Quick Summary
- Our pal Tyler Brilinski is brimming with creativity when it comes to concocting massive adventures, and his "Tour De Volcanoes" tracks well with his resume thus far. Three states, 16 active peaks, and 160k of vert are on deck. Technical parts of the plan are, as they say, up in the air.
Words and Photos by Tyler Brilinski
Sometimes I wish there were a bigger purpose to the quests that we dream.
Other times I pretend there actually is.
Summer is rapidly approaching! The plans buried in winter are beginning to emerge all across our lands. Most years, my summer-do list ends up being overly ambitious.
But this year?
This year, I have learned nothing.
Dreaming big and feeling glamorous between the northernmost Cascade volcanoes.
The trip that has consumed the most of my attention is a multisport epic spanning three states and 16 active volcanoes. Beginning at Mount Lassen in Northern CA, the route ascends 160k vert by the time it reaches Mount Baker near the Canadian border. The climbing is split evenly between hiking/running/mountaineering in one column and road/gravel biking in the other. Approximating the Tour de France in total elevation gain and duration, this challenge was dubbed the “Tour de Volcanoes” by its original author.
This blend of bikepacking and hike-aineering is relatively new to me. Last year, I bike-hiked the Washington portion of this route and it was one of the funnest adventures I’ve done to date.
Rewarded in the final steps of last year’s five peak Volcanothon.
After that trip, I started thinking about the complete Cascade trip. The FKT is 26 days, and I wondered if I could do it in under 23 (the duration of that way less-cool ride across France). Hiking and mountaineering have basically been my full time job for a decade, but learning to bike like a pro has taken a lot of attention.
Pro packing on last year’s trip.
Gear has come a long way. Stoke remains the same. My first bike-hike. “Sea to Summit” Mount Rainier 2021.
Sneak peek at HMG pannier prototype. On the market sometime twenty-twentynever. Dyneema duct tape patent pending. UL bikeaineering kickstand sold separately.
Sure, equipment has to be light. But there’s a lot more to consider–road closures, bike configurations, the tradeoff between cycling weight and mountain safety. What happens if the bike breaks? Where are the resupplies? Exactly how fast can I ride that busy stretch of highway? Which bag of chips is the most aerodynamic?
And then there are the peaks themselves. Some of these mountains I have climbed many times (40 combined summits on Rainier, Hood, Baker, Shasta). While there are others I have never even seen. Of the 16, two are just short off trail jaunts. One even has a road to the top. While the longest is over 30 miles and 11k vertical gain. Mostly it’s just snow walking but a few require a modicum of technical consideration.
The right tent for everything from the asphalt to the alpine. This trip will have it all. A recent scouting trip to the route’s technical crux: Mount Jefferson.
Sunrise on the route’s highest peak: Mount Rainier/Tahoma
There is a joy in defining and establishing some new route like this. But working within the parameters of an existing challenge provides its own interesting caveats. The start and end are defined. Certain points in between must be reached. But exactly how you get between them requires creativity and strategy.
The 100+ hour CalTopo. If you note the general route resembles the PCT you’d be right. I will intersect the trail a dozen times.
Comfortably mapping the route during the rainy winter months is one thing–actually going out to execute is another. The training for something like this is its own unique process as well. Unlike many sports, there isn’t a ton of data regarding efforts like this. When I turn to the world of cycling most of what I find seems merely data driven distraction. For the most part, the “scientific” approach hasn’t resonated.
It used to take some challenging technical objective or extended expedition far from home to capture my attention like this trip has. But I’m all in. Totally obsessed with puttering down the road on my stupid little bike.
Maybe this new mode means that I’m aging. But I’d rather call it “evolving.”
June 1st the mayhem begins!
