Mint Sauce Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 If you have a bucket list, put Mt. Constitution on it! It's not the easiest place to get to involving a ferry ride from Anacortes to Orcas Island and therefore a minimum of 2-3 days is best to make it a good trip. I headed out after work on Friday taking the last ferry and arriving at Mountain Lake campground around 1am. At breakfast I asked other campers about the trails and one couple offered to shuttle me to the top, :-). A few other gravity riders were shuttling, but most opt for the long grind up the paved road or trail (not for me). The vista from the top is a 360 panorama of the Puget Sound area, the San Juan Island chain and parts of BC, Canada. The full, top to bottom biking trail is only open from September thru May and this was the last weekend that it was open for bikes. Sitting in the rain shadow of the Olympic National Park the soil composition is similar to Mt. Pinos/ Mt. Abel with a climate slightly drier than surrounding areas making it a good fall, winter and spring riding destination. The trail is broken up into 4 sections between the various island's lakes and descends around 4 or 5 miles (?) to Mountain Lake campground. It's mostly downhill (75-80%) with a few short uphills/ flat sections, but nothing lung busting. The trail is a mixture of single-track and double-track with technical rock sections, roots, a few kicker/ endless transitions into loamy tacky dirt and plenty of smooth, fast forested trail with epic vistas. The best bike choice would be a sturdy trail bike with 140-160mm of travel with my 2006 Giant Reign being perfectly suited to the terrain and I saw mostly new style AM rigs like the Ibis Mojo, Pivot 5.7 etc. The only casualty was that my dog caught a field mouse on the trail, which probably died of shock! This is a great trail for a trail running dog and can be ridden/ run top to bottom in under and hour, although you'd be a fool not to stop at the lakes/ vista points. http://trails.evergreenmtb.org/w/index.php?title=Trail:Mount_Constitution http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=234&u=15701436'> http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=235&u=15701436'> http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=236&u=15701436'> http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=245&u=15701436'> http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=237&u=15701436'> http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=239&u=15701436'> http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=240&u=15701436'> http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=241&u=15701436'> http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=244&u=15701436'> http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=243&u=15701436'> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 That looks really nice! And its cool to see someone who's really getting out. I'm definitely on the lookout for places to add to my "must visit" list. But having seen a fairly good amount of the west...I know that can easily turn into an almost infinite list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayakthecoast Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 I was a kayak and bicycle guide for ten years in the San Juan's. I've cycled to the top of mt constitution more times than I've wanted too! Beautiful country. Paddle to the outer islands they are a must. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrel Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Did those Islands in the early 70's. They still look the same. Beautiful pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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