The Road Less Scootered By

On Sundays I don't have to be at work until noon, so I was able to get out for a few hours in the morning on a scooter adventure. I left home around 8:00 AM and it was still misty in the Issaquah valley, so I figured I'd scooter up and see if things were clearer on the plateau.

This is the Tradition Plateau trailhead. I'm actually headed up to the more developed Issaquah Plateau.

Here's a vanity shot of Swifty's headbadge.

Swifty has 16" tires, a front hand brake and rear foot brake.

The local skater kids can't resist the bare walls of the trail tunnel.

The city keeps repainting the walls beige, the kids keep redecorating it.

This is "official" beige art.

The trail switchbacks up to the Plateau.

Swifty's handlebars are 53 cm wide and offer good control.

Swifty's front brake has good modulation and stopping power.

Tiger Mountain in the background.

Swifty doesn't have a kick stand, but I'm getting good at finding picturesque things to lean him against.

This staircase on the Plateau has a little grove for bike or scooter wheels.

Looking back at Tiger Mountain

A mossy retaining wall.

I'm getting the hang of my camera's self timer. See how slick the trail looks? That's ice. It's really too slick to kick!

I kick anyway (very, very carefully!)

It's cold but the sun is working on warming up the day.

More mist and mountains.

The unpaved trail is actually better scooting this morning. It's crunchy, but not as slick.

The pond by the hospital is like a mirror this morning.

Here comes the sun.

I improvise a stand for Swifty from a stick.

Back on the paved trail. It's still damn icy.

Swifty's deck is textured like a skateboard.

It's shaping up to be a bright, clear day.

Another shot of the ice. I wound up walking the slickest sections very carefully.

But mostly I scootered. And since I get asked a lot, yes, I switch off which foot is kicking.

I've got a high-vis slow vehicle triangle on my backpack.

Still misty in the valley, but I'm going to head a bit lower.

I'm scootering down into that fog bank.

This is the Issaquah-Preston Trail. I'm not going to Preston today, but I'll kick up to Highpoint.

As I climb gradually east and the sun climbs in the sky, I come out of the fog.

One of the little trailside streams.

This is one of my favorite spots.

I cross under I-90 at Highpoint and head west to the trailhead and the Powerline Road

An overlook at Tradition Lake on Tiger Mountain above Issaquah.

The rolling terrain of the Powerline Trail. Super fun mountain scootering!

A bit of still water beside the High School Trail.

This was a wonderful descent.

At the base of the mountain now. Almost back in town.

The return to paved trails.

I love the way the moss is gradually eating away at these old foundation stones.

So that was my Sunday morning. I'm still getting used to a big wheeled scooter and eventually I'll post a detailed comparison of Swifty to my other scooters. But I know this already: this is a scooter that can handle the road less travelled by.