Naches Pass Trail/Little Rattlesnake 4x4 trip

When: Evening of August 3rd through August 7th
Where: Naches Pass Trail and Little Rattlesnake areas.
CB channel: 7

I talked to the good people at the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie Forest Service and confirmed that you will need a Recreation Pass to drive over the Naches Pass trail. They are available here: Forest Passes

The Little Rattlesnake area will serve as a base camp location and staging area for all the wheeling that is to take place. From there, we should have easy access to many areas, including the Manastash and Rimrock, areas that are talked about on this site: Area Trails

Currently, there are three of my friends going on this trip from Bellingham. We plan on leaving after work on Thursday, August 3rd and driving to Greenwater. The forest service road that leads to the Naches Pass Trail starts not far from there. We plan on finding a camping spot either on the trail or somewhere close by that night. My friends and I agree it would be neat to incorporate a night on the trial as part of our trip across Naches Pass. WeÆd be just like the early settlers only we have 4x4Æs, CB radios, GPS, heaters, etc... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> OK, so we would be nothing like them, but it would still be fun.

One the morning of Friday the 4th, we would continue on the trail, coming out on FS19, which will take us to highway 410. Once on 410, itÆs about 15 miles to the main campsite in the Little Rattlesnake area. (DonÆt worry, I camped in the area quite a bit and have never seen a rattlesnake.) From here, we can reach many trails in the area. If required, we can meet people coming from the east side of the mountains in the town of Nile, WA. There is convenience store with camping supplies, food, and gas called the Woodshed, and itÆs very close to the main camp. We can meet any eastern attendees there Friday afternoon. Another option would be for easterners to meet us in Greenwater on Thursday night and camp with us that night. You would have to drive Highway 410 across Chinook pass, but the trip back across the mountains would be on the Naches Trail.

For the eastern people that donÆt want to meet us Thursday night in Greenwater, my friends and I wouldn't have any objection to doing the Naches Pass over and back again one of the days we are there. ItÆs supposed to be a fun trail, so I donÆt want anyone to miss out.

Once camp is set up, we can do whatever we want. IÆd like to take a run across Bethel ridge at some point and head up to an old fire lookout in an area everyone calls Jumpoff. ItÆs on the edge of a pretty high cliff overlooking Rimrock lake. I used to go up there quite a bit. The view is amazing. There are also a few lakes in the area, so people could do some fishing if they wanted.

At some point, IÆd like to do a night run/mini star party. A couple of potential attendees are into amateur astronomy, and will be bringing telescopes. ItÆs a nice, relaxing way to stay up late. You never know what you might see, shooting stars, comets, planets or distant galaxies. ItÆs a good time. If you have binoculars, you should make sure to pack them.


Attendees: Bryan/Storm Trooper + 2 kids Isuzu Trooper, Bellingham, WA
John + 1 kid 1970 Ford Bronco, Bellingham, WA
Andy + girlfriend lifted 1987 Subaru hatchback Bellingham, WA (youÆd be surprised at what this little car can do)

I hope you can attend.

I'm in. I'll meet you guys early friday morning on August 4th, and can wheel until 6pm Sunday evening. Then I have to head back home, so I can be at work 9am on monday morning.
Looking forward to camping and wheeling with ya. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

Great!! It's been way too long.
Are you going to meet us in Greenwater?

Yes, it's been way too long.

I will meet you guys in Greenwater.

I'm a little unclear on something. Will you be camping on the Naches trail Thursday night, or will you be starting the Naches trail Friday morning?

As soon as we get onto FS70 in Greenwater we are going to be looking for a place to camp. The friends that are following me after work from Bellingham and I are taking a slight risk that we will be able to find a place to camp for the night before we get to the actual trail. I have listed the CB channel, if you can give me an approximate arrival time we can be listening for you. I plan on keeping the campsite as close to FS70 as legally possible.
I've never been there (Naches trail) though, so as I said, we're taking a little risk. Think we can find a place?

Yeah, your taking a little risk, by just trying to find a spot to camp. Naches is a fun trail, you'll have a blast. It's one of my favorites. If you can't find a place to camp, I do have some lodging options in the nearby area. What time are you leaving Bellingham, for greenwater? I might head up thursday night, if your thinking your going to get to FS70 around 10pm. That would be about the same time as me, if I leave from work at 6pm.

Thats what I thought. I'm thinking that that fact that it will be Thursday night will be a help though. I have been looking at a lot of maps for the area, and it looks like there should be plenty of options, as long as we can beat the crowd.

For the people traveling from Bellingham, we all work at the same place, and we all get off work at 3:30. I am planning on leaving town arounf 5:00 or 5:30 at the latest. I figure three hours travel that night puts us in the greenwater area around 8:30-ish

Your going to go from Bellingham, thru Everett/Seattle, and to greenwater in 3 hours on a friday night during rush hour traffic? Man, can I get some driving lessons? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> Okay, I'll monitor CH 4 on my CB.

Hopefully. Every other Firday I leave Bellingham at 4:00 and get to North Bend at about 6:15, with a 20 minute stop in Marysville. Each person will have a passenger, so it's car pool lanes as far as we can.

You're going to be on channel 4? OK, we'll keep an ear out.

So who's going, and what type of rigs do they have?