Every spring we meet up with the 686 team for a trip where we can collect photos, video and enjoy some face time with one another. After our trip last year, Patrick mentioned that he would love for the 686 crew to roll up to his house in Bellingham and he’d show us around his stomping grounds. 50 meetings and 1 year later we came to the conclusion that Pat’s house was where we had to be. We formulated a plan and broke the good news to the crew. In the end, not a single person complained when I mentioned we’d be heading up to Grandpa Pat’s for this year’s bonding retreat. That was it.. Bellingham or bust…

Our crew,  Derek Dennison, Ryan Tarbell and Atsushi Hasegawa all met up at Bellingham International Airport then headed down the road a few miles to Pat’s house..   Pat greeted us with his Northwest hospitality; a couple glasses of wine, a quick match of croquette and teriyaki steaks grilled to perfection for dinner. The stage was set for the week ahead and the 686 crew couldn’t have been happier. Our base camp for the trip would be Patrick’s cabin in Glacier about a half an hour drive from Mt. Baker. A great place to call home and an even better place to relax considering there is no cell service or internet. If you want to make a phone call ,you’re doing it on the landline in front of the other 10 bros that are bunking with you. This can be a blessing or a curse, it just depends on how you cope with it.

The mountain is another story. For those of you who haven’t been to Baker, you’re missing out. Everywhere you look there is somewhere or something to build on, drop into and jump off. After scoping the endless possibilities all the riders faces lit up with ideas, but Pat just said “follow me!” Each day we would hike to some of Pat’s secret zones where we would build jumps, mow some food, get the shot and then head on over to the next jump zone. The work ethic that Pat has would leave many other shredders in the dust which made this trip very productive. Tons of locations followed by even more shots.

Each day, the boys did work and it paid off. Hitting everything from your run-of-the-mill straight hits into powder to some of the more infamous Baker spots like the cat track gap and the Mt. Baker road gap. Did I mention Brett Esser flew in for the second half of the trip from Vermont the night before and ended up hitting the road gap first thing that morning? No big deal. Anyway by the end of each shred day the crew was stoked to hop in the car and roll back to Pat’s cabin where we’d relax and regroup while master chef Pat would whip us up some dinner. Savory morsels followed by hot tub sessions ensured the guys were relaxed and ready for the next day of shooting and shredding. 686 will definitely be making it back up to the PNW. Hopefully sooner than later.

A special thanks to Patrick McCarthy, Liam Gallagher, Joe Bosler, Jeremy Dubs, Scotty Studdach and anyone else that we may have forgotten. Thanks for a great trip! We’ll be back soon!