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.
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| This is the Tradition Plateau trailhead. I'm actually headed up to the more developed Issaquah Plateau. |
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| Here's a vanity shot of Swifty's headbadge. |
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| Swifty has 16" tires, a front hand brake and rear foot brake. |
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| The local skater kids can't resist the bare walls of the trail tunnel. |
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| The city keeps repainting the walls beige, the kids keep redecorating it. |
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| This is "official" beige art. |
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| The trail switchbacks up to the Plateau. |
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| Swifty's handlebars are 53 cm wide and offer good control. |
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| Swifty's front brake has good modulation and stopping power. |
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| Tiger Mountain in the background. |
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| Swifty doesn't have a kick stand, but I'm getting good at finding picturesque things to lean him against. |
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| This staircase on the Plateau has a little grove for bike or scooter wheels. |
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| Looking back at Tiger Mountain |
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| A mossy retaining wall. |
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| 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! |
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| I kick anyway (very, very carefully!) |
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| It's cold but the sun is working on warming up the day. |
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| More mist and mountains. |
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| The unpaved trail is actually better scooting this morning. It's crunchy, but not as slick. |
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| The pond by the hospital is like a mirror this morning. |
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| Here comes the sun. |
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| I improvise a stand for Swifty from a stick. |
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| Back on the paved trail. It's still damn icy. |
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| Swifty's deck is textured like a skateboard. |
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| It's shaping up to be a bright, clear day. |
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| Another shot of the ice. I wound up walking the slickest sections very carefully. |
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| But mostly I scootered. And since I get asked a lot, yes, I switch off which foot is kicking. |
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| I've got a high-vis slow vehicle triangle on my backpack. |
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| Still misty in the valley, but I'm going to head a bit lower. |
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| I'm scootering down into that fog bank. |
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| This is the Issaquah-Preston Trail. I'm not going to Preston today, but I'll kick up to Highpoint. |
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| As I climb gradually east and the sun climbs in the sky, I come out of the fog. |
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| One of the little trailside streams. |
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| This is one of my favorite spots. |
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| I cross under I-90 at Highpoint and head west to the trailhead and the Powerline Road |
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| An overlook at Tradition Lake on Tiger Mountain above Issaquah. |
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| The rolling terrain of the Powerline Trail. Super fun mountain scootering! |
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| A bit of still water beside the High School Trail. |
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| This was a wonderful descent. |
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| At the base of the mountain now. Almost back in town. |
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| The return to paved trails. |
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| 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.
