Burley Mountain
On October 2nd, Kim and I decided to take a drive up to Burley Mountain. The mountain is roughly equidistance from Mt Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt Adams (Adams is a bit further than the other two). When we left Vancouver in the morning it was cold and cloudy, we weren’t sure if we would be able to see anything up there or not. We took I-5 to highway 12 then east to Randle. By the time we got to Randle the skies were clear and it was a beautiful day. From Randle it is just a short distance to FS 7605.
FS7605 was a great road. This is a fun road, in fair condition. There were a couple areas with sizable ruts and a lot of fun water bars. From the start of FS7605 to the top of Burley Mountain is only 9 miles, but in that 9 miles you gain 4000 feet in elevation.
Once on top of the mountain the views were every bit as great as we had anticipated, with clear views in every direction. You could even see a clear outline of Mt. Hood in the very distance. At the top there is one of the few remaining smoke lookout towers, and a brand new radio tower. Up there we ate out lunch, and took some pictures.
Leaving Burley Mountain we continued south on 7605 then merged onto FS 28. After a few miles 28 ends at FS 25 (a major paved road). We 6 miles on 25 then turned on to FS 2573, still south bound. FS 2573 was another great road. No so much because it was challenging or rough but because the scenery is fantastic. Large sections of the road have a high canopy of deciduous trees creating a very surreal feeling.
FS 2573 dumps out on to 25 again. So another 4 miles on 25 then left onto 93. We drove 10 miles on 93 and 9303, let me tell you 9303 was a crappy drive, full of very large and very deep pot holes. Rough, narrow, rutted, rocky, steep, etc. are all fun, but I really hate potholes. They just aren’t any fun.
Overall it was a fantastic filled with fun, laughter and some great scenery.
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