Washington State Charity Run

[Son_of_Z]

Skagit Charity Fun Run, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2003

Skagit County, Washington

Organized by Russ & Sue Husk

The Skagit Charity Fun Run welcomes all Datsun, Nissan, and Infiniti automobiles for a day of exhilarating road driving and a beautiful picnic lunch area (BYOL bring your own lunch). The course is approximately 120 miles long and should take in the neighborhood of 3 to 4 hours to complete. This is not a racing or timed event or a car show. This is a road run with some challenging narrow winding roads that go through a wide variety of elevation changes. We will not travel in one big pack. Instead you will be assigned departure positions based on your arrival time at the start point and will start at 2.5 min intervals. There will be lots of time to mingle with your fellow car nuts at the start, break, and lunch points. The start point has a coffee shop and two espresso stands. There is one scheduled break on the course at Clear Lake. When you reach the break area you should spend 20 min there, then depart on time as to maintain our separation.

This is a Charity Fun Run and we are asking that participants contribute at the start of the run. 100 % of donations will be given to the Skagit county Boys and Girls Club. There will be a drivers meeting at 8:30 am, with first car out at 9:00am.

There are some long stretches on this course with no services (gas, restrooms, and stores). Under the column marked “Segment Odometer” if the initials NS appear then there are no services in that segment. There are some small towns that we pass close too but, don’t enter that have all services. The course contains 0 traffic lights, 0 freeway miles, just a few stop signs, and should have extremely light traffic. You can’t take a nap in the middle of the road but you should be able to count the traffic on one hand on most of the segments. As you all know some speedometers/odometers can be + or – a bit so use the mileages as a guide, and keep a sharp eye on the segment mileage. The good news is where we are going there are not many roads so you would have to try pretty hard to get lost. Also, all of the road surfaces are paved; there is no gravel or dirt roads on this course.

The picnic lunch area will be at the Club House in Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Rockport, Washington beside the upper Skagit River. Reserved parking has been arranged for the cars and there is a playground, restrooms, and picnic tables on site. If you choose not to bring a picnic lunch there is a very good hamburger joint about 8 or 9 miles before you get to the park called Marblemount Drive-in. There is a small convenience store within walking distance of the park for snacks, pop, and such. The area has lots of grass and shade trees with unrestricted access to the river.

You can start eating your lunch as soon as you arrive or wait a bit, your choice. I expect the first ones in about 12:30 and cars coming in till about 2:00 at the latest. After lunch you are free to choose your own path down the mountain, there are three: State Route 20 (shortest), State Route 530 (south), and South Skagit Highway via SR 530 and Concrete Sauk Valley Road (my choice, high on the fun meter).

START POINT

Conway Shell gas station, Conway, Washington exit 221 from Interstate 5 on west side of freeway. There is a deli/restaurant on the premises if anyone is interested.

Total Odometer Note Segment Odometer

Mile 0 Right, Fir Island Road 0.2 NS

0.2 Right, Dike Road 5.8 NS

6.0 Right, Britt Slough Road 0.2 NS

6.2 Left, Blackburn Road 1.9

8.1 Right, Little Mountain Road 3.2 NS

11.3 Left, Amick Road 0.5 NS

11.8 Right, W. Big Lake Bvd 3.5 NS

15.3 Left, Highway 9 0.6 NS

15.9 Right

Lk. Cavanaugh Rd (eastward) 10.4 NS

26.3 Right, South Shore Drive 8.0 NS

Follow the road to the left around the lake in a counter clockwise direction South Shore Drive leads to North Shore Drive then North Shore Drive returns you to Lake Cavanaugh Road

34.3 Lk. Cavanaugh Rd (westward) 10.4 NS

44.7 Right, Highway 9 8.5

53.2 Clear Lake Break Area, Break for 20 min

Continue North on Highway 9 1.3

54.5 Left, South Skagit Highway 24.0 NS

78.5 Right

Concrete Sauk Mountain Rd 16.0 NS

94.5 Left, Highway 530 4.9 NS

99.4 Right, Rockport Cascade Rd 10.2 NS

109.6 Left, Cascade River Road 0.7

110.3 Left, Highway 20 8.6

When you first turn onto highway 20 this is the town of Marblemount. As you are heading south on highway 20 on the left hand side is the hamburger joint (if needed) as lunch break is just ahead.

118.9 Left, then Right, we are in the Club House first building on the left when you enter the park. Welcome to Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Rockport, Washington.

Maps at:

http://www.plaidnet.com/guides/SG.02/11.SG.02.pdf

http://www.plaidnet.com/guides/SG.02/12.SG.02.pdf

http://www.plaidnet.com/guides/SG.02/13.SG.02.pdf

Map hints:

1. Increase viewing size to 200% (lower left corner)

2. Start in Conway (south of Mount Vernon) and follow the river north (Dike Road)

3. They take a long time to load

Questions and comments can be directed to Russ & Sue Husk at:

360-424-1422

Son_of_Z@hotmail.com