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| The John Wayne Trail |
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It
rained pretty heavily the first night and I had to put the tent away wet as it was
still raining in the morning. I was pretty concerned about the next
night if I didn't make it to my Warmshowers destination in Ellensburg
as I figured the inside of tent would be soaked. Thankfully, the
temperature was pretty decent and the rain tapered off for most of
the day. It lightly rained off and on, but nothing that required
putting on rain gear, at least until the end of the day.
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| Tough, deep gravel switchbacks |
The day started
off with a tough series of gravel switchbacks to get up to the top of
a new trail head. Who knew that the hardest effort to date would be
done off the bike? Once up to the top, it was pretty easy going and
nothing memorable happened for some time other than the path
transitioning into hard packed crushed gravel. My course eventually
directed me off the path up quite a steep mountain climb where I saw
at the top a T intersection, both stating 'Dead End.' Boy was I
starting to get pissed at Google. I decided to continue along the
course anyways and see if my luck changed and thankfully I passed a
resident of the neighborhood out walking his dog. He mentioned that
there were some fire trails that ran under some power lines for a ways
and that was probably what I was looking for.
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| Just a simple obstacle? |
Sure enough, at the
end of the road there was a fire road that followed some power lines.
It was just a short half mile stretch or so but it was quite bumpy.
I passed a family out for a walk and then ran across a formidable (at
least for me on a 100+ pound bike) obstacle; a gate. I ended up
spending five minutes or so removing pieces from my bike until it got
to the point that I could hoist it up over the three or four foot
tall barrier.
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| Rattlesnake Lake |
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After that, some
road riding followed for a bit before entering a park system that
went around the perimeter of Rattlesnake Lake which provided some
breathtaking views. Google/Garmin messed up again as it took me
directly into a gated off nature area. A park ranger wasn't sure
exactly the best way to get to the John Wayne Trail but suggested
heading a few miles down the road and asking at a nearby business.
Dejected, I started out and surprisingly within a quarter mile, found
the the Iron Horse Trail/John Wayne Trail (not sure the difference)
which was my next destination and trail that I would be on for for
quite some time!
My plan was to
ride the JWT all the way out to Ellensburg, and see what the
conditions of the trail were after that. I had been reading online
that east of the Columbia River it was mainly suited for mountain
biking, but who know what type of cyclists typed up these reviews or
what type of tires they were running. The trail through the Cascades
was pretty decent – gravel, but pretty firmly packed. However, it
was slow going as it was a one to two percent grade. I was averaging
under ten miles an hour which was pretty frustrating as there was no
reprieve and you couldn't see the grade. I took frequent rests to
take some pictures, some of which turned out okay even with the
overcast conditions. With a clear, sunny day, the path and the views
it offered would be a photographers dream!
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| Mouth of the 2.3 mile long Snoqualmie Tunnel |
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Around four, it
started raining pretty heavily and to top things off, I got a flat
tire. Dejected and angry from a combination of being cold, several
days behind schedule, and having to change out a flat while getting
the, I seriously debated quitting. The rain tapered off a bit the
final few miles when I got to the Snoqualmie Railroad Tunnel and I
decided that would be a good stopping point for the day, especially
as I was unsure of the condition of my tent and I would have a roof
over my head regardless. After attaching my headlight (a 700 lumen
flashlight strapped to my helmet), I proceeded to bike through the
pitch black 2.3 mile long tunnel and set up camp on the other end.
Not having seen anyone in hours and planning on getting up early the
next morning, I figured it would be okay to just camp directly on the
path in the mouth of the tunnel. Sure enough, my tent was soaked
from the previous night's rain. I dried it as best I could with some
paper towels and set it up to dry before calling it a night.
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