Last September, if you read this blog, you might remember I was doing a tour to the grand opening of the Beverly Bridge across the Columbia River…that didn’t happen (the grand opening).
Fast forward to April, and the bridge is finally ready to open. The powers that be decided Friday, April 8th would be the day for the Grand Opening Ceremony. Katie asked if anyone would like to do a bikepacking overnight to the BB for the grand opening. Since it was on a Friday, that eliminated some, but Erin and I agreed to go.
Erin and Katie came to my house Thursday afternoon, and we loaded up gear and bikes in Katie’s truck. We drove to Ellensburg, and stayed the night in a hotel.
The next morning, we drove to a colleague of Katie’s, to park the truck while we made our way to the Beverly Bridge. Turns out, Greg lives right next to the Palouse to Cascades Trail!
Getting gear on bikes!
The grand opening festivities started at 1:00pm. We had about 34ish miles to ride. We left Greg’s right on schedule at 9:00. The wind was already whipping, and it was a tailwind! We jumped right on the trail.
Erin in the lead, and Katie right behind.
We made one stop to remove a layer (it was pretty warm) in Kittatas, then continued on to the Renslow Trestle. Last time I went over the trestle it was very windy. This time was no different.
Approaching the Renslow Trestle
Katie and me (photo complements of Erin)
As we were riding along, I had fallen back a little. As I was catching up, I could see Erin’s bike was on the ground, and she was still extricating herself from underneath it. Ruh roh, that’s not good! One of the bottle cages on her fork had somehow gotten caught in the spokes, and brought her to a very sudden stop! Fortunately, it was pretty sandy, and Erin was unhurt. It took some time to get the cage out of the spokes (also fortunate that no spokes were harmed). The cage mount was actually bent. Erin was able to stash the cage and water bottle elsewhere, and we got back to pedaling. Not much later, the Anything Cage, with a dry bag attached, pulled off one bolt, and toppled over. This time, thankfully, no crash. It was reattached with the straps going around the fork to make sure it wouldn’t do that again.
Fixing the Anything Cage.
With the mechanical hiccups all sorted, we arrived a bit later to the Boylston Tunnel Bypass. Some guys had passed us earlier, and we could see tire tracks leading toward the tunnel. However, I had attempted the tunnel last September, and found it to be rather swampy on the other end. We rode the Bypass.
The only real hill of the day is on the Bypass going over the closed Boylston Tunnel. (Photo by Katie)
Erin at the high point.
Looking over the edge.
East end tunnel entrance
Katie carefully getting a photo
Erin and I coming off the Bypass (photo complements of Katie).
From the top of the Boylston Tunnel, it was downhill to the Columbia River, and the Beverly Bridge. It’s not a steep downhill, but with the tailwind, we were going 20 mph without pedaling! This is the section of the trail where there are several cuts through the rock that the railway went through. There is a fair amount of rock fall in these cuts. I just about bit it in one where there was a lot of chunky rocks. Lucky for me, Billy did a good job, and I was able to stop and get a foot down instead of crashing.
A much “cleaner” cut (photo by Erin? Katie?)
Katie and I!
Erin coming through a cut.
Since we were flying along at a break neck pace, we were soon seeing glimpses of the Columbia. We took a short detour for a photo op.
Don’t go off the edge!!!
Thanks to Katie for this awesome photo of Billy!
Wanapum Dam out there.
The closer we got, the more people we encountered on the trail. The staging area was on the west side of the bridge. There were tons of vehicles parked, and all manner of people walking, and walking bikes. A number of people brought bikes that were definitely not suited for the trail, or even the approach to the bridge. For some reason, they had put down a thick layer of gravel from the Huntsinger Rd crossing to the bridge. Even with Billy, I found it to be a little squirrelly at times, but at least I could ride.
Big parking area created for the event.
Thick gravel section to the bridge.
We parked our bikes at the staging area (literally…there was a stage). I was walking back to Billy after taking a photo. There was a guy saying, “Whose bike is this?”, and pointing to Billy. It was then I noticed he also had a Priority 600X. He said he had just gotten his. That rang a bell with me, and I asked his name. When he said Jeffrey Fritts, I realized it was the guy from the Priority 600X Facebook page, and I had been reading his posts as he was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his bike! I had even commented on a couple of his posts. I told him who I was, and he recognized me too. We chatted about our bikes (of course) and our various bike travels.
Jeffrey and I, with “Billy” and “Rubberband”.
The festivities started with a bunch of speeches from various community members including members of the Wanapum Tribe. Governor Inslee and Ralph Munro also spoke.
Inslee
Munro
Finally (after 1 1/2 hours of speechifying), it was time to ride across the bridge. I guess I should clarify by saying we rode and scootered across the bridge. The wind was quite forceful, and those on the unsuitable bikes also had to walk them across the bridge (even though it’s a concrete surface).
A bit of a traffic jam.
Erin and I dodged people and bikes as we made our way across. The wind was so strong, it was pushing my helmet around on my head! We lost Katie as she saw a friend (who, turns out, designed the bridge!), but met up with her on the other side.
See how caliwhompus my helmet is?
There’s Katie!
Katie had a lead on camping at the Beverly Dunes which was not quite 2 miles further on the P2C.
We rode around, and settled on a campsite we
See the pile of rocks on the vestibule floor? I later used them to anchor a stake that I could not get into the ground.
Erin’s, mine, and Katie’s tent (she borrowed my Duplex). (Photo by Erin)
Chilling a bit.
Erin and Katie opted to ride back into Beverly to the store for beers. I don’t like beer, and there was no way I was riding back into the wind. I held down the fort at camp.
When they got back, we took a walk out to the dunes.
Desert Dune aliens! Did I mention the wind???
Katie was walking backwards into the wind.
Desert dune treasures (a quarter and legos).
I didn’t bring a stove for this trip, and it was a just as well. The wind would have made it pretty difficult to cook. Erin managed to get water boiling by huddling behind the campfire pit.
I had two wraps with yellow fin tuna, avocado, olives, cheese, and dill pickles. They were quite delicious! I also had some Organic Himalayan Sea Salt Plantain Chips (I brought them with me, but turns out they had them at the Beverly grocery store…we had a good laugh over that one…the ONLY organic thing in the whole store).
After dinner, we messed around a bit more, but then, being tired of the wind (did I mention how windy it was???), we retired to our tents for the night. The next day was likely going to be brutal…
Goodnight from Beverly Dunes
Day 2-Did I Mention the Wind???
Throughout the night, the wind came and went, then came again, but when I woke up at nearly 6:00, it was calm! I immediately started packing up, ate my breakfast (cold soaked muesli with hemp seeds, flax, chia, MCT oil powder, coconut, dried blueberries, coconut milk powder, and some granola…very filling!). Katie arrived at the picnic table, followed soon by Erin.
We were all packed up and heading out by 8:00. As soon as we returned to the P2C, the wind met us head on. Oh…this was NOT going to be pleasant! We knew that it was going to be nasty, but…wow! At the bridge (deserted today, of course) we took a photo before heading across.
Erin in the distance.
We bobbed and weaved across the bridge into the wind. It was almost as difficult as negotiating the people the day before, only this time we were just trying to ride in a straight line!
The heavy gravel on the other side was not helpful in trying to ride with the now very strong cross wind. A couple of times it started to blow me toward the edge, and I had to put my foot down.
When I caught up to Erin and Katie at the street crossing, and beginning of the Yakima Training Area, we discussed our options. Having only been able to manage about 3.5 to 4 mph, we questioned the sanity of continuing on the P2C. The alternative was to ride Huntzinger Rd to Vantage, then take the Vantage Hwy back to Ellensburg (in the reverse of what I had done in Sept). We decided to take the road. Even though the wind would still be nasty, at least it was easier to pedal on the pavement.
The crosswind was, at times, very strong, and at others not so bad, when there would be a rock wall offering a little protection.
Not so bad here…brutal around the corner.
Just before Vantage, I was almost to Katie and Erin when a gust of wind blew me onto the side of the road. Billy’s rear tire literally slid sideways into the gravel shoulder! Gah!!! I managed to get back on the road, and make it to Katie and Erin.
We rode over I-90 and into Vantage. The grocery store was open, and we took refuge from the wind.
Boots, the friendly grocery store kitty.
After some discussion, we decided to have Greg pick us up at a trailhead parking for the Stone Tree Trail. It was two more miles up the Vantage Hwy. That was the longest, hardest 2 miles, ever! Did I mention the wind? It was so fierce that I had to ride out in the lane, and be very careful not to turn, even the slightest, toward the edge of the road. More than once, I had to stop, as I was being blown to the side.
Up ahead, I saw Greg turn into the parking followed by Katie and Erin. Great timing!!! I arrived, and we unloaded the bikes, put them in the bed, and drove back to Greg’s.
Giving it our best shot, but knowing when enough is enough!
At Greg’s, we transferred our gear back into the bins, changed out of our bike clothes, thanked Greg profusely, and headed into town for some lunch before hitting the road home. Erin checked the traffic cams for Snoqualmie Pass and Tiger Mountain. So far, it was looking okay, but snow was on the way.
We managed to make it over the Pass (it had started to snow, but the freeway was still bare and wet) just in time. When we got home, things had deteriorated over Snoqualmie.
Pretty, and not bad…yet.
It was a good thing we bailed when we did. We might not have made it over the Pass if we hadn’t.
We all agreed this bikepacking overnight had been a success, even with the nasty, no good, horrible wind of today (of course, that same wind was our friend yesterday!!!). We know we can do hard things, but we also know when to call it!
Another link in the Palouse to Cascades Trail is complete! Eventually, I will do the whole thing! Thanks go to Katie for organizing this one, and thanks to Erin for making it a threesome!
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