# Unsupported RAMROD, routes and food/water?



## fallzboater (Feb 16, 2003)

A buddy and I are planning to ride around Rainier this Saturday, and we'd be interested in any tips. We live in Hood River, and I've driven from Ashford through Paradise, up to Sunrise, and back out through Packwood, but I've never seen any of the other roads. We'll most likely camp out of his truck in Ashford, and get an early start to beat the tourons to Paradise. We'll be travelling really light, and I expect that we'll make pretty good time on the road. I'm mostly intersted in making sure that we can get water every couple of hours (or where we might need to carry a third bottle), maybe 30-40 miles apart. It'd also be good to know where to get food, so we can plan how much to carry, and don't waste a lot of time looking. 

Here's one route I found, through Paradise, but we're open to any other suggestions. 
http://www.mapmyride.com/s/routes/view/bike-ride-map/washington/enumclaw/1821842


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## fallzboater (Feb 16, 2003)

It now looks like I'm doing RAO, this weekend, so we'll probably try the RAMROD route in August.


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## SwiftSolo (Jun 7, 2008)

fallzboater said:


> It now looks like I'm doing RAO, this weekend, so we'll probably try the RAMROD route in August.


You'll find water a Longmire, Paradise, Grove of the Patriarchs (as you leave the park and start up the backside of Cayuse--be sure to have two full bottles when you leave here as you are about to climb Cayuse Pass). The next water you'll see is at the Ranger Creek Campground just past Skookum falls viewpoint. You'll be able to buy some food at Greenwater a few miles past Ranger Creek Campground (it's pretty much a downhill into Enumclaw from the top of Cayuse). Fill up at Enumclaw and you'll be good to make it to Kapowsin. Fill up there and it will take you to Eatonville where you need to fill up to get you back to Ashford.

I hope this helps


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## fallzboater (Feb 16, 2003)

Thanks, that's great info. 

If anyone is looking for an even nastier route south of Mt. Adams, and around Mt. Hood, I did this solo, a few weeks ago. The only real ass-kicker was the heat from The Dallas to Dufur, and then over Rd. 44 and Bennett Pass. I call it my Gorge Double Death Ride of Death.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96400076


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## SwiftSolo (Jun 7, 2008)

fallzboater said:


> Thanks, that's great info.
> 
> If anyone is looking for an even nastier route south of Mt. Adams, and around Mt. Hood, I did this solo, a few weeks ago. The only real ass-kicker was the heat from The Dallas to Dufur, and then over Rd. 44 and Bennett Pass. I call it my Gorge Double Death Ride of Death.
> http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96400076


We do a lot of riding north of Trout Lake on mostly single lane paved roads just North of the Lewis River. A lot of great riding in that area. 

Based on you web name I assume you've done some paddling on the White Salmon?


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## Gripped (Nov 27, 2002)

SwiftSolo said:


> (it's pretty much a downhill into Enumclaw from the top of Cayuse)


Into the wind.


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## fallzboater (Feb 16, 2003)

SwiftSolo said:


> We do a lot of riding north of Trout Lake on mostly single lane paved roads just North of the Lewis River. A lot of great riding in that area.
> 
> Based on you web name I assume you've done some paddling on the White Salmon?


I have done all the sections of the White Salmon, and the Little White Salmon, but I used to kayak daily over Great Falls on the Potomac River outside of Washington, DC.

A buddy and I did ride around Rainier a couple of Saturdays ago, from Ashford and up to Paradise. I brought a camera and we wasted a fair amount of time taking photos, since it was so stunning. We found the grades pretty easy, compared to riding here in The Gorge. I don't know that we'd to the whole route again, due to the interminable flats around the north and west sides (flats bore me), but I'll go back to ride something like Packwood-Ashford-Paradise-Sunrise-Packwood.
RAMROD w/ Paradise by dcmackintosh at Garmin Connect - Details
Ramrod 2011 - a set on Flickr (I'm the much taller one in a couple of the photos.)


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## SwiftSolo (Jun 7, 2008)

fallzboater said:


> I have done all the sections of the White Salmon, and the Little White Salmon, but I used to kayak daily over Great Falls on the Potomac River outside of Washington, DC.
> 
> A buddy and I did ride around Rainier a couple of Saturdays ago, from Ashford and up to Paradise. I brought a camera and we wasted a fair amount of time taking photos, since it was so stunning. We found the grades pretty easy, compared to riding here in The Gorge. I don't know that we'd to the whole route again, due to the interminable flats around the north and west sides (flats bore me), but I'll go back to ride something like Packwood-Ashford-Paradise-Sunrise-Packwood.
> RAMROD w/ Paradise by dcmackintosh at Garmin Connect - Details
> Ramrod 2011 - a set on Flickr (I'm the much taller one in a couple of the photos.)


Stevens canyon is, in my opinion, the best climb on Rainier. You can start at the Grove of the Patriarchs, ride up the canyon to Paradise, descend to Longmire, turn left at longmire and take the shortcut to Skate creek road (cuts out 15 fairly boring miles), descent to Packwood, turn left up White pass highway to 123 and left back to the start.

A far better climb in my opinion is closer to you. It is the climb up the 26 road to Windy ridge, out to the observation point and back down the 99 road to the 25 and back to the start.


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## fallzboater (Feb 16, 2003)

SwiftSolo said:


> Stevens canyon is, in my opinion, the best climb on Rainier. You can start at the Grove of the Patriarchs, ride up the canyon to Paradise, descend to Longmire, turn left at longmire and take the shortcut to Skate creek road (cuts out 15 fairly boring miles), descent to Packwood, turn left up White pass highway to 123 and left back to the start.
> 
> A far better climb in my opinion is closer to you. It is the climb up the 26 road to Windy ridge, out to the observation point and back down the 99 road to the 25 and back to the start.


We'll try that option on Rainier, starting at Grove of the Patriarchs, or at Packwood, next time. Thanks. 

We did Windy Ridge two weeks after our Rainier ride. We started on the Wind River Rd, at the turnoff for the Falls Creek Falls hike/MTB trailhead, so we could also go over Old Man Pass. Out and back was 128 miles with 13k' of climbing, the most climbing I've done in a ride under 200 miles. Three bottles from Pine Creek Ranger Station to the Cascade Peaks store.
Windy Ridge 200K by dcmackintosh at Garmin Connect - Details

Are you saying start at the Iron Creek campground and ride up past Ryan Lake and over Norway Pass? Looking at this map, we didn't think you could ride through on 26, but we also didn't ask.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MEDIA/stelprdb5189063.jpg

The following weekend we rode around Mt. Hood, from Hood River (nice to start at home). The north and west sides of this ride (out Dee Hwy, Lost Lake Rd to Lolo Pass Rd, and descending McGee Creek) are really nice, but of course riding on I-26 and Hwy 35 isn't great. Three bottles from Hood River to Zigzag.
RAMHOOD ACW 2011 by dcmackintosh at Garmin Connect - Details


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## SwiftSolo (Jun 7, 2008)

fallzboater said:


> We'll try that option on Rainier, starting at Grove of the Patriarchs, or at Packwood, next time. Thanks.
> 
> We did Windy Ridge two weeks after our Rainier ride. We started on the Wind River Rd, at the turnoff for the Falls Creek Falls hike/MTB trailhead, so we could also go over Old Man Pass. Out and back was 128 miles with 13k' of climbing, the most climbing I've done in a ride under 200 miles. Three bottles from Pine Creek Ranger Station to the Cascade Peaks store.
> Windy Ridge 200K by dcmackintosh at Garmin Connect - Details
> ...


We do go up the 26 road. There is a washout a couple miles past Ryan Lake but you can easily walk around it. It eliminates what little traffic you would normally find on the 26. Most of the folks who I know that have done this climb feel it is one of the best in the northwest. The entire circle with the tail out to the viewpoint is only about 52 miles and 6000 vert.


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## banosser (Sep 22, 2011)

SwiftSolo said:


> You'll find water a Longmire, Paradise, Grove of the Patriarchs (as you leave the park and start up the backside of Cayuse--be sure to have two full bottles when you leave here as you are about to climb Cayuse Pass). The next water you'll see is at the Ranger Creek Campground just past Skookum falls viewpoint. You'll be able to buy some food at Greenwater a few miles past Ranger Creek Campground (it's pretty much a downhill into Enumclaw from the top of Cayuse). Fill up at Enumclaw and you'll be good to make it to Kapowsin. Fill up there and it will take you to Eatonville where you need to fill up to get you back to Ashford.
> 
> I hope this helps


thanks for this beta


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## kreger (Mar 10, 2004)

Gripped said:


> Into the wind.


only in the afternoon


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