Our goal was to complete the route early Sunday morning, leaving us adequate time to get home Sunday afternoon. We paid our toll and crossed the bridge about 7:45 a.m., marking the official start to our journey. On Friday morning, I was on the bike at a quarter-to-seven covering the final 45 miles into Cascade Locks, where I met my brother-in-law at the Bridge of the Gods. Time for bed and my last shower for a few days. It was dark, I was tired, and the bugs were ferocious. Did I mention that I was traveling west, into the sun? By 9:45 p.m., I'd ridden 270 miles to The Dalles and tapped out. It was 100° in Spokane when I left, and 103° by the time I reached the Tri-Cities. The next few hours were predictably brutal.Īs you may have heard, we're in the middle of a heat wave. My goal was to cover as much of the 315 miles between Spokane and the Bridge of the Gods as I could. Exhibit A: My journey to the WABDR's starting point on Thursday evening.Īfter spending the day in mediation, representing a client in a dispute with a disgruntled employee, I raced home, chatted with the family for a few minutes, and then hopped on my trusty Kawasaki KLR 650 at 5:00 p.m. I am no stranger to long days in the saddle (SaddleSore 1000), but as a busy attorney, sometimes I have to cram those miles in the hard way.
I use both the GPS tracks and a paper map when I ride BDRs. The organization also sells a paper version of the route with Butler Motorcycle Maps, which again contains language seeking to absolve itself of liability for riders' errors and omissions.
#WABDR GPS TRACKS DOWNLOAD#
Of course, to download the tracks, aspiring adventurers must first sign an obligatory online release of liability, which I read thoroughly and have some thoughts on.
#WABDR GPS TRACKS FREE#
To facilitate access, the organization provides free downloads of their GPS tracks, which allow riders to navigate a designated path through mountains, forests, and deserts. The WABDR was developed by an exceptional Seattle-based non-profit organization called Backcountry Discovery Routes ( To date, the organization has developed 11 BDRs throughout the country (the eleventh being the forthcoming Wyoming BDR). The route generally follows the east side of the Cascade Mountains and is comprised of gravel roads, jeep trails, and a smattering of country highways to connect gas stops. The Washington Backcountry Discovery Routeįor those unfamiliar, the WABDR is an approximately 600-mile off-road route that starts in Cascade Locks, Oregon, and ends at the Canadian border near Nighthawk, Washington. It was ambitious, but I knew we could do it. Our plan was to ride the complete route in a little over two days, which would mean only taking Friday off from work. Despite living in Washington, I had not ridden the WABDR start-to-finish. Thus, when my brother-in-law asked if I wanted to ride the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route (WABDR), I jumped at the opportunity. While the group headed south in early June to ride the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route, I stayed home to close out a few cases. Due to work obligations this summer, I was unable to partake in my riding group's annual adventure ride.