Kelly McGarry

From Leavenworth To Beacon Hill #ECRT Bound

W2E BeaconHill

Words from Natty G.

(Breakfast in the morning. Powered by RipVanWafels)

After leaving Duthie Hill Bike Park, Trey and I traveled northeast to Leavenworth, Washington. We met up and spent some time with our good friend Joel Martinez (VP of Operations at Stevens Pass Bike Park). Stevens Pass opens on June 27th, so we didn’t get a chance to ride there, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hang out in Leavenworth, eat brats, and drink a few brews at Icicle Brewery. Joel said that they’re putting the finishing touches on their newest trail called “PBR”, and he’s super excited about a new beginner trail going in this year as well.  Stevens Pass Bike Park is working closely with the US forest service to get approval for 7 new trails in the near future. I am totally stoked for them! The Bike and Brew Fest was going on the same day Trey and I were at Duthie’s MTB Fest, so we missed it, but what we did find were our friends Erin and Lee of Olympia, WA still hanging around the quaint Bavarian town. They talked us into staying the night and hanging with them a little longer. Once we woke in the morning it was time to hit the road again. This time our eyes were set on Beacon Hill in Spokane Washington, a well know riding destination with awesome jumps, natural drops, long rock rolls, and wooden features.

The drive was only about 200 miles from Leavenworth. Trey didn’t hesitate to grab his bike and hit the trails as soon as we arrived. The photos tell their own story. (of how we need a flash)  After a quick ride session, we met a local guy named Lloyd (a Beacon Hill ripper) and he invited us to park our rig at his place, take showers and crash for the night after a little hang-out time with him, his wife Maryanne, and of course their two dogs.

The next morning we were set to leave Washington, finally! We passed through the northern part of Idaho without needing to stop except for gas. Right over the border from Idaho into Montana, we started to see signs for two things that we knew we had to stop for; Silver Mountain Bike Park and the curio mega-store called “50,000 Silver Dollar”(as per Lee and Erin, it is a must-see). The 50,000 Silver Dollar monstrosity is a casino, bar, restaurant, campground, motel, and gas station!

Silver Mountain Bike Park opens this weekend on the 14th! Very sorry to have missed out on the opportunity to ride there, but we took a picture to prove that we made a stop anyway. We tried on potential DH helmets and scoped out knives for our bikes. We even bought our dog an American Flag bandana to sport around his neck, and Trey bought a gigantic foam hand to hold his beer.

We made it to Butte Montana after a long day in the car. We couldn’t resist cracking “Butt” jokes and multiple farts getting blamed on our poor-old dog named “Dude”.

Our next stop is Billings Montana…

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