So, we began our adventure! Grabbed our sleeping bags, small essentials and made our way through Cle Elum, Roslyn, Ronald and then further. We took the next cut off which began 10 miles of poorly maintained logging roads and limited vision due to the cloud cover at night and thickened forest. Through the winding and beat-up roads we got about seven miles until we came across a large amount of water flowing over the road. It wasn't going to stop us. We made it all the way out there and was determined to make it all the way!

We got out of the vehicle and inspected the depth of the waters that we were about to attempt. After much thought about the washed out roadway, we got back in and slowly backed up the car to a safe distance. It was go time! We hit the throttle and splashed head on into the flowing water. Water flew everywhere in our sight! With some quick maneuvering we made it to the other side. Success! Now on the other side we quickly celebrated our accomplishment and continued on. We drove for about three more miles from there to a spot that seemed nice to park and get some rest since it was about 3:00 a.m. at the time. Also, it was completely dark outside so we would have to wait till sunrise to see where we had driven to.

When we woke up we from our short sleep in the back of the hatchback, we discovered the beauty of landscape surrounding us. We had driven in to this small pocket of Washington that had a surreal feeling to it. There were trees to our backs and a mountain ridge in front that spilled water down the face of it to a lake that stood before us. We took a walk around and enjoyed the little creeks and wildlife in this valley. The photo at the top was exposed for the little creek and the large mountain face that popped out from the clouds as it towered over the valley. Every view of this area was extraordinary and left us with a sense of nature at it's best. That Sunday we left what others call "Tonys creek," but we would forever know as Nature Valley!