I have been wanting to ride through my home town of Carlton lately. The Carlton General Store is pictured above.
Carlton is a tiny, rural mountain town in the Methow Valley and it does not appear on most maps, but it has been in the news lately. That's because Carlton and all the surrounding towns have been ravaged by the worst wildfires in Washington state history. The big fire was called the Carlton Complex fire; it is 90% contained now but only after it destroyed over 250,000 acres, 150 homes, and one human life.
I have several friends from school that lost everything. The fire moved so quickly that people sometimes had 30 minutes notice to get into the car and drive through a wall of flames with their families. During the first week of the fire, the power grid for the entire valley shut down, people could not get fuel in most gas stations, and phones didn't work. There was no way to know who was ok and who may have burned to death. Ranching and farming are a way of life in the Methow, and many people did not have time to get their livestock to safety. There are stories of charred cows in the highway, and horses tangled in barbed wire trying to escape the blaze. The nightmarish stories I have heard are contrasted by heroic stories of neighbors helping each other; the owner of the Carlton General Store stayed up pumping gas and serving the exodus of fire refugees coming out of the hills for four days straight without sleep. A friend here in Seattle immediately organized "aid trucks" into the Methow, delivering generators, water, and a million other things before Red Cross even knew what people needed. Here is a pic of people camping out in my high school's parking lot during the first week of the fires:
For weeks, I have been following the updates and news about this catastrophe. Unable to do much other than donate money, but it has really gotten me thinking. Thinking about the fact that everything really can go to shit in the blink of an eye. Or at least, in about 30 minutes. Everything you know and treasure could change, get burned up, or disappear. So go out and ride the hell out of your Super Duke, and be grateful! We have it good, and today I enjoyed every minute of it.
I planned a 400 mile loop that would take me through the Methow Valley, over two different passes through the North Cascades. This was a solo ride, which I was happy about. No one to wait for, and a good excuse to ride the Mountain Loop Highway on the way towards Washington pass. Mountain Loop is a "Scenic Byway" that includes about 20 miles of dirt road. Perfect for the slide-happy Super Duke.
I always stop for a photo on top of Washington Pass, but today the only thing worth noticing was the smoke down in the valley:
The first town at the North end of the Methow Valley is Winthrop, a summer tourist spot. There is a restaurant called the Duck Brand, where I always stop to get a cheeseburger. It is a local favorite spot, so it wasn't surprising when I ran into a group of girls (women? we are all pushing 40!) that I went to high school with. They were there with husbands and kids and we caught up after not seeing each other for twenty years.
Riding through the Valley was hot and smoky, but it was exhilarating to ride on these roads again. I moved to the city after high school and haven't returned to the Methow except to occasionally blast through town on the bike, eat a cheeseburger, and return home. When I was a teenager I thought these mountain towns were like a prison. Not a lot to do. Riding motorcycles got me through the teenage years; dirt bikes and eventually street bikes when I turned 16. But I never had a bike like this, and I never knew how much fun some of these old farm roads could be. Who knew that the Super Duke handles itself well in mid-apex cow shit!
