[MtnGoat]

Anybody been all the way to the end of the road up by Mt Baker lately? Specifically, is it still possible to drive to Twin Lakes? I'm scoping new flying sites and looking for some good alpine scenery that will look good on video.

[Backpacker Joe]

What ya flying mr. goat?

[MtnGoat]

Toy airplanes. Slope gliders, more accurately. Up to 10 lbs, as light as 6oz. My larger ones carry a homebrew video downlink for a first person flying experience. I'm always looking for new sites for variety. Here's a page with the kind of flying we do, mountain flying with fun planes and insane pilots. http://www.silentflyer.net/su00pics.html

[Backpacker Joe]

Now that's a cool site. I like the Rockwell X-29 advanced concept jobber there. Now I remember YOU! Sorry about the memory loss. Mr. Northlake! TB

[#19]

Are you talking about the Twin Lakes by Winchester Mt? Those twin lakes at over 5000', Maybe on a snowmobile.......

[MtnGoat]

Those are the ones. I'm not looking to go now, just checking out next years possibilities. Slate Pass is another one on my list.

[Rhodes Scholar]

Road was open to the lakes a year and a half ago. Very bumpy past the Yellow Aster Butte trailhead though. We walked up it on a trip to Larrabee.

[#19]

Sorry goatman, I misinterpreted your question. I too was up to Twin lakes to do Larabee a year and a half ago too. Went up in a friends Cherokee. Very narrow and rough, but doable. When we got back down to the car we were quite surprised by the amount of vehicles at the lakes - up wards of 30. Mostly the 4 x 4 crowd, but included were some Subarus and a VW Rebbit - so it's doable. Quite a pain going down the road as more and more vehicles kept coming up in late afternoon and we had to back up that piece of crap road at least 5 times. So I'd consider walking the (2)? miles when I were go back. Very nice area!!

[MtnGoat]

That sounds great, I'll put that one on my list. With the proximity of Mt Baker and the alpine terrain, it looks like I should get some great video from there. Plus, I can cheat on the descent and avoid those pesky backups by checking out the road below from the air before descending in the truck. Had a friend trail riding on Saddle Mtn a couple years ago while I was flying, and he didn't realize I'd been spying on him from above as he returned from his ride, he was quite shocked when I did a low pass from behind him with no warning, he thought I wasn't looking!

[polarbear]

I wonder if the road up to Watson Lakes might be worth checking out? I think the trailhead starts in a clearcut. The views are ok. Of course you could always hike in to Watson Lakes. If you hike the ridge above the second lake there would be some great flying.

[MtnGoat]

There's a lot of gear on the ground for receiving, viewing, and recording the video, along with charging batteries, etc. This pretty much requires a drive-to site because of the amount of gear. So far, the best sites are Brown's Canyon near Orondo, West Saddle Mtn, Wahatis Peak, Mt Baldy on the Yakima river, Table Mtn, Chumstick Mtn, the hang glider launch on Rampart Ridge, Quartz Mtn on the Taneum, Umptanum ridge, Cole Butte S of Easton, Knowlton's Knob near Pateros. This summer we intend to try Twin Lakes road by Baker, and Raven's Roost, Darland Mtn, Bethel Ridge, Bald mtn all near or S of the Nachez/White Pass area. And to see if the jeep roads on Divide ridge (Dome peak, Strobach Mtn, etc) can provide access to the nice steep west face shown on Terraserver. Images show the track still exists, so there's hope.