Ahhh, Roger rode to one of my happy places: Mt. Baker. Thanks for posting those photos. I need to get a ride in up there before the snow melts.
DD, are you ready to do some gravel riding to get ready for Cino?
I'll add to Roger n the Dude's contributions to this thread and post more photos from the PNW from my ride today on the fixed gear. I am planning on riding it in Cino Heroica this year so today was a ride seeking out some gravel, washboard, rocks and some climbs to get the feel for riding those conditions on a skinny tired fixed gear.
I headed out from North Bend via the Middle Fork forest service road into the mountains east of town.
I turned around once I got to the middle fork trailhead and this view of the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River from the footbridge.
On the return loop I rode up the Bessimer Spur road until I reached the CCC trail.
This trail is a popular MTB route, I had to carry the bike at the entrance to the trail and for several other water crossings farther up. Otherwise, it was rideable. Challenging on 25mm tires and a fixed gear though.
After a couple of miles climbing singletrack, it opened up onto another service road which I followed back to civilization.
The hardest, most challenging section was descending down to Mt. Si road on a very steep gravel road. There were a few times on this section I thought I was going to slide out or go over the handlebars but I didn't. About 35 miles total, it was fun and challenging ride.