Getting There From Greenwater
The first half of your trip to Whistlin' Jacks from Greenwater is like going to Raven's Roost: From the Pyramid Peak Sno-Park, take whatever trail you are most comfortable with to the 19 road (any of the direct/groomed routes from this sno-park to the intersection of 19 and 1914 is about 11 miles - plus or minus a 1/2 mile). Once you get to the 19/1914 intersection, continue east on the 19 road for 6 miles to the Raven's Roost turn-off (the 1906 road). However, instead of turning onto 1906 towards Raven's Roost, continue straight for another 4.5 miles to the Little Naches Sno-Park. You will know when you reach this sno-park (it'll be to your left) because the 19 road becomes plowed for vehicle traffic from this point all the way to Hwy 410.
Once you reach the Little Naches Sno-Park (roughly 22 miles from the Pyramid Peak Sno-Park at Greenwater), you will need to ride along the embankment of the snowplowed 19 road for about 1/2 mile to 1903.
Keep in mind from this point on, there are lots of different connecting trails you can take to get to WJL - we will describe one of the shortest that is also marked with the brown trail signs.
Turning left onto 1903 from the 19, you will travel about 1 mile to your first "Y" in the road - the brown trail marker sign will point you to the right and on to 615. Traveling the ungroomed 615 for about 2 miles, you will come to the intersection of 1901 - turn left onto this groomed road. About a 1/2 mile on 1901 is where you'll reach your second "Y". Again, the brown signs will lead you to the right and onto 715 (not groomed). This 1.2 mile section can get interesting because of a climb commonly known as "Ice Hill". It is fairly steep, narrow, curved, wooded and typically icy. Sounds fun, eh?! The good news is that a work group went up in October 2002 and widened the path with hopes to run a groomer through that section making it easier to ride. However since it's uncertain how often or how successful Ice Hill will be groomed, I'd still be prepared for when brakes won't work going down or when loss of traction becomes a backwards slide half way up...
After you've gotten over Ice Hill, you will come out of the trees and back onto logging roads for 2 miles. At the intersection of 585 and 1708, turn left onto 1708 (groomed) for a 1/2 mile to Milk Pond. At Milk Pond, stay to the right on the 1707 (also groomed) for 2 miles. This next part is an easy one to miss... mainly because of a misleading sign that reads " <-- Cliffdell ". So two miles after Milk Pond, or just about at the 579 and 580 spur roads off 1707, there is a trail on the left that leads up into the trees - it is directly across from this "to Cliffdell" sign that makes you think you should follow the sign... I mean, you've been following brown signs all along thus far, right? Wrong! Ignore this one sign and make the left turn up the ungroomed trail. This is the 572 and you'll be on it for about a mile and a half. When you come to the next intersection with a groomed route, this is the 1705. Take a right and follow that around for 4 miles. When you get to Hwy 410, you can't miss the Texaco/Shell gas station and Whistlin' Jacks Lodge right next door!
Total distance: ~36 miles each way
Rider Ability: 80% of this is pretty easy (especially to Raven's Roost). The parts that get tricky are once you get on the Yakima side and all the ungroomed sections described above that cross deep ruts, several wash-outs, fallen trees and most unpredictable and consequently dangerous, Ice Hill. If the efforts taken to groom Ice Hill pan out in the 2002-03 season, the ease of travel may become closer to 90% easy...
