I had to make a trip across the mountains for work and decided to bring my bike along to try Rat Pac. It was about 90 degrees out and I went up alone (not advised). I parked in the little parking lot across from the trail head to Cole Creek and then headed left down the trail until I ended up near the start of Roslyn (across from high school). I headed up from there. The gates were open up the paved road to the left but there was some crews working up there. The trail is not the easiest to find but one of the workers pointed me in the right direction.

My bike and I were not ready for the climb. Good lord. There were times when I almost turned around and headed back down the main trail. It is an unrelenting uphill climb that is neither short nor shady. It is also very dry. My bike had a hard time keeping the traction in the rear at times and I found myself dismounting and pushing occassionally. I was really glad I filled my camel back all the way up because it was nearly empty by the time I finished the climb.

Fortunately, I met some nice dudes up at the top. One was from Rosyln and he was very familiar with the trail. He gave me some pointers because the downhill sections can be hairy at times. That being said, there is a work around for less experienced people like me at every obstacle on the trail. Even if you are not hitting the 3 or 4 foot drops, it is still a blast to bomb down. Be cautious if it is your first time because some of the obstacles and turns will creep up on you pretty quickly. Overall, the ride down must have taken me somewhere around 15-30 mins. It was a great run and now that I have been spending more time at Duthie I look forward to taking the trail down again, despite the climb up. 

*I would not recommend going alone. That was a mistake. In the future I will not do a trail that long and secluded by myself. Also, I crashed a little at the very end of the run near the bmx park. There are a lot of loose pine needles. A deer popped out of the woods, startled me and I hit the needles. My bike immediately lost traction and slid. Just be careful in the summer months near that one location.