2026 Ashford Bicycle Week: Rainier Backcountry & Trail Clearing

Five of us (Steve Brown, Thomas Harrison, Fred Johnstone, Bob Myrick and Charlene Dorward) camped at the Sahara Creek Horse Camp from August 3 to 6 for the Ashford Bicycle Week. We arrived on Monday August 3. On Tuesday we rode up Skate Creek Road and then up a trail, entering Mount Rainier Park from the back way and around the gate. We had a pleasant lunch at Longmire then rode down, back to camp. On the way back we stopped to visit Bob Brown, head of the Mount Tahoma Trails Association.

Unfortunately there was a lot of smoke in the area, which precluded us from doing a long ride on Wednesday. So we walked across the highway to the Old Hershey Road and cleared one mile of this trail. We then rode to Elbe for lunch at the Elbe Bar & Grill, riding partway on the Old Hershey Road. The Elbe Bar & Grill was established in 1909 and the original Tacoma Wheelmen used to ride there. We visited the metal sculpture garden on the way back to camp.  With the poor air quality we decided to head home on Thursday, one day before the scheduled end date.