So I left Cheney, Washington on the morning of May 11 around 0630. My goal was to reach Palouse Falls State Park later that night because the falls are pretty and I wanted to see it. Also, since this was eastern Washington, there aren’t many towns and there is very little water to go around. The first 80km went quite well that morning, I made it to Ritzville before noon and ate a 12″ sub at Subway, toasted. From there I headed south on Hwy 261 which would more or less take me to the park. Things were going well and I made it to Washtucna early in the evening and thought about topping off my water but decided against it for stupid reason. It probably had to do with me thinking I only had 30km to go and that shouldn’t be too much of a problem, I had already bike over 120km already this would be nothing! What I found out later was that the last 20km would be pretty much all uphill. And my legs hated me for that. Sorry legs, love you! I eventually made it to the park, quite tired and thirsty But I was there! I made friends with a couple from Seattle camping nearby and they invited me over to hang out with them at their fire and supplied with with food (both of them are chefs), fine mixed drinks, and cannabis. I love being in a legal state!
The following day I rode to Scooteney and aside from the day starting out cloudy, then riding in to a sunny valley, only to climb back up to a plateau to get rained on, then hailed on, then sunny, then rained on again, the day was pretty uneventful. The next day I was riding into Yakima, the gateway to the Cascades. Now I am not sure if they actually call it that but I am going with it. Yakima was going to be my chance to restock on food and energy bars and shit like that before I head into the National Forest. The first bit of the day was a long slog through barren lands that was barely suitable for grazing. There were very few house and fewer towns and rivers. I had the Columbia River in my sites as a place I could refill my dwindling water supplies but before I could make it there the dry air and the sun took their toll on me. I spied some farm houses in the distance and I made that my next goal. I knocked on the first house I came across and they invited me in to fill my bottles. I still had a my emergency water, i.e. my nalgene, but I would rather not have to get to that point. I rest of the ride to the river was predominantly downhill which was very welcome and no longer directly into the wind. Oh yeah, I had been battling a strong headwind all day. I hang out at the rest stop for a bit and I would drink the entirety of my water bottle and refill it and repeat. I knew I had about 60km to Yakima at that point with more or less no services or rivers to refill my water. I left the rest stop and began my long and arduous slog up a 300m climb, into the wind again, and now with rain!!! Oh joy. A little ways up the hill this minivan with a bike on the back pulled over and this grandma rolled down the window and asked if I wanted a ride. One does not turn down an offer like that! This lady was awesome! She is this awesome hippy grandma who was meeting family in Yakima for a bike ride the following Monday. She pointed out every dispensary we passed, then took a detour for her to show me one of her childhood homes in Moxee.
I had decided that the next day of riding would be a relatively light one since I knew the day after that would be a hellish one over the White Pass, which tops out at over 1400m. I biked north from Yakima to Naches which was amazing! It was gradual incline the whole way and almost all of it on dedicated bike path!!!! I also was excited because for the first time water was not going to be an issue! I would be following a river the whole time! I ended up camping by a river in either the Wenachee or Gifford Pinchot National Forest as my map doesn’t have a clearly defined border between them. I was a wonderful site and super relaxing. I slept so well that night which was good because I had a 900m climb to the top of White Pass. I stopped off at a little store near Rimrock Lake and refilled my water and at a bag of chips and Peanut M&Ms. The lady working told me that it was already snowing up there and that 18 to 30 cm of snow were forecast for the night. This should be fun, it’s a good thing I won’t be staying up there! The climb up wasn’t too terrible at all. Sure, it’s not something I would want to do everyday, but as climbs go it wasn’t the worst. It maintained a nice gradual incline and after 5.5 hours I had made it to the top!
The ride down while fast, about an hour, was in ways worse than the ride up. I was getting rained on and snowed on and going fast so I was quite cold. I did appreciate that I didn’t have to bike up that side since it was significantly steeper than the other. I made it to Packwood and treated myself with a hotel room and a very long and hot shower. The only thing that could and would get me out was my hunger. Did I mention that climbing 900m makes one very hungry? Well anyway, it does.
I followed that long and hard day of cycling with a much shorter one to Randle. I had meant to go a bit farther but my legs had had enough. Plus I was getting rained on and hailed on again. Unlike the rain and hail from eastern Washington, this was cold rain. I ended up calling it a day and stayed near town. I knew from looking at the weather forecast that tomorrow would be better weather wise.
I was of two thoughts: one I could take it easy and ride about 70km and then have another easy ride in to Olympia on Thursday or I could push it and bike the ~140km in one long push. I grabbed lunch in Morten and talked to the lady and another Subway and decided to go for it! I refilled my water a few towns later in Elbe and the woman working the gas station warned me about the road going through the canyon, that it was big winding downhill. My grin upon hearing was ear to ear! That’s the kind of road cyclists love, granted the uphill after sucks but winding downhills are the shit!
I ended up rolling into Olympia by 1930 that evening to a hot shower and dinner and a beer. Plus the excellent company of my aunt and uncle! Anyway I am going to chill in Olympia until I fly from Seattle to Fairbanks on June 4!