Oh those beautiful summer days , they are so encouraging to get out and ride somewhere . Washington State is our neighbour to the south , as we live in beautiful British Columbia , Canada so when we heard that the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route ( WABDR ) had been released by the Backcountry Discovery Routes team we quickly started making plans of our own to navigate the perfectly put together route . We had done plenty of street motorcycle trips in the WA but this would be our first off-road exploration .
Traffic was thick and the heat of the day was beating down on us as we navigated the Lower Mainland region near Vancouver heading for the Nighthawk border crossing . Through Manning Park we spotted a huge black bear munching some food at the side of the road , just another day in Canada , eh ? The sleepy border crossing consisted of the usual shenanigans : Where are you going ? What are your jobs ? How much money do you have ? Our interrogator rode a BMW GSA and was keen to show us his farkles after we ’ d been processed through the border but his serious demeanour never wavered . We could tell he wanted to show excitement when talking about bikes and adventure riding but his duty as a stone-face border officer won the battle .
The Nighthawk border crossing is the northern start point for the WABDR route , if you are travelling the route north to south , now begins our adventure . The first section of dirt starts with a bang ! The road goes straight up the side of a mountain providing open views of the farming valley below . Life is definitely good . The riding is a nice mix of well maintained dirt roads with some challenging sections thrown in to make sure you are paying attention . The roads were really fun , both the easier and harder bits . Something that surprised us was that there was more paved sections than we were expecting , however it was a good mix all across the board . After spending all morning riding around in the forest , we popped out of the woods after Conconully on a narrow random paved road . The road seemed like it was from nowhere and going nowhere , the bushes were encroaching on the road and it seemed pretty neglected . These are the best roads though as it ’ s like having your own personal track to explore .