A JACT Ride thru North Cascades Ntl Park 2020

Our motorcycle adventure continues this year, but with a significant upgrade! A quick backstory first… in the fall of 2017, James & I participated in a 3-day motorcycle class, earned our endorsements, & purchased two Harley Sportsters the same week. The next 3 years we gained experience & confidence riding to work, venturing out on short excursions, & one amazing ride in Glacier Ntl Park (click link for blog):

I still love my Iron 883, so this year I added a windshield to cut the wind back. I also purchased a new seat with a backrest & added some saddlebags for longer rides. I might try to extend my footpegs forward to stretch my legs out to dial in my comfort, then I can start making fun changes like badass handlebars, pipes, mirrors, etc. Check out before and after:

My additions, of course, are minor updates. Our major upgrade this year is the brand new 2020 Harley Street Glide for James! He outgrew his little Sportser quickly & so traded it in, for a midnight blue beauty with a Milwaukee-Eight® 107 V-Twin engine, complete with saddlebags, cruise control, & stereo!

Our trips were limited without saddlebags before, & we couldn’t even keep a bottle of water on hand to hydrate on breaks. Our rides were kept short, stopping at convenience stores to guzzle our drinks before heading out again. Mind you, our original purpose of this hobby was for in-town riding anyway. But you don’t know what you don’t know & after 3 years on the Sporties, we wanted to ride more!

Now that we can carry stuff, we planned our first overnight get-away. 160 miles to Twisp Washington over the scenic Cascades Highway! This is a long ride for me, so we reserved a campsite for 2 nights at the Twisp KOA. My backrest hadn’t shipped yet & I wanted a day off to recover before we headed back home. We were already set up well to travel light, with the equipment we invested in last year for our backcountry hunting adventure. We survived 5 days in the wilderness living with what we carried on our backs, so it should be easy to pack the lightweight space-saving necessities into our saddlebags. (click the link for blog):

Well, guess what, our hunting backpacks are a LOT bigger than these saddles bags LOL. We did manage to take our tent, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, camp chairs, propane gas MSR stove systems, & our coffee presses. I wore a backpack to take my solar charger, a change of clothes, flip-flops & a bathroom bag. I guess that IS a lot of gear, but it’s funny how much crap we had to remove! I believe we both now plan to invest in a back fender rack so we can haul even more next time!! :-)

We left on Thursday, July 16th, 2020. On the west side of the mountain, the highs were in the lower 80’s & on the east side, it was a lot warmer in the mid 90’s. It was perfect weather to ride up the 5,477-foot elevation & back down again. We made our way north from home, taking back roads through winding lush river routes. I just let James lead the way, as I pondered the wondrous beauty :-) I recognized small towns as we passed through, on our way to State Route 20, but I can’t say how we got there. I would genuinely be lost without James!

We passed through construction & one road detour on the way but finally made it to North Cascade National Park. There are no fees to enter & it offers camping, hiking, climbing, boating, fishing & bicycling within its 500,000 acres. Preservationists began fighting to protect this area in the late 1800s, but the park wasn’t established until 1968. I am so thankful to those before us, who had the insight to fight for our National Parks. We were just traveling through, but even the views from the highway are worth fighting for!

I highly suggest the PBS documentary “The National Parks, America’s Best Idea” for an inspiring look at our Parks’ history. Ken Burns produced this six-part series & our very own North Cascades is mentioned right away. Oh, & btw - you can only access Highway 20 part of each year, as it is closed for months at a time during the winters due to avalanches. It’s perfect for a summertime excursion. We made several stops to stretch our legs, take photos, fuel up, & eat lunch.

Lunch break at Mazama

We arrived in Winthrop by early evening, unpacked & set up camp, then went out to dinner. On the way back, we bought a 6-pack to enjoy later. Our KOA campground was in a good location on the river, but our site was along the fence border where campfires were not permitted. Bummer! We still enjoyed relaxing in our camp chairs & drinking our beer. What we missed most of all each evening was our dog, Chase. We laughed together about our guilty feelings of leaving her behind. It was just a few days, but we were glad to go back home to her. Click the picture/link below to watch our YouTube video of our adventure:

On our day off Friday, we explored Twisp, rode up as far as we could go on the Chewuch Rd & river, then came back down to Pearrygin Lake where we swam & took a nap in the shade. We window shopped in Winthrop, ate dinner & then relaxed at the campground, which was filling up for the weekend. We left Saturday morning for our return thru the Park. This time we side tripped over the Diablo Dam Rd for a break by the lake. The narrow road is a thrilling adventure itself, & the lake’s sea-green beauty is breathtaking!

Diablo Lake

Riding our Harleys over Hwy 20 is just one way to enjoy this area. It is a great destination for hiking, canoeing, & many other outdoor activities, so plan your own adventure soon! Thanks for joining us on this adventure, we hope you are inspired to make a plan, set a date & then GO DO IT! #JACTventures