The rain quit early this morning, so we didn’t have to pack up in the rain. But then when we started riding, it was misting a bit. We had four miles to go to Skykomish where we would have second breakfast. I told myself if it didn’t stop raining by the time we left Skykomish, I would put my poncho on. Otherwise, I just wore my Shake Dry jacket.
Bob was planning on eating at the Skykomish Hotel. Well, apparently it’s been awhile since he last ate there. Now, it’s a coffee shop, and they are renovating the hotel. They’ve only been open for a few months.
We were lucky we arrived when we did because the gal (co-owner) was getting ready to close at 9:30. She told us we could still order as she hadn’t really started to clean up yet.
After our “bakery” stop, we had to wait a bit for a train to go by. Actually, there were two trains. It took forever for the first one to go by, and fortunately, the second one waited until we crossed the tracks. Janet was down the street looking around. I yelled to her to come back as the second train was waiting to go. We all made it across the tracks.
First train leaving, second train waiting.
We had to cross the tracks because we wanted to do the Old Cascade Hwy back to US 2 instead of just Hwy 2. Once back on 2, we were supposed to go off to the left for a very short bit. This time we decided to stay on 2 because the part off was so short, so it was just gratuitous highway crossing.
We did eventually go left onto another section of Old Cascade Hwy. This is the section I’ve ridden down on Courage Classic. This was my first time riding up.
It’s pretty much a one lane road.
First time I stopped to take a photo of this waterfall (always just bombed down the hill).
It was about 4 miles of climbing until we came back to Hwy 2 at the Iron Goat Trailhead. We went up to the parking lot to use the restrooms. Bob said we didn’t get back on Hwy 2, but the route said we did. I couldn’t see anything but the Iron Goat Teail on the Garmin (no phone service). Finally, he clarified by saying we did get back on 2, but only for about a mile (it was more like 1/2 mile).
It was another section of the Old Cascade Hwy! As we crossed Hwy 2 and started up the road, I saw a sign that said the road was closed in 1.6 miles. But Bob was sure there was a hiking bridge over the Tye River, then the road continued on the other side. Frankly, since it had been since 1992 when Bob last did this, I wasn’t quite as confident. But, sure enough, when the road ended at the river, there was the bridge!
Going up this previously-unknown-to-me section of Old Cascade Hwy
The bridge
Tye River (Bob said another even earlier time, there was no bridge, and they had to ford the river).
The road, indeed, picked up on the other side. It was a steady climb for sure, but the entire time we saw just one car (and a front loader). The road was mostly in good shape with some short gravel sections here and there.
You can even still see the faint yellow line down the middle.
There were some switchbacks, which made for less of a steep grade. It was so much better than the highway!
Fall colors starting! The sort of line in the middle is the Iron Goat Trail.
The line just below the trees is Hwy 2.
We continued to climb for about 6-ish miles. Finally, we were at the same elevation as Hwy 2.
Hwy 2 to the right.
We popped out just .1 miles from the top of Stevens Pass.
Obligatory Pass sign photo.
From there we had 20 miles (one short climb) down to Coles Corner where we planned to eat at the 59er Diner. We all put warm layers on for the ride down because it was pretty chilly. We also had a tailwind.
It didn’t take too long to do those 20 miles! At one point, I hit 38.8mph. That may not seem like much, but I have 3”Maxxis Minion DH tires on MC (they’re pretty knobby).
We all filled out bellies at the diner. I had a pulled pork sandwich with curly fries, and warm apple crisp.
I actually ate about half before my sandwich because…life is short, eat dessert first.
The bikes outside the diner.
After stuffing ourselves, we had four more miles to get to Lake Wenatchee State Park, our destination for the day. Bob wasn’t sure if he’d made reservations. There was some cryptic message on his planning calendar that said “Trevor 2”. When we got to the park, we looked at the reservation list. Sure enough, we were registered for Site 2. Still didn’t figure out the “Trevor” part.
First shower since my first night, and it felt good! Afterward, I walked down to the lake (even though I have countless photos of Lake Wenatchee over the years from when we come here to Lorraine’s cabin), to get a photo.
It was pretty windy (as usual) and chilly, so I didn’t stay long.
Tomorrow is a short day into Leavenworth. Today was the longest day of the actual route (I have longer days on each end). Going up Stevens on Old Cascade Hwy was really great! If I’m ever riding my bike over Stevens again, I will definitely go this way!
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