No, not that staircase that we all hope to climb someday when our time is up, but the name given to the trail up to the highest singletrack we can ride here in Washington State at 8,100 feet elevation.

I drove about 3.5 hours over to North Central Washington with a couple 50+ friends with the intention to ride the classic Angles Staircase loop...22 miles and 5,600 feet of climbing. We camped overnight and the next day woke to beautiful weather, partly cloudy and temps predicted to peak out around 60 degrees. We geared up and headed for the trailhead which was a 60 minute drive up one of the steepest and rugged forest service roads that I have ever been on. Unfortunately we arrived at the trailhead only to find that one of my buddies left his camelback with his food and water back at the campground. Back we went to retrieve it. We finally got to the trailhead and mounted up to start the climb to the top.

This is the Martain Creek trailhead - our route up to Cooney Lake and then Angels Staircase. You know you are heading into the backcountry when they ask you to sign a log book before you head out so that they know where to look for you.



Here is what it looked like about halfway up the Martin Creek trail. We climbed about 2,600 feet in 6.6 miles, the trail was generally in good shape and very rideable. Only a few spots with exposure and a few pitches that had to be pushed.



Here is a photo of my riding buddies at Cooney Lake where we stopped for a bite to eat. In about two weeks the larches around the lake will turn a golden color.



From Cooney Lake it was time to climb the Angels Staircase. The trail started reasonably enough and soon we had nice views looking over the lake we had just left.



But soon things got so steep that we could no longer even push our bikes. I put mine on my back and trudged to the top. Here is a look at the trail when I stopped to catch my breath. At almost 8,000 feet I stopped to catch my breath a lot.



Ahh, but the payoff was so worth the effort...the view from the top of Angels Staircase was spectacular.



Now it was decision time. The classic loop drops down and heads north towards Boiling Lake where we would have to climb back up over Horsehead Pass for the ride down to the start. But once you head towards Boiling Lake, you lose elevation fast such that you have no option but big climbs going forward or backwards. Given the delays that we had experienced getting to the trailhead we found ourselves at the top almost two hours later than we had planned. If we were to drop down into the classic loop we wanted a time cushion in case of a mechanical or crash. We did not want to get caught in the backcountry in the dark. We talked about options and in the end being old guys we let wisdom prevail and decided to ride an alternate route out, heading towards the south into the Merchant Basin and then riding the Foggy Dew trail back down to the road where we could retrieve our vehicle. This loop was the same distance as the classic loop but we would end up with about 1500 feet less climbing.

Here is one of my friends riding through Merchant Basin. This was a beautiful area, but this trail was very rugged. Difficult to ride in places even going downhill.



My other friend descending the switchbacks towards the Foggy Dew trail.



When we hit the Foggy Dew trail, we had a 7 mile, 4000 foot descent in front of us that turned into one of the best trail descents I have ever ridden. We reached speeds of 30 MPH on the way down which is pretty darn exhilarating when riding through the trees. We all reached the bottom with big smiles on our faces!



One of the best rides I have ever done. Absolutely epic. I hope to get back to complete the classic loop, maybe even this year before the weather window closes.

Awesome images!

Well done. Terrific photos, too.

Wow!!!

sweet

I'm guessing that after that ride you felt like you had been run over by a dumptruck full of awesome.

Respect!

You certainly deserve the fun ride downhill after a climb like that. The western states of the US must have some of the best trails in the world.

I just figured out your signature line, you dog, you

A descent like that cleanses all the pain from the climb leaving a pleasant afterglow. I have to think hard to remember that climb really hurt

Beautiful ride and awesome photos. Makes me think there's another bike in my future ... full suspension something or rather.

Given your location - YES! Plenty of great trail riding in the Okanagan.