2016 John Wayne Pioneer Trail - Day 9 - CELEBRATION!!

We rode from Rosalia to Tekoa and then the final 5 miles to the actual Washington/Idaho border. Conceivably you could ride from Pine City to Tekoa. Please refer to our Day 8 post that includes directions around the removed Rosalia trestle and through the Rosalia marsh.  You really begin to relish the change in scenery as you start traveling towards Tekoa.  Aspen groves, Ponderosa Pines and other evergreens intersperse with marshes, thick vegetation, and rolling fields of wheat, alfalfa, chamomile and other agriculture.  This is also an area where there are large egg distribution centers and seed producers.  There are huge marshes outside of Tekoa and when we rode in 2016 they were impassable; however, in 2017 these areas had been mowed and vegetation killed back so we were able to ride quite a ways through the marsh.  There is definitely a spot you reach where you could choose to wade through or just hop up on the road, ride a short ways and return back to the trail. There aren't any road or trail signs to indicate where these short detours are, you will just have to sense for yourself and choose ways that work best for you.

The trail officially ends in Tekoa, just up the main road where there is a large sign called "Slippery Gulch", however, if you want to reach the actual WA/ID border you'll need to ride up and onto the trail for the 5 miles to the true border.  The Tekoa Trestle has no decking and there is no way around it so you have to watch for a small road that will take you up on to a farm road you can ride into Tekoa.  If the marshes are overgrown again, then you can ride the farm roads into Tekoa.  I've included directions below with farm road detours and staying on the trail.  Tekoa has a couple of restaurants, a market and a wonderful, somewhat self-serve, B&B - Tekoa Lodging.  We had our family meet us at the border for celebrating our accomplishment and a ride home!

Trail riding notes:

• Rosalia to Tekoa with farm road detours: As you leave Rosalia, ride North back on S Park Ave, left on W 7th St, left on Horlacher Road, left up onto the trail (you'll see the gate and signs). Once up on the trail you will have to wade through the Rosalia marsh; follow the trail for 6 miles. At this point, you will reach a huge trestle that no longer exists; you need to walk to the left and up onto Pandora Road; turn right and ride down Pandora Road, then right on Wilhelm Road; follow Wilhelm Road for 0.1 miles and then left back up onto the trail.  Follow the trail for another 6.6 miles, you will notice the trail bed significantly changes from gravel to thick marsh grass as you look North into a canyon cut-through. There is a tiny dirt road of about 500 feet long to the right and you can take this to get on the farm road detour; turn left onto Lone Pine Rd; follow Lone Pine Rd for 5.2 miles (LOTS of hills) and then it makes a natural left hand turn, cross the bridge and then ride up to Hwy 27; turn right onto the highway and follow for 0.2 miles, then turn left onto Spring Street (if you wanted to go into Tekoa and take pictures at the Slippery Gulch sign and trail end you would ride 0.6 miles down Hwy 27 and turn right onto Crosby Street; the sign will be on your right); follow Spring Street for 0.3 miles, it dead-ends in a T at Washington Street; turn right onto WA Street, then left onto the trail.  Finish the trail in 5.3 miles where there is a small sign to the left that states "End of WA DNR Milwaukee Road Corridor".
• Rosalia to Tekoa via the marsh: As you leave Rosalia, ride North back on S Park Ave, left on W 7th St, left on Horlacher Road, left up onto the trail (you'll see the gate and signs). Once up on the trail you will have to wade through the Rosalia marsh; follow the trail for 6 miles. At this point, you will reach a huge trestle that no longer exists; you need to walk to the left and up onto Pandora Road; turn right and ride down Pandora Road, then right on Wilhelm Road; follow Wilhelm Road for 0.1 miles and then left back up onto the trail.  Follow the trail for another 6.6 miles, you will notice the trail bed significantly changes from gravel to thick marsh grass as you look North into a canyon cut-through.  If the marsh is passable, you can go ahead and keep riding! Follow the trail for another 2.2 miles; at this point (in 2017) we reached an extremely soggy, overgrown marsh and diverted up onto the road for a short ways. Turn left onto Chase Road, right onto Lone Pine Road and follow for 1.2 miles; at 0.1 miles on Lone Pine Road stay to the right at the Y to continue on Lone Pine Road; at 1.2 miles turn right on a dirt road (no name) then left back onto the JWPT. Follow the trail for 1.1 miles where you need to exit onto the farm road to ride into Tekoa as there is no way down from the absent trestle; turn left onto Summer Road for 200 feet, then right onto Lone Pine Road; follow the road for 1.1 miles and then it makes a natural left hand turn, cross the bridge and then ride up to Hwy 27; turn right onto the highway and follow for 0.2 miles, then turn left onto Spring Street (if you wanted to go into Tekoa and take pictures at the Slippery Gulch sign and trail end you would ride 0.6 miles down Hwy 27 and turn right onto Crosby Street; the sign will be on your right); follow Spring Street for 0.3 miles, it dead-ends in a T at Washington Street; turn right onto WA Street, then left onto the trail.  Finish the trail in 5.3 miles where there is a small sign to the left that states "End of WA DNR Milwaukee Road Corridor".

Memorable moments: Pouring rain in the morning; waded through a marsh first thing; Mama was ecstatic that she had decided to put on her long pants and keep them on! We ended up wading into Lone Pine marsh a ways before turning around, where we spotted our friends and my hubby, Nick, riding down the road towards us. We ended up riding the road into Tekoa all together. Back in the Pines and rolling wheat fields. Nick was at the finish line with a toilet paper line and videoing, took tons of pictures and waited about 2 hours for my dad, sister and brother-in-law to arrive. We said our goodbyes and ate an epic dinner at our friends'!

Wildlife sightings: 6 coyotes, 2 red tailed hawks, 1 harrier, 1 owl, 2 mice, 2 chipmunks, birds bathing in puddle

Vital stats:

70 canyon cut-throughs, 7 bridges/trestles, 8 trestle bypasses

Duvall to Tekoa = ~10,000 foot elevation gain and 8,000 foot decline

27.19 miles

ATM = 4:06:05

MXS = 20.6 mph

AVS = 6.6 mph

JWPT Day 9

Planning and Strategizing

During training we also had a lot of planning to do.  I used numerous resources to work on planning our trip:

• Figuring out detailed descriptions of the trail sections - I've included this document as well in our helpful links.  This will help you know approximate trail section distances, resources available along the way, resources in towns and also has lots of other references to check out.
• History - the John Wayne Pioneer Trail has a rich history that I have absolutely loved discovering and learning about.  I feel this is a very important part of riding the trail.  Learning about the history of this trail made the ride so much more memorable.  Please read the Friends of the John Wayne Pioneer trail website to learn about the trail.
• Trail etiquette - it is extremely important to follow trail etiquette.  There is much work being done to create a partnership between those who live alongside the trail, the towns the trail passes through, trail organizations/partners, and private land owners whose land the trail crosses.  In the process of these partnerships, sadly, some contention has arisen; especially related to gates and land crossings.  If a detour is required, especially if the detour is due to the trail crossing private land, you need to follow these detours.  Some detours you can change and ride on back farm roads; again, make sure these are not farm roads on private land.  If you camp along the trail, at campsites or in towns be sure you keep spaces clean; ask before using parks (all the cities/towns I emailed and reached out to were delighted to have us stay!); please be very respectful and friendly with the people you interact with.  I have not revealed names of some of our trail angels to respect their privacy, but at no point was anyone unkind or unfriendly when we asked for help, water or shelter.  People are very proud of this trail, its history, and the work being done to keep the trail alive and open.  Please help keep it this way!
• Maps - we used a satellite tracker from DeLorme (now run by Garmin) that allowed us to upload our intended route for each day so people could follow our journey and we would have a resource if any emergency arose.  I used Google maps to look very closely at detours, plan our route and then my dad would upload this information to mapshare.
• Gear, food, supplies, bikes, etc. - I could go on and on about these things, but this is all in our Resources Galore! page.  Please check it out!
• Reading other blogs and the history of the trail to gather intel and ideas.  We learned that the Snoqualmie Valley Trail is 31.5 miles long with ~948 feet of elevation gain.  We discovered that the JWPT is ~253 miles long from Rattlesnake Lake in Issaquah to the Washington-Idaho border north of Tekoa and that it is the longest rail-trail conversion in the United States.
• Rails-to-Trails Conservancy - this website is fabulous!  I used it to find maps, trail descriptions and as much information as possible about the trails we would be riding on.
• Permits - you will need two different ones.  A permit for the section of trail from Beverly to Lind that you acquire from the Department of Natural Resources.  The second permit is for the section of trail from Lind to Tekoa and you acquire this one from Washington State Parks.  You do not need a permit for the western section of the John Wayne Pioneer Trail; however, you should have a Discover Pass with you if you camp along this section (which you will!).  You need the permits for several reasons: they are required, rules of the trail are included (observing private property, closing and locking gates behind you, etc.), for the codes that will help you get through gates, and the permits include maps.
• Itinerary - this was a detailed document we gave to our support team with details of our route, mileage and where we intended to spend each night.  When we were out on the trail this became quite fluid based on what happened each day and how many miles we were actually able to ride.  Itinerary for Nick & Rachel's September 2016 ride and Itinerary for 2017 Ride

Planning & Strategizing