Graham Family Farm NW

Ahtanum Sunday Drive / Blue Lake Trail Logging Mess
Hosted by Eastern Washington Off Road
By Clay Graham / CegPics.com

Update: I was told by the DRN that the logging in the area around Blue Lake is on private land owned by Ahtanum Irrigation District (AID). The trails will only be unavailable during logging.

On Sunday October 29th, 2006 we took a drive around the Ahtanum. We tried to run up to Blue Lake but the Green Dot trail was gone. Down trees everywhere. Nothing look the same. We drove around the other way by the ponds and were stopped by logs and logging equipment. The first hill climb going toward 4W615 and Blue Lake was block by a pile of longs.

We drove back to the North Fork Ahtanum Road and then up on top of Darland Mountain. It was cold!

We headed out by going down the Mid Fork Ahtanum Road with a few stops a long the way.

Here are some photos of our Ahtanum Sunday Drive:

Halloween 4×4 Night Run
Hosted by Eastern Washington Off Road
Report by Clay Graham. Photos by Clay Graham / CegPics.com

On October 28th, 2006 we met up at the Ahtanum Sno-park for the Eastern Washington Off Road Halloween Run. It was dark the time everyone got there so I did not get a picture of the whole group. I counted 11 rigs.

We went up the Mid Fork. We turn on the White Ridge Loop Trail and ran it around to the Whites Ridge 4×4 Trail. We had to by pass the lower part of the Whites Ridge Crest Trail because of the seasonal closure. Once on Whites Ridge 4×4 Trail the fun began. The trail got tighter the higher up we went. As we passed Make-out Hill the woods came alive with spooky creatures running around our rigs.

Not far passed the Grey Rock Trail we all turned around and headed back down the Whites Ridge Crest Trail. As we came though the woods we saw a Headless Horseman. 99 about jumped out of the driver’s seat and scared the **** out of me. A little farther down the trail we saw 3 lynch men running by us on horses.

This was a fun run. It looks to be the 1st annual Halloween Run.

A special thank you to all the people that came up on horses (in the cold) to make the trail scary for the kids.

Here are the only photos of the Halloween 4×4 Night Run that came out:

Exploring North Ahtanum Backroads Run
Hosted by Eastern Washington Off Road
Report by Clay Graham. Photos by Clay Graham / CegPics.com

Around 10 AM on Saturday October 21st, 2006 we met up at the market in Cowiche for the Eastern Washington Off Road Exploring North Ahtanum run. A guy in a CJ5 name Shag stopped and asked if he could tag a long with us. Of course we said come along.

We started off by convoying to Hatton Road. At the gate we met one of the land owners. He said the road was open to the public but shut the gates behind you on the way through. We followed him through most of the gates with the last ride in the group shutting the gates. We made our way onto state land and ran Hatton Road up to FS1302 into the U. S. Forest Service Naches Ranger District and then up to Jumpoff Lookout.

We took a break at Jumpoff Lookout. The view off Divide Ridge was great. Rimrock Lake looked weird without all the water.

After the break, we made our way down onto Cowiche Mill Road and then turned onto C1000. It was cool seeing Teepees out in the middle of nowhere.

We worked our way up onto Cowiche Ridge and took a break. Across was Pine Mountain Lookout.

After the break, we headed on up Cowiche Ridge and then turned down Nasty Creek Road. Down near the South Fork Cowiche Creek we parted ways. Shag with through the private land to get back home since he had permission to do so. The rest of us headed on down to Nasty Creek Corrals and out the North Fork Ahtanum Road home.

This was a fun easy run and we got to meet some new cool people. It was a great day.

Here are some photos of the Exploring North Ahtanum Backroads Run:

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