Bike-Camping at Goldmyer Hot Springs near Snoqualmie, Wash.

Showoffs

Editor’s Note by Diane Rudholm

Photo at right: Diane Rudholm

Middle Fork, Wash.

My husband and I donned overnight packs and hopped on our bikes at the Middle Fork trailhead near Snoqualmie, Wash., on a Friday afternoon in June, 2009. We’d mapped our route to Goldmyer Hot Springs at less than 10 miles each way with not much of an elevation change. It’d be a breeze.

But, after pedaling for a quarter mile, we had to heft our bikes onto our shoulders to climb over downed trees. Next, we had to carry our bikes over washouts, and then carefully maneuver around muddy drop-offs into the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River.

To any sensible person, these obstacles would have been good reason to turn around and find lodging. But, this was early in our relationship. We wanted to impress each other with how tough we were. (Ugh, showoffs.)

So, we’d pedal for a while. Carry our bikes. Pedal. Carry. Repeat. After a few hours of this unplanned strength-training session, the sun set and we reached a fork in the trail. We could continue in the dark through fallen trees, but we opted to cross a bridge to Middle Fork Road, which would, hopefully, get us to the campground at Goldmyer much faster.

Ten essentials

Thankfully, we’d both packed the 10 essentials. Sort of. We put on our headlamps, and one light burned out right away. Determined to make it to the hot spring’s campground that night, we kept riding by one dim—but failing—light. Our cell phones died. We weren’t sure what time it was, and we didn’t know how far we’d traveled. We had to be close, right?

The trail seemed featureless. We really couldn’t tell where we were. Knowing the road was blocked by a gate—we stopped riding and set up camp in the middle of the rocky dirt road. In the morning, we discovered we had stopped pedaling minutes from our destination.

Paradise

The relief of reaching the Goldmyer cabin was tremendous. We paid our camp fee, scouted out a spot for our tent and checked out the scenery, which included a network of paths and wooden steps, a raging waterfall and, of course, sulfur-scented hot springs complete with scantily clad (if-at-all clad) campers.

When it was time to head home on Sunday, we were relieved to know that we didn’t have to go back the way we’d traveled a couple of nights before. Instead, we could ride the seven or so miles down the relatively smooth Middle Fork Road.

We were still sore from carrying our bikes and were grumpy, but the ride down the road was much easier than our trip up the trail. That is, until the bridge.

Out of service

The bridge—if you could call it that anymore—had fallen down. Steel rods and beams were exposed, and chunks of cement had crumbled into the riverbed.

We looked for spots to cross. Fallen logs were plentiful, but there didn’t seem to be one that was solid enough to use as passage. We’d have to ford the river.

My husband crossed first with his bike high above his head. Effortless.

Bike on my shoulder, I edged my way into the frigid water. I could barely stand against the quick current, let alone carry my bike across. I yelped, and my husband made a second trip to scoop up my bike and pack.

I was tired, hungry and sore. But, I pushed my way through the cold water, swimming and tumbling to the other side of the river.

When I got across, I was met by a bank at least nine feet high. My husband reached down to pull me up.

“I can’t climb this!” I scowled.

He shrugged. And, of course, I did climb it. At the top of the bank, I could see the car. I laid on the ground for a while, covered in dirt and pine needles, laughing. We had made it.

Since that day, the bridge to Goldmyer has been repaired and now you can practically drive right up to camp. But, honestly, I wouldn’t trade my memories of our trip to Gold Myer for smoother ones.

For more information on Goldmyer Hot Springs, go to www.goldmyer.org

Diane Rudholm is the managing editor and social media coordinator of OutdoorsNW. The 2009 Goldmyer trip remains one of her favorite adventures with her husband. Send email comments here or @OutdoorsNWmag

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