Rat Pac Trail Report

July 3rd

Mt. Stuart

A small group of us left the big city for the day and headed to Roslyn to ride Roslyn Ridge. Being who I am I double checked to see if someone knew where we were going and riding. I obviously didn’t check hard enough since we debated where and how to get to the trail head, even stopping in Cle Elum to hit the bike shop for the beta. We never got to the bike shop, nor did we ever find the race course.

What we did find was lots of climbing and hike-a-bike sections. We found enough that Suzie turned back. (truth be told it wasn’t just the terrible trails we choose but she felt guilty for leaving the puppy in the car) Shortly after Suzie went back we hit a fire road which eventually brought us to the summit of the ridge. I would guess we hit about 3 dead ends and turned around another 3-4 times before we finally found the top of Rat Pac.

“Rat Pac Trail is a 4-mile downhill fast, swoopy trail with exciting gravity drops and one large Gravity Bowl. The trail has hard and easy lines and is well marked, there are structure options for more advanced riders. The trail is accessed from Roslyn town using a logging road climb leading to great views from the top of Roslyn Ridge into the Teanaway valley.” –Evergreen Trail Guide

Location:

Parking lot and start of ride is on North side of Cle Elum. Map

Snoqualmine Pass – Salmon La Sac/Teanaway, Cle Elum Ranger District

Guide books and Maps:

Green Trails map #241

Current Conditions:

The trail was completely dry and in excellent condition.  It is clear that a lot of work had been done this spring already since we rode sections that appear to be brand new.  Bring your climbing legs to get to the top and make sure you have brakes for the way day.  It is a downhill run rather than a XC trail.  All the stunts have bail outs and it’s clearly marked.

Me On First Floor Stunt

I highly recommend this trail but personally I’d like to hit the Roslyn race course first and get some more XC in before I end up in Cle Elum with a 4 mile road ride back to the car.  Look at the Evergreen site for turn by turn directions to ride the Roslyn course first or park in Cle Elum and just climb the fire road.

Scatman

Get out there!