Oh Juniper Ridge!  Familiar words on this ride are Fun, hike a bike, Devils Staircase, Juniper Peak, Tongue Mountain and a damn good time!  We start our day by parking near the Cispus learning center near Randle, WA.  We hop in the Shuttle Van and head to our shuttle road, around a 1 hr 15 minute shuttle from pick up to our drop near Sunrise Peak.  At our drop point we have a solid hike a bike until we reach the ridgeline, 20 minuets roughly.  Once we hit our ridgeline trail, Juniper Ridge, we will make our way North.  This is a ridge line in the middle of the Gifford Pinchot national forest, the riding is fun and beautiful, but it can also be challenging at times, both up and down.  Hike a bikes happen with us, but they are so worth the effort to gain the ridgeline and experience the scenery and views not many are privy to.  Our first descending feature is the Devils Staircase, about a 1,000 foot drop in 1 mile… the statistical descending to mileage ratio we dream of.   It’s fun and scrappy and feeds you to the bottom of a small drainage and meadow below the Staircase you just rode.  From here, we have a partially rideable and partially hikeable ridgeline we climb, another 45 minutes to an hour to our high point on the ride at Juniper Ridge. 

Juniper Ridge is a Fin shaped rock and an incredible vantage point for Adams, Hood and Rainier… even the Goat Rocks.  We start our massive decent off the top, a massive 15-20 minute decent, with a nice medium grade, moto bermed turns and some chunky sections we’ll find appreciation for.  We’ll land at Lambert Saddle, a good poiint for us to gather and shake out the hands for the final descent of the day down Tongue Mountain. 

Tongue is a great tail to the ride as we’ve made our way from a top the ridge near Sunrise Peak from the south and worked our way north.  Eventually we’ll need to find our way off the mountain and down the drainage, Tongue is our path.  A sweet moto influenced tread, full of whoops, natural jumps and wide open sections with great site lines.  We’ll end at the northern tongue trailhead, just a mile from our morning meeting spot.  What a day it will be, press that book now button and secure your seat!