Trip Jounals
Riding from the Pacific coast (La Push) to the eastern boarder of WA, you go through completely different climate zones divided by the Cascades. NW rainforest to the west, arid farmland to the east. The nickname of “Evergreen State” only applies to the west.
Day 1 August 3 La Push to Sequim
We started from La Push first beach in the morning of August 3. It was drizzling and foggy. We pushed out bike to the edge of the Pacific water and got our rear tires wet, the starting ritual of a coast-to-coast ride that many riders love to perform (others ignore this). Our wives Shuyi and Maria, and Peter’s daughter Katrina and her friend were there to send us off. Katrina helped Peter to collect a small bottle of Pacific water, which Peter carried all the way to the Atlantic coast.
The morning traffic was light on La Push Road out of La Push to Route 101. Steady climbing on both roads. Stopped to refuel at Hungary Bear Café, which, along with Bear Creek Campground and Motel/RV Park, had been closed. At mile 37 we got on the Olympic Discovery Trail. It is a nicely maintained paved trail, going through forests and following the northern shore of Crescent Lake and the southern shore of the Salish Sea near Port Angeles. It is one of trails on my trip that I like the most.
We camped at the Sequim Bay State Park that night.
It turned out that on the first day, we made the most daily total climbing of the entire trip (3969 ft). It was also the longest daily ride for Peter (98.2 miles).
Day 2 August 4 Sequim to Seattle
We continued on the Olympic Discovery Trail until it ended at the Discovery Bay. We switched on State Route 101 and then 20. Route 20 should have been avoided. It does not have shoulders, traffic was heavy, and it curved a lot. Some trucks passed us more closely than we wanted. Soon we were on Eaglemount Road, Old Eaglemount Road, and then Peterson Road, which became unpaved and almost unrideable. This was the first time we were challenged by gravel trails with rough surfaces that made us realized that our tires were not suitable for all gravel trails. We struggled through and reached Port Gamble and then Kinston. The Kinston-Edmonds ferry ride was pleasant and gave us a good break. But Climbing out of Edmonds was tough for Peter. The reward of climbing was decent along NE 180th St.
Day 3 and 4 August 5 and 6 Rest in Seattle
A resting day in Seattle was planned to give us a chance to access our readiness for the rest of the trip. But rain came the next day. We didn’t feel to force ourselves into the rain and decided to take another resting day.
Day 5 August 7 Seattle to Alice Creek campsite
We started with light drizzle, which stopped quickly.
The Burke-Gilman Trail is my home turf. I’d ride on it first no matter where I go from home. I was glad to show it off to Peter as we rode on it along the side of Lake Washington and then on the Sammamish River Trail along the Sammamish River and Lake Sammamish. From there we connected to the Issaquah-Preston Trail, where Peter experienced again riding inside NW rainforests. We had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants on my long-distance rides, El Caporal in Fall City. From there we got on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail (SVT) but not without struggling. There was a steep (13%) hill that I had to walk the first time in the trip. Once on SVT, it was a very pleasant ride with trestles through, again, rainforests. But the second (southern) part is disconnected from the first (northern) part. To get to the second part, we had to first walk again from SVT to SE Tokul Rd and then carry the bikes and bags up to a bridge over the Snoqualmie River. From there, it was a steady, gentle climb to the trailhead of the Palouse to Cascade Trail (PTCT) near the Rattlesnake Lake. We were excited to get on PTCT. But Peter was exhausted from the climbing and ran out of water. After I got water from the Cedar River Watershed Education Center, we moved on to PTCT.
PTPC, formerly known as the Iron Horse or John Wayne Pioneer Trail, is a legendary trail known for its difficulty not mentioning the length (286 mi). Many bikers ride it to claim their badges of honor. It is also very pretty on the western side of the Cascades, covered by forests on both sides. I couldn’t have enough of the trestles. The forests are different when you look at them down from the trestles.
There are many reminiscences of the past glories of the railroad business along the Chicago-Milwaukee-St. Paul-Pacific Railroad: electric power posts with tangling wires, piles of railroad ties, and station signs in the middle of nowhere. We crossed over many creeks, big and small. While some loose gravel surfaces made the riding slow, I had a blast riding on PTCT.
We planned to stop at the Cold Creek Campground. But we couldn’t make it. This is the first of many times that we failed to reach our planned daily destinations. We camped at Alice Creek instead. It was a very nice campsite that can host at least four tents, with picnic tables and a vault toilet. We were the only ones that night.
Day 6 August 8 Alice Creek to Ellensburg
We continued on PTCT. Almost a landmark, a big wooden structure stood right next to the trail. It was used to stop avalanche from covering the railroad. We reached a tourist attraction Snoqualmie tunnel, a former railroad tunnel, now the longest bike/pedestrian tunnel in the US (2.3 mi). It is peach dark inside. You’d have to use a headlight. After that we refilled our water bottle at Hyak, one of the many former rail stations along the former Pacific railroad, now PTCT. Unlike others that were abandoned after the railroad was no longer used, this one is well maintained with restrooms and water fountains. We passed more trestles and bridges over the Yakima River. The changes in the landscape from forests to semi-desert was clearly visible.
We met Jay from S Korea, who was on his way to ride from Pagadonia to Alaska. He had been on this journey for 8 months. He would be our inspiration for the rest of our trip.
The rough and often loose surface of PTCT continued to challenge us and slow us down. We settled the night at Ellensburg.
Day 7 August 9 Ellensburg to Lenice campsite
Even before we started, we had two flats, one for Peter, one for me. Peter’s was an easy fix by replacing an inner tube. Mine was a different story. I had tubeless tires (no inner tubes, sealant inside the tire was supposed to fill small punctures). My leak was from the valve (see Equipment – Pump). Once the tire seal with the rim was off, I could not reseal it back. It would need an air compressor to pump air quickly into the tire. The remedy was to put an inner tube as for the regular tire. I had an axel mount front rack that had to be taken off before the front wheel can be removed. After hassled with this, I decided to see if a local bike shop could help reseal my tubeless tire because that should be much better to prevent flat. We found one (Recycle Bicycle). It was Saturday, there was no mechanic in the shop to help us. I bought more inner tubes to be ready for more flats and we moved on.
The ride that day was mainly on paved roads because the vibrations from the rough gravel surface bothered Peter a lot. Crossing the Columbia River through the Beverly Bridge was exciting. The bridge was built specifically for bikers who ride PTCT! On the other side of the river are two small neighborhoods Beverly and Schwana where we found the only place there with water and food at the Outpost Grocery gas station. We treated ourselves with ice cream. We met three fellows and had a short chat. They gave us tips about the trail and an alternative road ahead. We took a picture together and moved on. At the end of the day came my third highlight: camping at Lenice Lake.
We didn’t see the lake. The camping site is truly in the middle of nowhere but there is a vault toilet. I have never experienced such quietness (except the sound from wind gusts) and the wilderness. Great sunset. The landscape was lit by the bright full moon at night. I was in heaven.
Day 8 August 10 Lenice to Othello
This was the most difficult day of the entire trip.
Peter had another flat right after start. Then another again. Fixing flats is usually not a big deal. But with fully loaded bags and under a scorching sun it is very draining. You have to constantly drink water. This, the heat, and the slow pace soon depleted our carried water. Luckly, we found a farmhouse near Royal City (there was no city!). The owner gave us cold bottled water and even a Gatorade. With many thanks to him we continued.
There was no shade along the trail or road. All shrubs, no tree. We found a big cliff that casted a shadow on the road. We stopped for five minutes and decided to take a long rest at a gas station the farmer mentioned. We continued and the gas station never showed up (it must have been on a different road). We were fully exposed to the sun and heat for many miles without seeing any people although farm/ranch lands were always on the roadside. We stopped at a ranch gate. Again, no shade. I started feeling lethargic for the first time since we started from La Push.
We pressed on and finally reached a nice boulevard with trees on both sides leading to a mansion. We decided to have a long rest here, but we had to get water. Peter felt nausea and had to lay down. I was worried that he had a heat stroke. I peddled to the mansion but no one answered the door. Tried the sprinklers. No water.
After laying on the ground (with a thick pine needle layer) for 30-45 min, Peter felt better. After more rest, water and snacks, we decided to move on. That was when he realized his rear tire was flat. This was his fourth flat in 2 days. While he fixed the flat, I rode to a house a quarter of mile down the road to find water. No one was at home. I found a hand pump and pumped up water to fill empty bottles.
Got back to where Peter was, and googled about the ground water quality in the region. Online advice from other riders was not to self-filter river water to drink. Still not sure about ground water, we decided that any metals in the water wouldn’t kill us. It was bacteria that we had to worry about. So we broiled the water in the middle of the road (there was no traffic at all) to stay away from any burnable ground leaves and needles. We joked about two meteorologists (well, 1.5, and 0.5 oceanographer) started the historical 2025 Othello wildfire.
It took a while for the broiled water to cool down in an air of 100 plus F. Meanwhile we decided to take a rest day at Othello to recover from the physical and mental fatigue. Made a hotel reservation (thanks to cell service), we started again. Soon after, Peter found out his front tire pressure was low. Instead of fixing it, he decided to pump it and ride until the next time more air was needed. It was a slow leak. With this riding and stopping we inched towards Othello.
It would be super nice if that was it. We followed the planned route to get off a main road to a local road that led to a neighborhood where we were chased by many dogs, some of them big German shepherds with vicious roaring barks. I used my dog gazer, a device that sends out low-frequency sound that human can’t hear; dogs can but they don’t like it. It worked, but only for big dogs. Small dogs ignored it and kept chasing. I had to kick them away when they were too close to me (couldn’t do it to big dogs).
After the dog zone we came upon a private property with a No Trespassing sign. It turned out to be a dead end. We had to reverse and go through the dog zone the second time. Training on the ride, I guessed.
We ran out of water again. Stopped at a house and asked a teenage girl in the yard if we could have some water. She looked at us, kept typing on her cell phone, didn’t say a single word, went inside the house, and didn’t come out again. Precaution, we figured. Who wanted to deal with two beaten-up bikers with funny bags strapped all over their bikes. Found another house. The owner (a man, Tolen) gave us four cooled bottled water and refused my offer to buy them.
We moved on. With more stopping and pumping we finally arrived at Othello Inn & Suite. It took 12 hours to cover 36.6 miles, my slowest ride ever! At that point I decided to take the next day to rest and reassess. We couldn’t have another day like this.
We had dinner at Guadalajara (recommended by Tolen). After a chiles rellenos and three beers (Coronas and Modelo), I was a happy man again.
Day 9 and 10 August 11 and 12 Rest in Othello
To minimize the risk and boost our riding performance for the rest of the trip, we had to solve the flat problem. The only remedy would be to add liners between the tires and inner tubes. Peter ordered them from Amazon (no local store carried them), the earliest time they could be delivered to the hotel was August 12. Without a blink I decided to stay here one more night for it.
When we were waiting, we tried to explore the town. There was a historic (100 year) Old Hotel with an art gallery. But it was not open. There are some nice café shops. But in general, it was a very quiet town. I was thinking, if I had to live there, why would I do? I figured that opening a bike shop may not be a bad idea, although it probably won’t make money but would be welcomed by many coast-to-coast bike riders.
I had lunch at Desert Rose Caffee Monday (August 11). Their wifi password is iloveothello. All restaurants were closed for dinner on Monday. I got a wrap from Subway and a Corona from a market for dinner.
Next day (August 12) I had lunch at Cow Path Coffee on Sunday (August 11). Their wifi password was eatdessertfirst. I ordered a pecan butter tart with a salad and a quiche. But they forgot the pecan pie!
The liners came and Peter put them in. All ready to go.
Day 11 August 13 Othello to Ralston
We started early (6:30 am) toward Ling WA where we planned to camp that night. Soon we sensed that the air was smoky. Later we learned that there were wildfires south of us. Learned from the lesson of running out of water, we needed to carry more water. But we have limited bottle capacities. An idea came to me to carry cucumbers, which can be watery snacks.
The Lind-Warden Rd was smooth with decent shoulders. But rubble strips made the rideable space narrower.
We passed a small town Warden without stopping and got to Lind earlier than expected because of tailwinds. I bought from the well-known Jim’s Market two fried burritos for lunch with other snacks. This Market makes arrangement for bikers to camp in the town.
Lind is a typical struggling small town with many establishments closed. I talked to the Mayor Paula Bell. She invited me to the town hall, an office that looked like a small travel agency. She handed me two Adam County brochures, which included information of local towns and activities. Lind had two wells but only one was working at that time. The pump of the other broke, has been fixed, and needed to be certified before it can pump again. That was the only water-related issue they were facing.
We decided to follow our contingency plan and continued to ride to Ralston and camped there. We got on the Lind-Ralston Rd, which was as smooth as Lind-Warden Rd but without rubble strips. There were hardly any traffic. Mistakenly we got off it to PTCT and paid the price. This portion of PTCT was very hard to ride because of the loose pebbles and stones. We could make less than 5 mph. Eventually we got back to the Lind-Ralston Rd. Along the sides of roads were fields of wheat, barley, corn, garlic, parsley, and others. As we approached Ralston the air quality had been improved.
Peter called and informed of our plan of camping there to Randy, the ranger. When we got there we took a wrong turn. Randy was there waiting for us and saw two bikers moving towards away from the town and chased us down to instruct us to the right direction.
The camping site was nice, with multiple tables, a beautiful lawn, a pavilion and a swing chair. Across the street is a Grange Hall 934, with a full kitchen, toilets, and goodies (drinks in the fridge, energy bars, PTCT T-shirts, etc.) opened for us to use. We cooked our dinner in their kitchen.
One Ralston’s landmark was its elevator – a tall building to store and load grains to trains. We saw many of them along the way, some built of wooden and others concrete. They testament the past role of railroad in the agriculture. These days, the elevators are replaced by metal ones and trains are replaced by semi-trucks.
Day 12 August 14 Ralston to St John
We got up at 4:30 am to start early and avoid the afternoon heat. I was greeted in the morning by a mother deer and her fawn.
Peter’s rear tire was flat again from his patched inner tube. I didn’t want him to use another of one of the inner tubes he patched in Othello. I gave him a new one. This was his fifth flat on the trip. We finally rolled out at 7:15 am.
The morning was chilly but pleasant. We started on a smooth road without any traffic. Nature put up a fantastic show. Several times deers ran across the road in front of us or in parallel with us, hawks flew above, different kinds of birds everywhere, and many beetles on the road. I was in total joy.
Overjoying may cause troubles. We missed a turn. When we realized it was too late to go back. We found a way towards where we wanted to go (Malden). It took 15 more miles. We didn’t make it and camped at the city park of St John.
We went through small towns (Benge, Winona and Landcaster). Chatted with Ben at Landcaster. He told me that in this part of WA the wheat they grow is not irrigated. They completely depend on the rain. There is only one rainy month there: June. They grow winter and spring wheats. The winter crops (planted in September and harvested in May) have deeper roots and a longer growing season. They are less vulnerable to drought (less rain the June of the previous year) than the spring crops, which were planted in April and being harvested in August. This past June was a little drier than normal which affected the yield of this year’s spring crops. I asked Ben whether seasonal rain affects the ground water for daily use. He said his well is 180 ft deep and the water level is at 160 ft depth, which he considered a healthy well.
At St Jonh, Marylen, a clerk at their food market, advised us to talk to the people in the city library for camping at the city park. A city librarian called a city manager to make sure the sprinklers were turned off that night for us. We camped next to a pavilion. The city library’s wifi was free for all to use 7/24. You don’t have this luxury in big cities. I chatted with many people here, in a grocery store, in a restraint, and in front of the library when I used its wifi, and in the park where we camped. They seemed to have seen many bikers passing through. There is a hardware store that cooked breakfast for bikers. They opened at 8 am while we wanted to start the next day earlier.
Day 13 August 15 St John to Plummer (Chatcolet campground)
Chlly in the morning again. We rolled out of St John and soon were on unpaved roads that turned into impossible to ride with deep loose dirt. We pushed our bikes through. The roads were made and used by heavy agricultural vehicles (combines, grain trucks). We saw them in action. We thought we were perhaps the only bikers ever who were on these roads (by mistake). Scary thoughts also went through my mind: what if our bikes broke here?! The major problem was there was nowhere we could get water when it ran out. Meanwhile, the vast wheat fields over the rolling hills are breathtaking.
This rough dirt road extended for 20 mi on and off before we got on Oaksdale Rd which was paved roads. We managed to cover the distance we planned to. I have noticed the perpetual cricket calling song from both sides of the road. It was exciting to cross the state line into ID. We considered this our second accomplishment on the trip (the first was crossing the Columbia River).
From Plummer ID we started to ride on the Trail of Coeur d’Alenes. It gave a completely different feeling with trees on the sides, in contrast to the wheat land in eastern WA.
We camped next to Chatcolet Lake in ID under a big oak tree.
Chidong Zhang's WA2MA Bike Trip 