Dirt Toys

40 DIRT TOYS MAY 2014 destination Ride in the Okanogan was more than OK By Lane Lindstrom TIMING IT JUST RIGHT T ere are times when an off-road ride requires just a little luck when it comes to Mother Nature and her un- predictability—especially in the fall. But when you hit it just right— like we did on our day-ride in northcentral Washington's Okanogan Country—it's more than a good day; it's a spectacular day. Spectacular is really the only way to describe our ride through the moun- tains west of Okanogan and Omak, WA, in mid-October last year. It was a crisp fall day in north- central Washington state—not too hot and not too cold. e sun shone brightly during our ride and the trees were changing from their summer green to fall golds and yellows. e Tamaracks were a golden yellow and were a stunning contrast with the mighty pines covering the mountains. e terrain we covered in our one- day ride was tame by some standards but our ride showed there is enough variety to keep you busy for days. We started our ride in the town of Okanogan right from the parking lot of Xtreme Powersports (which was nice enough to loan Dirt Toys Maga- zine a Can-Am Commander for the day's ride) and headed west on Dry Coulee Road up Windy Hill toward Buzzard Lakes. A Lot Of Everything During the course of the day our group, which included several members of the North Central ATV Club, trav- elled 83.3 miles through water crossings, along wide forest roads as well as narrow two-track sidehills and dense forest canopies, over some rocks but across a lot more downed logs and small stumps. We crossed more downed trees than rocks and boulders, although there was a fun rock section on the trail up to Buck Mountain. In some of those stretches of trails, the larger logs had been cut to allow ATVs and side-by- sides to get through. We didn't stop and measure but just eye-balling it, it was

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