I had numerous adventures over the summer, many of which kept me outdoors and away from the keyboard. Now that life is returning to somewhat of a routine, I’d like to share some of them.
My husband and I each got a mountain bike this year. While I enjoy hiking, my husband prefers to get places a litter faster so we thought we’d give trail riding a try. One of the best cycling trails in the state of Washington is the “Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail”. I know, it’s a bit of a mouthful but locals might know it better by its old name, the “John Wayne Pioneer Trail”. The entire trail spans nearly 224 miles and was once a rail line.
Given we are both novice riders, we wanted to pick up the trail where we wouldn’t encounter too much trouble. We recently purchased a travel trailer and planned a trip to Lake Easton State Park. This park is located along the trail and was a perfect opportunity to check things out. Twenty miles west of Lake Easton along the trail is the 2-mile long Snoqualmie tunnel. We had hiked the tunnel before and thought someday it would be fun to ride through it on bikes.
This would be a 40-mile round trip excursion in one day and the distance was a little daunting. Like I said, we aren’t experienced riders and most of our trips had been less than ten miles up to this point.
We packed a lunch and loaded up our bikes. We were sure to bring lots of water as it was a warm August day when we made this trek! We set out from our campsite and headed to the trail. That portion was probably the most difficult part of the trip. The lake is at a lower elevation than the trail so we had some elevation gain but it wasn’t too bad.
Once on the trail it was smooth riding westbound! The trail is packed gravel and wide enough for a car to drive so there was plenty of room for us to ride side by side or pass other hikers and cyclists. We didn’t see too many though on this midweek August day. We stopped a few times to take pictures, hydrate, and snack. Before long we arrived at Hyak, the trail head for the tunnel!
It was fun riding through the tunnel though I wish I had a stronger light on my bike as I couldn’t see too far ahead of me. While the rest of the trail may have been quiet, the tunnel portion had a lot more activity. A work crew had a truck inside and many hikers and bikers were there checking it out.
When we got to the other side, we stopped at a shaded picnic table and enjoyed our lunch. The table was located just outside the tunnel and the breeze coming from the tunnel was quite cool. By the time we finished our lunch and prepared to return to camp, I was getting cold.
We got on our bikes and headed back…it kinda sucked! Traveling eastbound through the tunnel was more difficult than we had anticipated. The tunnel remains pretty cold year round and we were going against the wind. Our muscles weren’t as loose thanks to the half-hour down time (though we did stretch before we headed back). By the time we reached the other end, we were very cold and stiff and couldn’t wait to get back into the sun!
We continued down the trail toward camp and I noticed I was riding in a higher gear. While the trail felt flat on the way to the tunnel, there was a very subtle change in elevation. The first ten miles back (30 miles into the trip) were pretty good. Our muscles had loosened up in the heat and it felt good to be riding. But eventually the total distance began to catch up with us.
Our water reserves were nearly depleted and our bodies were beginning to feel the strain we were putting on them. At no point were either of us winded from our exertion, our bodies just began to ache. The last five miles were quite difficult as I found I couldn’t find a comfortable riding position. My back and my arms were sore from the hours of essentially “leaning” on my handlebars.
We made it safely back to camp and vowed we would do more practice trips before we endeavored such a long ride again. While the last few miles may have been a struggle, I was glad we did it and we plan on doing it again next summer.
End Transmission