Riding in the Gifford at night is like floating at sea. The Dark Divide is a ridgeline between Mount Saint Helens and Mount Adams in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. As part of the largest roadless area in Western Washington, its imposing passes and cliffs are mysterious and difficult to traverse. It’s remote, quiet and rather intimidating to enter on a bike. On the west side you have the gentrified NF 25, a paved tourist friendly traverse between Cougar and Randle. On the East end you have NF 23, a semi-gentrified, recently washed out and repaired thoroughfare between Trout Lake and Randle that skirts the side of Mt. Adams. Between them is a whole lot of wild, connected by the Boundary Trail which is the ridgeline between all the passes. Boundary is actually the border between ranger districts rather than something more interesting. It’s easy to under appreciate the scale of this area, and the rugged terrain which keeps it wild. Yesterday I climbed Elk Pass, descended NF 28, passed by the trail that @reneherse and I rode in February, then continued onward to climb Baby Shoe Pass. At the Pacific Crest Trail, I cut over to NF 88 and descended in darkness down to NF 60. It’s not my first time riding this area at night, but it was the first time I did it solo. Intimidating and humbling. We live in spaces where the darkness itself has been gentrified. There, the darkness is tangible and total.