Guys Ride to Loomis WA

A ride inspired by Chuck, a man whose ministry is to serve other men, and Don, an avid motorcyclist. The idea was for as many men as wanted to go, to assemble at Northshore Baptist Church in Bothell, where Don and Chuck are members, and where I used to attend. They would then ride to Loomis on a Saturday for dinner, a night’s sleep and then a ride home after breakfast on Sunday.

There were eventually 5 riders. Don, his long time-friend Bill and Bill’s son-in-law Jeremiah. Rounding out the 5 were Keith (Cheryl’s cousin) and myself. Three Harley Davidsons and two Hondas. I can’t remember the bike types, but will try… The Harleys consisted of two cruisers and one other. One of the cruisers was a 2007 Electra Glide Classic which Keith rode. The Hondas were a 1978 Honda Gold Wing 1000 with a sidecar and my 1984 Honda 1200I Gold Wing.

I left home about 7:15 AM and headed north to Bothell. It was a perfectly clear morning and the temperature was wonderful. But that would change.

Don, Bill, Jeremiah and I left the church at 8:15 AM. Don lives in Bothell, Bill and Jeremiah in Lynnwood, and I am from Kent of course. The plan was to meet Keith in Gold Bar, who was riding from Bellingham.

We met Keith in Gold Bar at the Gold Bar Restaurant & Lounge for breakfast. The food was good and inexpensive and the service was good.

Then we headed out … four men and a sidecar! Haha Sorry, I just had to say that…

We headed up and over Stevens Pass (elevation 4061 feet), stopping about 14 miles east of the pass at Deception Falls for a little break.



Deception Falls has an interpretive loop trail that is an easy access from the car. Short trail with a great view of cascading water and clear pools set in a rain forest at the 2200’ elevation of the Cascades.

Temperature was perfect…

From there we rode in to Leavenworth where we fueled up and headed on… Somewhere along the way, we saw a sign that read, “Sturgis – 1140 miles”.

We continued on Hwy 2 to Wenatchee where we joined Hwy 97 North towards Pateros and Omak. The temperature was still pleasant, most of us in short-sleeve shirts and a couple of us with our chaps on.

From here things started to heat up… I mean really heat up…

We headed north to Tonasket where we ended up at a WalMart! A couple of us, including myself, were showing early signs of heat exhaustion. The time in Wal-Mart, a little snack and lots of water had us back on the road.

There were moments when it felt like someone turned a blowtorch on us. Instant heat and right in our face! A couple of times it was so sudden and so hot that it literally took our breath away. We were all wilting…

From Tonasket we took the Janis-Oroville road north and eventually west on Loomis-Oroville Road. We so hoped the road along Spectacle Lake would provide some relief from the heat… But it didn’t.

The lake itself is beautiful and an oasis of sorts in the dryness of Eastern Washington. I couldn’t find much information on the lake itself. There is Spectacle Lake Resort that looks like a lot of fun. One of the features is a heated pool. Not needed…

We stopped at the Qwik Stop in Loomis – the only store and one with still a little gas in one of the underground tanks… They said it was 110 degrees! Hot.

We rode the two blocks to Chuck’s place where we all got in to shorts, drank some water and rested. Then Chuck served us a delicious dinner (pieces of steak simmered in a bbq sauce with peppers, steamed potatoes, corn and rolls) followed by apple pie and ice cream. And then to bed – we were all exhausted!



I slept in a cabin where I swear it didn’t get below 100! I sweated all night – sleeping bag was drenched in the morning!

After a fine breakfast whipped up by Chuck (scrambled eggs, hash browns and bacon) we were on the road trying to beat some of the heat.

After getting gas in Tonasket, we headed south on Hwy 97 towards Okanagan. There we headed west on Hwy 20 – the North Cascades Highway, Cascade Loop Scenic Highway or the Mountain Loop Highway.

We crossed three passes – Washington Pass at 5,477 feet, Rainy Pass at 4,855 feet and Loup Loup Pass at 4020 feet.

Beautiful scenery and fabulous curves built for motorcycles! Oh yeah!

We got to see part of Ross Lake.

Diablo Lake and its effervescent green color was quite a site!

And we found a rocket plane on the road. A man and his grandson designed and built the thing, powered by a Volkswagen engine. The owner let each of us get in and have our picture taken in the rocket/plane. Pretty cool!






We dropped down into Burlington where we had lunch at a Dairy Queen. From there we split up – Keith headed for Bellingham, Don, Bill and Jeremiah headed south on Hwy 9 and I headed south on I-5.

It was a spectacular ride and makes we want to ride more!!

A few more pictures of the ride can be found on Smug Mug.