Bob, Thomas, and I went to Perkins for breakfast again. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much restaurant food on a tour, but I’m not complaining. Certainly, I wouldn’t have to if I didn’t want to. Janet seldom joins us, and that’s fine too.
Instead of taking the route as prescribed to get back to the P2C, we just headed straight to it. It meant we missed a small section, but I still got to do about a mile or so more of trail I hadn’t done. So, between Cedar Falls Trailhead (western terminus), and the Columbia River, I’ve done all but the bit through Ellensburg (some is on city streets).
We got on the trail at Reecer Creek Rd.
A little bit of new territory left.
Bob was moving fairly slow today (probably tired from yesterday, and maybe from his crash, although he said he felt fine this morning). I would get ahead of everyone, then wait periodically.
All together on one of the bridges over the Yakima River.
We stopped at the Thorp Fruit place. I got a few snacks and an apple (which I ate there). I think I have enough food to make it home.
Back on the trail, we came to the first of several gates.
I wast he gate keeper for this one, and Thomas was for the one across the road. There are several road crossings, but not all have gates…in fact, most don’t.
Next, we came to the first of the two tunnels for today.
Just as we approached the tunnel, a government pickup truck went by. It kicked up a lot of dust, so we waited for the dust to settle (and we were waiting for Bob and Thomas to catch up).
Going through the tunnel. This one is fairly short.
I went through, then got these photos of everyone exiting.
Not long after, we came to the second tunnel (these are collectively called the Thorp Tunnels). This time, Janet and I just rode on through. This one was a little longer. We couldn’t see the end when we first got in the tunnel.
Good thing I have my headlight!
Once again I got ahead, and came to another gate. This one was at the place where there is the world’s fastest water slide.
Bob said the water is from the irrigation. They have to return any leftover water back to the river. It was a ton of water!
We proceeded on. At the next gate, I opened it, let the others pass through and a couple of cyclists happened to be going the other direction at the same place. I told them it was fortuitous timing.
We were headed to lunch at Smokies at the Depot at the South Cle Elum Trailhead. I was staying with Bob. The wind was blowing a bit, but nothing like yesterday. I asked him if he wanted me to block the wind for him. He said yes, so I was riding slowly so he could keep up. Then from behind me, I hear an “Ack!”. I stop and look back to see Bob’s bike on the ground. I don’t think he went completely down himself. He said he was starting to go toward the edge, and over corrected. I think he was just pretty tired. It’s not difficult terrain.
When we got to the road, Bob said we needed to turn and go on the road. I was pretty sure it was right on the trail (which it was), but I went on the road too. We took a long break, and had food. I had a pulled pork sandwich and pecan pie.
Smokies at the Depot. Literally right on the trail.
From South Cle Elum we still had 14 miles to go. It was nearly 3:00. Admittedly, I pushed a bit harder, and got to Lake Easton State Park at 4:45. There were some pretty windy sections where I would drop down to 7.5 mph, but mostly I was staying around 9ish. I snagged one of the two H/B sites. The ranger wouldn’t allow me to get both sites. Thomas came in about 15 minutes after me, and got the other site. Bob and Janet arrived in about another 30 minutes.
It ended up being 39.1 miles. I thought it would be less because we didn’t do the initial start of the route, but it wasn’t. Maybe it will be less tomorrow.
While we were at Smokies, I got a message from a woman I met in Oregon when I did Sierra Cascades Route. We’ve stayed in touch over the years through FB. She has offered to bring us dinner tomorrow night at the Cedar Falls Trailhead! How nice is that??? I’m excited to see her again!
That’s about it for today. I’ll leave you with a few more photos from the trail today.
Old method of transportation and new method of transportation (at the Thorp Fruit place).
Mt Stuart and some wind turbines in the distance.
Yakima River. Didn’t stray far from it today.
Yet another trestle over the river.
Sparkly in the sunshine.
Yep, Fall is here!
This little guy was waiting for me when I got to the H/B site. He was enjoying his pine cone snack.
1 comment:
Very nicely done account of the ride to the Beverly Bridge. Thanks for sharing, Colleen! Bruce
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