Ride Around the Mountain Poker Run 2009

On July 18th I got out and rode a poker run.  It was the Ride Around the Mountain Poker run sponsored by the Abate of Washington South King County Chapter.  This is the second year of the run and the proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. 

Most poker runs don’t have a required route to ride but many provide maps of suggested routes.  This particular run there weren’t even any route suggestions just locations for each card draw.   The initial gathering point was the Yella Beak Saloon in Enumclaw.  This is one of my usual stops when I am in the area.  When I arrived there were already a good number of bikes there.  I bought in for a couple of poker hands and put $20 into the 50/50 raffle.  

I had arrived early enough so I could get a cup of coffee and maybe a bite to eat.  I ended up having a fruit plate along with the coffee.  I wandered outside and noticed that not many people had left yet.  I found out that many were planning on riding the poker run as one large group.  That explained why the gal was tying pink grid tape on my bike when I pulled in along with all the other bikes in the lot.  It also explained why they didn’t have any maps, it was more or less follow the leader. 

While I don’t have any problem with group riding it didn’t fit into my original plan and the reason I chose to ride in this function rather than the three or four other functions that were available for this weekend.  I knew the weather was going to be awesome and that I was going to be riding all the way around Mt. Rainier.  This would be a good chance to get some great pictures and riding in a group would definitely put a crimp in both my timing, stop and go activities and my planned route.  I even chose to ride Brutus rather than JDsHog because I was getting off the beaten path on sections of my planned route. 

So I made sure it was OK to go it on my own and headed out about 30 minutes before the main group was scheduled to leave.  I had already planned to stop at the Greenwater General Store to pick up some refreshments and I needed some Excedrin, just in case.  I knew this would likely be a 10 hour day with all the stops and the end of the run activities.  There was a pretty constant flow of motorcycle and cars on WA-410 though I was surprised at how few RVs there were.  The negative effects of the economy I guess. 

I toyed with the idea of running up to the lookout on FS-72 but I decided I just didn’t have the time.  The destination for the second card draw was Whistlin’ Jack Lodge on WA-410 near the all but  invisible community called Cliffdell.  I knew there were several other spots with good views of Mt. Rainier that I wanted to stop at along the route so I just rode by the turnoff at FS-72.

There really wasn’t that much traffic after I turned NE on WA-410 at the junction of WA-123.  By the time I had crested Chinook Pass I had already stopped at a few places for some shots.   This is probably the most fun section of WA-410 and with the light traffic I was able to keep the fun factor up.  I did managed to see some views in my rear view mirrors that I would like to have taken pictures of.  I wasn’t sure how I was doing on time so I just kept going.  I was the first person from the poker run to Whistlin’ Jack Lodge.  The temperatures had risen to the mid 80’s and I just had time for a beer before the large group arrived.

The Abate folks got their tables set up and the people that weren’t fueling up started drawing the cards for their hands. I drew my cards, took some pictures of the group, mounted up and headed out.  The next destination was Peter’s Inn in Packwood.  I actually had two routes planned from this point.  Either continue on WA-410 towards Naches and pick up WA-12 then cross over  White Pass or backtrack to WA-123 and pick up WA-12 on the West side of White Pass.  I chose the latter route because of those views I saw in my rear view mirror and I knew that the fun factor would be higher.  I never did find out which way the major group went.

So I headed back the way I had come and picked up a few more views of Mt. Rainier and other landscapes.  The traffic was a little heavier on WA-123 which was to be expected.  Unfortunately there really aren’t any good photo opportunities along WA-123 or on WA-12 going into Packwood.   I had a few stretches of open road after passing slow movers of one variety or another.  The weather was perfect, I was on the road and enjoying myself so there was really nothing to complain about.

I arrived at Peters Inn and I figured I was well ahead of the main group.  I decided to go ahead at get some lunch and ordered a Club with fries and some iced tea.  I was sitting at the lunch bar rather than a table and a man with a pack came in and sat next to me.  As it turns out he was recently retired from the Army and he was on a personal discover America type trip.  He was presently hiking the bulk of the Pacific Crest trail.  He had just come into civilization long enough to get some supplies and have a hot meal.  I had time to finish lunch, have a nice conversation and wander around outside for about ten minutes when riders started to come in.  It looks like at least a few of the other riders decided to go it on their own.  About ten minutes after that the main group arrived.  

They set up behind Peters Inn and cards for our hands were drawn.  When the group arrived the Shell gas station next door was swamped with motorcycles.  I had pre-planned fueling up here and thought maybe I should have done it when I came into town.  I’m glad I got in and ate when I did because the restaurant filled to capacity within minutes of the main group pulling in.  It was already pretty busy before they arrived.  By the time I took some pictures and got ready to pull out fueling up turned out to be a non-issue.  There was an interesting Boss Hoss trike that pulled up but I don’t think they were part of our group.  The back end was tricked out as a ‘57 Chevy.  While I’m not particularly into the Boss Hoss designs it was still pretty nice looking, especially in red.  I looked on the Boss Hoss website and I guess it is actually one of their standard products, the BHC-9 LS3.

The next destination was Brunos in Eatonville.  So after fueling up I headed off on an alternate route that is a little less traveled and one I hadn’t been on in many years.  Rather than continue West on WA-12 I headed NW on Skate Creek Rd.  The parts of this road that are in the National Forest are referred to as NF-52.  The road is paved all the way but it isn’t in the best condition in a number of places.  Brutus had a good time but I imagine that some of the cruiser crowd wouldn’t have been enjoying some of the worst spots.  I did find one spot with a view of the South side of Mt. Rainier which was my main reason for taking this route.  The rest of the route was essentially an evergreen tunnel.  There were quite a few people dry camping inside the National Forest.  There are a lot of fun spots on this road but some of the corners can be rough.  Perfect for dual sports and sport tourers.

I eventually turn North on Kemahan Rd and then West on WA-706.  I rode WA-706 into Elma, headed NW on the Mountain Hwy and then North on Alder Cutoff Rd to Eatonville.  I was again the first one to arrive and I decided I would have another beer.  I was chatting with folks at the bar and some biker folks came in.  Turns out they were looking to join up with the rally as they didn’t have the time to start out earlier in the morning.  Eventually a few “independent” riders from the poker run, such as myself, started to trickle in to Brunos.  I was getting a little bored and I didn’t want to drink another beer so I went outside to wait for the main group.

They eventually arrived and the process of drawing cards and packing out the bar and restaurant was repeated. I hung around long enough to take a few pictures and decided to head out to the final destination.  That was the L & M Firehouse in Orting. I was planning to go the slow route along the lakes and I thought there would be a good place to get a picture of Mt. Rainier somewhere along the way.

So I headed North out of Eatonville and picked up Orville Rd..  Most of this stretch is just 35 MPH and the road doesn’t really have much fun factor but it was a great day for a slow ride along Ohop Lake and Lake Kapowsin.  I eventually turned East on 264th E and it was there I found my viewpoint.  There wasn’t much of any place to get off the road so I just pulled off as far as I could and stayed mounted when I took my pictures.

I eventually got back onto Orville Rd and rode it the rest of the way into Orting.  The L & M Firehouse was already rocking  pretty good when I pulled in, the first of the poker run group.  I got dressed down and got all my gear stowed figuring it was going to be quite a while before I would be heading home.  I hadn’t even gotten inside when a few of those more independent types pulled in to the parking lot.  I sat and chatted with a couple of them and had a beer.

The main group showed up after a while and the place really got packed.  The Abate crew got tables set up for both the card drawings and to display all the raffle prizes.  There was quite a pile of prizes.  They eventually did a last call for turning in card hands and for buying 50/50 tickets.  There were probably 80 to 100 participants so it took a little while to tally up the hands to determine the high and low hand winners.  Once they got that done they started calling raffle numbers, each poker hand also had a raffle ticket so I had two.  I ended up with an Abate t-shirt, as if I needed another t-shirt.  But of course winning something isn’t why I participate so the t-shirt was more than I was expecting.  I think it took an hour to give away all the raffle prizes.  Then the high and low poker hand prizes were called and last but not least the 50/50 raffle. Lot’s of fun was had by all and it was still going strong when I left at about 8:00 PM. 

All the pictures from the poker run ride can be found in this gallery .