Wheeling Across Eastern Washington: A 6-Day Bike Camping Adventure

Pre Trip:

A friend and volunteer at my workplace, Melanie, asked me if I'd be interested in a bike-packing trip. We bonded over delivering hundreds of bicycles to schools together last year. We quickly decided to connect a work trip of mine in Ellensburg, WA to a bicycle trip. And right there, I had immediately committed to my longest trip by bicycle, ever. The trip was going to take about 6 days, and 5 nights, from Ellensburg, WA along the Palouse to Cascade Trail to Idaho. Melanie and her husband Craig were my cross-state travel buddies. I look back now, and can't imagine how much harder this trip would have been without them.

Gear:

I used the only (non-electric) bike my household has, a carbon Diverge. Not ideal for touring the more rugged parts of Eastern Washington, per recommendations, but it was going to have to do. And to be honest, it excelled. I only had a couple weeks to get this trip together. I ran 42 mm tires, tubeless, 1x11 drivetrain, an 8 liter seat bag, half-frame bag, 7.5 liter handlebar bag, 1 feed bag, 1 top-tube bag, a mini handle bar bag, and 2 bottles.

Day 1: 0 miles

Spoiler: We didn't get very far this day.

I finished work around 2, and Melanie and Craig were cycling into town. They parked several miles north at a friend's house. The plan was to have a family friend come pick us up close to the Idaho border on our last day and drive us back to Ellensburg.

I got a call from Melanie just as I was tightening the laces on my shoes, eagerly waiting to clip in and knock out 35 miles that afternoon. They were set to arrive any minute. "I blew out a tire. There's sealant everywhere." she said to me. I chuckled. If we were going to have an issue, it's better that it happened now, I thought. Fortunately, the perfect plan flashed before my eyes. A support vehicle from my work event was close by,

and they instantly offered to pick up Melanie and get her to me, to fix the tire. I rode away from our original meeting point until I ran into Craig, and then I led him through downtown Ellensburg until everyone rendezvoused at a local brewery. The tire looked good and the sealant wasn't a terrible mess. I threw a tube in, Craig and I cleaned up the wheel and brakes, and he plopped the repaired tire/wheel on Melanie's bike, while I wiped sealant off of myself. We were sipping on beers ciders that evening, and we decided it was too late to make it to camp by dark that

evening, so we got a hotel in Ellensburg for day 1. We got decent Mexican food for dinner.

Day 2: 36 miles

This was by far the slowest morning of the trip. I had two continental breakfasts at the hotel that morning. One at 6 am when they open the breakfast area, and again, right before I left the hotel. Melanie, Craig, and I were bright-eyed and ready. We grabbed some fresh coffee grounds and rolled out of Ellensburg around 11 am.

We were all grins and giggles until the infamous sandy stretch east of Ellensburg. But we all fared wonderfully. I felt like I was floating through this the sand compared to some to other rides, more treacherous sand pits in western Nebraska (*cough* Roubidoux Rendevous *cough*). We stopped by a very spooky train tunnel, and saw some massive owls nesting in the walls around us.

We felt like they were a good omen for our trip. I looked down, and picked up an owl's feather, thanked the owls, and tucked it into my bag, just to have a little extra luck with us on this trip. Then we raced and dodged rocks at blazing speeds through Yakima, and we had a tailwind that I could only describe as being reminiscent of my days riding in Florida, the day before a hurricane rolled through. We probably couldn't have cycled against most of that wind, but for the last few miles of our day, we had to. We took some steep Indiana Jones-looking dirt path off the Palouse To Cascade rail trail, to get to the road, to get to our camp at Wanapum State Park. As soon as we hit asphalt, we were battling a massive climb and gusts of wind that would throw us off balance. This was definitely one of the most challenging moments of this trip.

The campsite was as sheltered as could be, but the winds were fierce. None of us slept well that night, especially myself, because I ran out of cooking fuel for our trip, half-way through our first night. I was in charge of packing the fuel for our trip, and I didn't realize my can was nearly empty when I packed it. I beat myself up until we got to a town where we could get fuel. Melanie and Craig didn't seem to mind too much, and we packed great food options for situations like this.

Melanie and Craig cycled across the whole US a few years ago, so I was riding with real, seasoned, cyclists. Their ability to brush off every mishap or unfortunate event never ceased to amaze me on this trip.

Day 3: 46 miles

After a mediocre night of sleep, we eagerly jumped into bowls of cold-soaked maple and cinnamon oatmeal and instant coffee with electrolytes or something neat like that. The coffee was super good and I supplemented that with some beef jerky and dried fruit before stuffing my sleep gear back into it's itty bitty bags. Packing was a lot slower for me every morning than for Melanie and Craig, but we were never in a rush, really. This was like a vacation for all of us.

We had a fast, gorgeous, and fresh descent to Beverly Bridge, which is the State's newest pride and joy of their "rails to trail" routes. The water of the Columbia river sparkled to our left, as we buzzed our way down and over the river. The sky was so big that morning, I couldn't stop looking up.

I bonked a little bit this day. I realized it when Craig was cutting up an orange for the three of us to share. I remember getting a little rain that morning, too, I think. We decided to detour to a hotel in Othello for the night, instead of cycling up to Potholes State Park to camp, like planned. And let me tell you, we made an excellent choice. I feasted in Othello. I ate like it was my last day on Earth. The best torta I've ever had was at Ramiro's Bar and Restaurant. And the staff/hosts were super nice to us even though we looked and smelled ragged. The bikes were parked on the dance floor, with the disco ball, lightly shimmering overhead. With full stomachs, and a margarita in my hand, we planned our next moves.

This was the first town we've been to since Ellensburg. We went to Walmart, the only store in town. I needed cooking fuel, chain lube, chocolate, and Craig needed bolts. Craig didn't find bolts, but then he ran over to an auto store nearby. To waste time, I biked around. I wanted another snack after dinner, and found a van in the back of the parking lot selling tamales and elotes. I ordered a cup of elotes, which was served in layers of corn and cheese, with spices and sauce on top. I threw it in my feed bag, and munched on it until I passed out in my hotel bed that night. I was so ready to crush tomorrow's ride.

Day 4: 62 miles

This. This was enough miles for one day.

I once had big dreams of doing 80 mile days to do a personal speed-run of Washington state, but after this, I just don't need to ride the struggle bus that much, ya know? I'm ok, I go to therapy. I just ride bicycles for fun.

I only had 1 continental breakfast this morning.

Anywayyy, much of this day was spent off trail on highway detours. Melanie was the route planner, so I was surprised to see us on pavement for hours at a time, but that's just the way the route is. It made me feel good about my 42mm tire choice. We were counting onions and potatoes on the side of the highway to keep ourselves busy. Melanie almost got nailed by a potato that fell out of a truck.

The trails we did take were CHUNKY. The mandatory detours were HILLY.

But it was like cycling through that classic Microsoft background, the one with the blue sky and rolling green hills. Only the hills were yellow and cut, farmed, a reminder to us that summer was surely coming to an end. And it was like that, all day. Until it rained. And when it rained, it poured. We were soaked. There was no detour, and we HAD to make it to our hotel that night. We stuck to the plan this day and cycled a bit off the trail, to Ritzville, WA. The hotel was welcome after a long day in the saddle. Melanie even did a load of our laundry. We had Mexican food again... (starting to see a pattern here?) but this time, it was terrible. We were desperate for calories, and our options were slim. We crushed the chips and salsa. I almost choked on the cheese on my burrito. This was the only point on this trip that I second-

guessed my life choices.

Day 5: 63 miles

Ya know how I said yesterday was enough? Well Day 5 was a doozy.

Breakfast was of the upmost importance at this hotel, and I could tell. I crushed two continental breakfasts, one at 6 am, and another with Melanie and Craig at 7:30. There was bacon. Which was great, because I powered through the riding this day, even though I was walking my bike a lot. It was a little slow, but super steady. I was pretty driven and motivated. Melanie and Craig's equally enthusiastic mood never faltered. We knew we'd make it to camp that night, together. And today had to be better that yesterday. We faced the worst headwind of the trip, early, but for a couple hours.

I'd take a headwind over hills and rain, any day. I recall walking my bike only a little on hills.

Our lunch breaks often consisted of us eating random items in ditches or shaded spots out of the winds.

We camped in Malden, in the center of the town. We knew when we were close, because every tree as far as the eye could see was black, charred from a massive fire that swept through the very land we were cycling on, only a couple years ago. But there was incredible amounts of green regrowth, ribboned between the blackness. The field we camped on was only a square block, maybe less, but it held town hall and the library, both portable buildings. There were a few shipping containers marked "natural disaster clean up"

I looked down as I set up my tent, closely observing the ground. I could see more burn marks, right below my feet. The grass was growing strong beneath my feet. How resilient I thought. But it wasn't just the grass that night. The locals leave their park open to strangers on bikers/hikers passing through. There's no where to spend money in Malden. It's total charity. The fire station, also a portable, had a shower and bathroom, cleaned and unlocked for passing travelers like us to use. Thankful was an understatement for the safety and amenities we had that night. We ate freeze-dried meals as it got dark, and went to sleep around 8 pm. We could hardly stay awake.

Day 6: 42 miles

I think today was the most "woodsy", and the trail was incredible from Malden to the Idaho border. We decided on a quick breakfast and headed to a restaurant in Rosalia, a mere 10 miles away. We spun through construction zones and said big thank you's to the men working on building the trail. I think there are incredibly big efforts to polish up the rail trail from Malden to Idaho. This was by far, my favorite day, in every way. I felt like we were fast, the weather was great. We dined at the only open restaurant in Rosalia that morning.

I ate the special: fried fish, fries and a bowl of clam chowder before we spent the better part of the day walking over and under train trestles. We arrive in Teako, have a quick beer at the one bar in town, and then we book it to the Washington/Idaho border, only 5 miles away. We had just biked hundreds of miles to get here. 5 miles was nothing.

Arriving to the border was anticlimactic. There was not a big sign, or a drastic line on the ground. There was no finish line.

We felt like champions having dinner in Teako that night. As we scarfed our meals of burgers and heaps of fries, a local, working in a bakery, from the next town over, came up to our table. She sold us pastries and coffee about 6 hours and 30 miles ago in Rosalia. She congratulated us on our big finish. We told her how grateful we were for the kindness of everyone in the towns we travel through, including her.

We slept in the town field that night, it was about the same size as Malden's.

Day 6.5: 22 miles

I woke to small puddles in my tent, but I slept incredibly well that night. Our ride back west was going to meet us somewhere between Teako and Spokane. So we couldn't sit on our butts. I packed up at an excruciatingly slow pace, and Melanie and Craig led the way to the only cafe open that morning. We were cozy, and Craig and I were chatting about our sore sitbones while our captain and navigator, trying to procrastinate while Melanie pulled up routes on her phone. There were a few options, but we took a route that looked well-ridden on a cycling heatmap. This day felt downhill most of the day, and we were on very quiet roads.

We rode towards Spokane until our pick-up ride was close. We waited about 15 minutes for our wonderful driver, and family friend of Melanie and Craig's, to meet us on a massive gravel shoulder near an intersection, south of Spokane.

~

I sat down in the gravel and had a celebratory smoke while Craig loaded my bike into the truck. What a week. Breathe in. What a life. Breathe out. It all kind of felt like the beginning of something new but also the end. But as I looked up at the blinding blue skies above me, I realized this is a chapter, maybe even a page, of the life I hope to live.

I think Melanie and Craig also feel really accomplished. The drive back was happy and a quiet at times.

~

Melanie's blog of this trip ends with an addition of a couple anecdotes about us, including that I won a cemetery counting game, and we also bought caramel in every town we could.

Here's some more:

I also almost got knocked out by a small herd of deer while bombing a hill at 30 mph. RIP to my brakes.

I raced some curious horses.

Craig said he ate a bunch of apples on the trail when Melanie and I weren't looking. There are A BUNCH of apples along the Palouse to Cascade Trail.

He also took a beautiful onion from the highway shoulder, that fell out of a truck.

Melanie gave me the confidence to pee in the wild over the course of this trip.

Craig and I found pieces of a vole skeleton. I kept them.

We went through a bag of Werther's caramels.

Tailwinds Y'all.

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