Across the street is a mountain, and on the mountain there are the TRAILS
It's kind of hard to describe the terrain surrounding our new home so that it sounds plausible.
I grew up in this region, and I'm used to two kinds of landscape: mostly flat farmland, and steep hills and mountains.
What I'm NOT used to is having a steep mountain located right across the street from mostly-flat farmland, but that's exactly the kind of terrain we have on Jim Creek Road: the elevation of the house is about 330 feet above sea level. Less than 3/4 mile
away is the peak of Ebey Mountain...1650 feet above sea level.
The google terrain map shows it best: Aross the street from our house is a mountain!
The reason that having a mountain nearby is such a thrill for me: on that mountain there are some old logging roads that will make SPLENDID riding! I can hardly wait to start exploring.
But waiting is something I will have to do for a while. Let me fritter away some of the time by posting pictures of the trails!
This photo shows the top of Ebey Mountain, including Ebey Lake (called "Little Lake" on old maps) in quadrant 28-32-06. The lake is stocked with trout, and cannot be accessed by motorized vehicles. Obviously, Hana will be learning to carry Jim's fishing pole along with all her other gear! All the little squiggles visible on these photos are logging roads. Cool, huh?
This is a closer view of Ebey Lake. There used to be a fire-road that went all the way to the lake, but apparently there was a huge problem with vandalism and garbage at the lake, so the road was closed. Trails still go there, and folks can hike, bike, or ride horses to the lake. I'm curious to see if this is a deep tarn, or just a shallow sandy puddle with fish in it. The maps don't give that kind of information!
Further out Jim Creek Road is access to Lake Riley, which is owned (along with all the land around it) by the local Sons of Norway. They will only sell to members of the SON. Hmmm. Will they make me eat lutefisk to prove my heritage? That might be a problem.
Anyhow, there's a parking lot just before the entrance to Lake Riley Road, and logging roads up to the powerlines going over the east side of Ebey Mountain.
It looks like a canny rider with a decent sense of direction could ride these roads all the way out to Highway 530, over to Lake Riley, and back to my house. I just have to figure out HOW....
Fortunately, Jim was clever enough to retire from the armed services, so he can go there to explore THEIR lakes and trails, and I can go with him. The largest quadrant in this photo shows the rec facility, approximately 3 miles from our house.
Pretty nifty, huh?
I grew up in this region, and I'm used to two kinds of landscape: mostly flat farmland, and steep hills and mountains.
What I'm NOT used to is having a steep mountain located right across the street from mostly-flat farmland, but that's exactly the kind of terrain we have on Jim Creek Road: the elevation of the house is about 330 feet above sea level. Less than 3/4 mile
away is the peak of Ebey Mountain...1650 feet above sea level.
The google terrain map shows it best: Aross the street from our house is a mountain!
The reason that having a mountain nearby is such a thrill for me: on that mountain there are some old logging roads that will make SPLENDID riding! I can hardly wait to start exploring.
But waiting is something I will have to do for a while. Let me fritter away some of the time by posting pictures of the trails!
This photo shows the top of Ebey Mountain, including Ebey Lake (called "Little Lake" on old maps) in quadrant 28-32-06. The lake is stocked with trout, and cannot be accessed by motorized vehicles. Obviously, Hana will be learning to carry Jim's fishing pole along with all her other gear! All the little squiggles visible on these photos are logging roads. Cool, huh?
This is a closer view of Ebey Lake. There used to be a fire-road that went all the way to the lake, but apparently there was a huge problem with vandalism and garbage at the lake, so the road was closed. Trails still go there, and folks can hike, bike, or ride horses to the lake. I'm curious to see if this is a deep tarn, or just a shallow sandy puddle with fish in it. The maps don't give that kind of information!Further out Jim Creek Road is access to Lake Riley, which is owned (along with all the land around it) by the local Sons of Norway. They will only sell to members of the SON. Hmmm. Will they make me eat lutefisk to prove my heritage? That might be a problem.
Anyhow, there's a parking lot just before the entrance to Lake Riley Road, and logging roads up to the powerlines going over the east side of Ebey Mountain.It looks like a canny rider with a decent sense of direction could ride these roads all the way out to Highway 530, over to Lake Riley, and back to my house. I just have to figure out HOW....
The alternative to veering off towards Lake Riley is to continue south-eastish on Jim Creek Road, which eventually dead-ends at the Jim Creek Recreation Center, a facility open ONLY to military personnel, active and retired.
Pretty nifty, huh?
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