On an otherwise still morning near Mount St. Helens’ Johnston Ridge Observatory, it was hard to miss the sound of more than 100 motorcycle engines raring up Spirit Lake Memorial Highway.
Clad in leather jackets and sunglasses, the bikers made the roughly 60-mile ride Saturday morning from Kelso for what they hope to be only the first year of the annual Deputy Justin DeRosier Memorial Ride.
Kelso resident Craig Klingberg organized the ride. DeRosier loved “anything with a motor that went fast, especially motorcycles,” Klingberg said, so it was fitting to start a memorial ride in his honor.
Riders from as far as Wyoming and Arizona joined the group. Neil DeRosier, the deputy’s father, led the riders on his son’s motorcycle, which was emblazoned with “WRECKLESS” — a nickname Justin DeRosier went by.
Rider Alexis Wiper said she was tearing up during the ride, and her husband, Sgt. Kirk Wiper of the Kelso Police Department, said DeRosier “would have really dug” the chance to join them.