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After the first 3 hours of the trip I was hooked. I've been riding motorcycles year round since 2001 and have clocked 125,000 miles + in the saddle. I've ridden Europe, New Zealand, much of the U.S. and Canada, and I dare say none of that has been so intensely involving and enjoyable as my first dual sport camping trip.

I finally broke down and bought a slightly used BMW G650X Challenge dual sport motorcycle in mid to late 2008. I'd been wanting a dirt bike for quite sometime but had always thought of something more long distance worthy like a BMW R1200GS that could dabble in off-road riding. Luckily for me this used G650X came along at a relatively affordable price and I jumped at it. Who would have ever thought that a motorcycle making less than half the horsepower of my first street bike and less than 1/3rd the horsepower of my current street bike would be so much fun?!

After having ridden probably 20,000 miles just in Whatcom County in the past few years -- every back road, every loop, backwards and forwards -- getting onto the dirt was an epiphany. Suddenly everything that I had seen so many times before looked completely different and new. In allowing travel off-pavement the dirt bike opened a whole new avenue of exploration and adventure. I found that I could leave my house and 20 minutes later was looking at Bellingham from a completely different angle never before seen. The amazing views and never before travelled dirt roads were--and are--completely enthralling, and paired with a whole new motorcycling dynamic has made for one of those "why didn't I do this years ago?" moments. Roll on the gas, slide the rear of the bike around a gravelly corner, stand up on the pegs to see over and around things, splash through big puddles. It was like learning how to ride all over again and oh what fun it is. See something up a hill? Just plot a course and go for it. Where does that road go? I don't know, let's see!

After a couple months of searching out every stretch of glorious dirt in western Whatcom County I finally talked my friend Sean into purchasing a dual sport so that he could join me in my quest. We found him a nice used early 90s Honda 650 and we were off. A quick tuneup later and his beast was in top form ready for our first adventure. In past years Sean and I have racked up many a mile on street bikes together. Last year for instance we did a quick 2,000 mile / 3-day loop up into the B.C. interior to Jasper, down to Banff, around Glacier national park, back into B.C., down into Eastern Washington, and then home. This year though we were in for something completely new and exciting.

We plotted a course for east of the mountains and the rest was history. Our first day took us on an insane detour through a myriad of hazards including extreme water bars (7 foot deep ones!), a stream crossing, steep uphills and downhills, a couple minor tip-overs, and finally when we were almost completely lost we happened upon a Boy Scouts of America camping park and finally back onto pavement albeit in completely the wrong direction. Our total elapsed time? Three and a half hours. The time it took to ride pavement back to where we started? 20 minutes. So maybe dual sport riding isn't the fastest mode of transportation... but it's FUN. Really our slow progress east was due to man-made hazards, a washed out bridge, and then our urge to explore alternate routes rather than forgo our visions of connecting point A to point B.

Once back on pavement we headed east over highway 20 and camped under the stars on a beautiful clear night at Lake Diablo. What followed on day 2 and 3 was possibly the most fun I'd ever had on two wheels. Eastern Washington proved to be the holy land for dual sport riding -- at least in terms of its proximity to home. Unlike Western Washington where many dirt roads are gated or private land, Eastern Washington is an intricate web of amazing gravel roads. Most amazingly the gravel was generally smoother than the pavement--I couldn't believe it and still don't. We left the pavement in Mazama and did a 40 mile loop north and then back down into Winthrop where we had lunch. Then we hit the gravel again and rode all the way up to Conconully and then back to Twisp for dinner. That night we camped south of Twisp at a nice campground on a lake of which the name escapes me. The next day was one that all other days of motorcycling will be measured by. We road nearly 190 miles of contiguous gravel from Twisp all the way to Leavenworth with only a spot of pavement in the middle in Chelan where we stopped for lunch. It was wonderful sunny day and we enjoyed mile after mile of blooming wildflowers and supremely twisty road running along the spine of 5,000 foot mountains. In every direction and at every corner we were awed by fantastic views looking down from our elevated viewpoint on the world around us. The kicker of the day was that we only saw 5 or 6 people on the gravel sections. Motorcycling nirvana and it was all ours! Amazing. From Leavenworth we rode pavement around to Granite Falls and finally found a camping area near Verlot. The next day was a short one to Darrington and then back home, but we found a great route from Darrington right near Sedro Woolley all on gravel. It basically is a set of forest roads that go diagonally across from Swede Heaven Rd. near Darrington and comes out on the South Skagit.

Now that I'm back home and still glowing from the trip (5 months later!) I've been anxiously waiting for the snow to melt so that I can get back up in the hills. I took my camera to shoot along the way and got some great shots that I think sum up the trip quite well. Enjoy!