2016 John Wayne Pioneer Trail - Day 7

Once you leave Lind you will need your permit from the Washington State Parks as the gate codes differ. From Marengo we set off for Ewan and a plan to spend a night in the town of St. John.  We were almost out of Central Washington and the Palouse and noticed the ecology beginning to change - more trees, marshes and vegetation.  Several of the canyon cut-throughs were super marshy and soggy.

We chose to ride on into St. John as a treat towards the end of our trip; however, you can stop in Ewan and then continue on via the Rock Lake detour.  This detour is extremely important to follow due to the fact that there is a caved in tunnel, a rock slide and non-existent trestles, and private property that the owner has not permitted access to. The road detour I describe below does take you pretty close to Rock Lake where you can see the lake and the old trestle and tunnel. St. John is a lovely spot to detour to - many services (restaurants, B&B, hotel, grocery store, etc.) and you can camp at the fairgrounds where there are restrooms to clean up in. There are no services in Ewan, but you could potentially ask for water from one of the house in this sweet little town.  There also appears to be a church here that you could potentially camp at for the night.  You could also choose to ride from Marengo to Pine City. There are no services in Pine City, but you could perhaps ask for water from one of the houses and you could seek shelter and camping near the grain silos where the trail begins again.  I have provided several different directions for riding options below.

Trail riding notes:

• Riding from Marengo to Ewan, then detouring to St. John; it is approximately 7 miles from Ewan to St. John: the trail mostly continues from Marengo to Ewan with several gates that have challenging locks to open. At one point you ride onto Wagner Road and it eventually joins the trail again, but there is little to no signage. When you reach Ewan the trestle is gone so you need to take the steep downhill road to the right and drop down to Highway 23; to continue to St. John you turn right onto Hwy 23 and ride until you reach St. John.
• Riding from Marengo to Ewan, Rock Lake detour to Pine City: When you reach Ewan the trestle is gone so you need to take the steep downhill road to the right and drop down to Hwy 23; pretty much directly across the highway is WR Damrell Road, this becomes Rock Lake Road; follow for a little over 1 mile and then turn right onto Gene Webb Road, this dead-ends into a T where you will turn left onto Stephen Road; follow for approximately 13.5 miles where the road dead-ends into a T where you will turn left onto Pine City-Malden Road; follow this road for 0.7 miles and then turn right at the grain silos back onto the JWPT.

Trail angels: Joe at the golf course in St. John let us camp at the RV park by the fairgrounds. Tammy at the tavern let us use the phone and kept the kitchen open so we could eat our first meal not out of a bag. A lovely couple at Ewan let us know the road was pretty flat into St. John.

Memorable moments: Discovered that we needed an actual permit from Lind to Tekoa from the state, not just a Discover pass.  Managed to call the Ranger and get our permit and she was gracious enough to give us the codes, but neither worked.  First gate lift-over of the day and another later on; lots of other gates that we either went around or were able to make the locks open. Mama and I ran over a bull snake, but it was OK! Ended up riding on private property we weren't supposed to, but the gate opened and there was a state parks sign (**caveat: I believe this has changed as the maps now show trail access is permitted). Spectacular habitats and ecosystems with underground springs causing lush vegetation and animal life. Deep, heavy river rock to ride through. Went through gorgeous columnar basalt formations that looked like forts and other structures. Cows kept running alongside us in one pasture. Had to cross two small marshy spots. Take Wagner Rd until joins trail again, several spots riding on gravel type easements, poor signage and really tough locks to open; Hwy 23 to St. John. Mama fell arriving at our campsite, Rachel fell in the thick gravel. Saw two huge cargo jets fly over.

Wildlife sightings: Lots of red tailed hawks and other birds, 2 coyotes, 1 deer, Fly catchers (?) with nest, Yellow headed blackbird, mama duck and babies, Osprey and nest.

Vital stats:
58 canyon cuts
5 bridges/trestles
1 waterfall
34.93 miles
ATM = 5:03:26
MXS = 15 mph
AVS = 6.8 mph

JWPT Day 7

2016 John Wayne Pioneer Trail - Day 6

Lind to Marengo is another hot, dry, no services section of trail.  You might be fortunate to find trail angels in Ralston, but do not necessarily plan on this. There are also no services in Marengo, unless you can again find trail angels.  Be sure to carry lots of water!!!  Your only shelter will be the shade of grain silos/elevators.  There is a small park in Ralston that you could potentially camp at, but there is no water there.  There is also a significant road detour between Lind and Marengo.  The trail maps that come with your permit offer a detour to Ritzville from Ralston and then riding back down to Marengo and on to Ewan or St. John.  Our group opted not to take the Ritzville detour, but rather rode directly on to Marengo.  If you are at all worried about having the help of trail angels in Marengo or being able to carry enough water, then I highly encourage you to take the Ritzville detour.  There are services in Ritzville and I did not research this at all so cannot offer details on what is available regarding camping, supplies, etc.  There are other blogs/resources that have information you can research; check out the "resources galore!" section on this blog for links. Before you reach Marengo, as you are going down Marengo Road, there is a huge grove of trees to the right; you could potentially camp there, but I believe this is private property.

Trail riding moments: From Lind, you will take 1st street which becomes Van Marter Ave, turn left/take Y to the left on Wahl Road to return to JWPT.  You will take the trail the entire way until you reach Ralston.  At Ralston you can decide if you will take the detour to Ritzville or take back farm roads to Marengo.  I do not have the directions to Ritzville, but they are on the map when you receive your permit.  Our directions are as follows: turn left onto highway 261, take second right onto Benzel Road which makes a hard, natural left; in approximately 1 mile, take first right on Roloff Road; makes a sweeping left and becomes Klein Road; follow Klein Road for approximately 6 miles and turn right onto E Gering Road; road makes natural hard left and becomes Snyder Road; follow for approximately 1 mile and turn right onto E Heineman Road, this will dead-end into a T; turn right onto Hills Road, makes sweeping natural curve to left and becomes E Urquhart Rd; follow for approximately 1.4 miles and turn right onto Marengo Rd. Follow Marengo Road for approximately 3.6 miles until it curves around near some large grain silos. You could potentially camp here overnight.
**Caveat: this detour exists because the HUGE trestle that used to cross Cow Creek no longer exists. I've become curious if it might be possible to ride this section as there is a small little road below the trestle that you could possibly take and get back onto the trail directly over Cow Creek (Google Maps Pin). That being said, I have no idea if this is a huge marsh; how big the creek is or any other information. From Cow Creek it does look like the trail continues on into Ewan. If you were going to attempt to ride this section, I would highly encourage you to drive the back country roads to see if the trail is accessible through this area.**

Memorable moments: Wicked rough trail, road detour at Ralston to Marengo had insane hills!! ~900 feet climbing and 625 feet dropped.  No injuries besides regular bumps and bruises. Amazing old farm homesteads, grain elevators/silos, little railroad stops.  Poor Sandy's lips became incredibly swollen from the sun and wind burn!  Sandy bought a bag of grapes and we ate sun-warmed grapes throughout the day. Passed, and smelled, a mounted cow skull and dead, rotting coyote hanging over a "No Trespassing" sign.

Trail angels: Dale at Jim's Market super sweet and helpful.  Found some lovely trail angels in Ralston who allowed us to use their bathroom and fill up with water.  Their house was incredible!! So much history - 200 people lived in/around Ralston.  The house we stopped at was a hotel, restaurant, whorehouse, dancing floor, meat locker and grain storage throughout its life. It had 16 rooms, but technically only 15 because no number 13. Lots of original parts and pieces.  In Marengo we talked to a wheat farming family that told us there used to be 9 families living there, a grocery store and school.  Marengo was the switch yard for the Milwaukee and Northern Pacific rail lines - one train heading west and the other east. When you ride down to Marengo you will ride past a huge grove of trees - these were planted in 1985 to attract birds.  So many birds!!!!

Wildlife sightings: rabbits, pheasants, quail, lots of birds and insects

Vital stats:
4 bridges
~15 canyon cut-throughs
8 trestle bypasses, one of which was a marsh at the bottom
3 huge underpasses ridden through
35.56 miles
ATM = 5:28:36
MXS = 23.1 mph
AVS = 6.4 mph

JWPT 6

2016 John Wayne Pioneer Trail - Day 5

Because we left from a different place than originally planned we did have to make some adjustments to where we were riding and we ended up doing quite a bit more road riding than planned. We rode through beautiful countryside and fields upon fields of numerous different plants.  We rejoined the trail in Warden and the trail continued to kick our behinds! Rough trail - sand, heavy, deep gravel and river rock, overgrown canyons with tumbleweed and sagebrush, trestle bypasses (these are spots where trestles have been removed and you must ride around), and gates we had to lift over as they wouldn't open and there was no way around. We rode from Scooteney to Lind.  Our plan had been to ride from Doris/Beverly to Othello.  In 2017, we did ride from Beverly to Othello.  From Othello you can ride on to Lind.

We are truly in the heart of Central WA and the agricultural center of our state. Absolutely beautiful and the columnar basalt formations are breath-taking!

**Trail etiquette note: when gates are closed and locked you will need the codes from your permit to open them.  That being said, codes don't always work; be respectful of gates - if you see a way around them you could attempt this.  NEVER cut fences, locks, change gate codes or leave gates open/unlocked.

Trail riding notes: If we had ridden from Beverly we would have arrived in Othello. I'm including directions for what we would have ridden rather than what we did ride. Once you cross I-90, turn right onto Highway 243 and proceed south, turn left onto Road 17 SW, take the first left onto Main street and you will dead-end onto a very rough parking area where the trail begins on the eastern portion.  Proceed on the trail for as long as possible, the trail technically 'ends' in Smyrna, but you can remain on the trail if you wish.  There are no services anywhere between Beverly and Othello, unless a trail angel helps you out; be sure to carry extra water!  The trail eventually dead ends into where the railroad tracks are still in place and trains actively run.  You must diverge from the trail at this point and best to do so prior to the railroad tracks.  About a mile before the railroad tracks begin you will see a steep road-cut to the left, take this down to Road 17 (a gravel back road), turn right onto Road 17; eventually the road becomes Crab Creek Road and eventually changes to W Gillis Road; the road will take a sharp turn to the left, climb a short ways and you will turn right onto Highway 26.  This is a busy highway, but there is a wide shoulder and drivers will usually give you space. Make sure you are visible! Turn right onto S Danielson Road (caveat: when we rode in 2017 this road was closed), makes a sharp right, follow and cross railroad tracks, turn left onto W Bench Road, turn left onto Hwy 24/S Broadway Ave, turn right onto Main street. If Danielson Road is still closed, you could continue on Hwy 26 all the way into Othello.  You ride Hwy 26 until Othello where you turn left on 1st Ave, then right onto Main street. Othello has numerous services and is quite a large town; there are hotels and parks.  When I attempted to contact the city regarding camping in the parks I did not hear back, but I would imagine you would be able to camp in the parks.

Trail angels: A sweet family offered to let us sleep under their balcony to shelter from the storm when we arrived in Lind.  As we rode out of Lind a sweet gentleman asked if we needed help; Jeff at Tires West and Napa auto parts people let us use the bathroom and tried to help Sandy with her chain in Warden.

Memorable moments: Smells of wheat ripening, wet fields, chemicals, mint, thunderstorms. Sounds of machines and trucks roaring by, the wind in the wheat.  Land of sage, sun and sand. Rainbow over Lind. Circle farming, crop duster, combines; old farmstead.  Mama fell in the sand, Rachel fell into a tumbleweed and on a rock (gaining her the trail name "Tumbalina").  Encountered our first locked gates, combo worked on West end, but due to double lock and no correct codes we had to do a gate lift-over on the East end.

Wildlife sightings: 2 lizards, one was a horned lizard; crazy insects - butterflies, moths, ground hornets, DRAGONFLIES!! (translucent wings with black bars and black bodies); amazing owl (?) nest/hunting/eating spot; two covey of quail families - one had chick's that were teenagers and the other had chick's the size of silver dollars; 2 coyotes; 1 rabbit; amazing raptors - family of red tailed hawks hunting; white bird with black wing tips - not ID'd; saw 1 hit and dead Kestrel and a sparrow or Finch.

Vital stats:
5 bridges, 30 canyon cut-throughs, 8 trestle bypasses
45.09 miles
ATM = 6:01:54
MXS = 27.8 mph
AVS = 7.4 mph

My mom's bike computer:
45.26 miles
ATM = 5:38:29
MXS = 22.9 mph
AVS = 8 mph


JWPT Day 5

2016 John Wayne Pioneer Trail - Day 4

Probably the hottest, most rugged portion of the trail thus far.  The Yakima Training Center is a barren, stunningly beautiful place.  According to Wikipedia, "It comprises 327,000 acres (132,332 hectares) of land, most of which consists of shrub-steppe, making it one of the largest areas of shrub-steppe habitat remaining in Washington state."  While day 4 definitely did not let up on us, we finally started to hit our stride and really sink into the trail.

Trail riding notes: As you first enter the Training Center you need to fill out the permit paperwork for riding across the reserve.  It is important to sign-in and once you have ridden across you will need to turn in your permit showing you have completed the reserve.  Once you are on the reserve you are not allowed to stop and camp overnight, so be prepared to ride the distance.

A ways onto the reserve is a massive tunnel and canyon.  You could choose to ride through this canyon and tunnel, however, there was a cave-in several years ago and the tunnel is NOT safe to ride through.  There is a bypass that will take you up and over the tunnel; while it is a very heavy basalt to ride through (I did end up walking some more), this is the safest route.

When you ride this section you MUST carry extra water. It is extremely hot and dry with very little shelter from the sun.  It is also profoundly windy - gusts up to 40 mph may hit the trail.  There were definitely sections we walked due to the ferocity of the wind. The distance is about 22 miles on the reserve and while there is a pit toilet about half way across, there is no available water until about 3/4 of the way through.  You can then ride a side road where there is another pit toilet and potable water.  If you are running low on water you should definitely utilize this spot to refill as the next section on Huntzinger Road is extremely hot and dry.

Huntzinger Road is a road/risk you can take to ride to Wanapum State Park for a night of camping at the bike sites ($12 for the night) where you will have access to water, showers and lovely shaded camp sites.  This road is extremely narrow, winding and undulating; it is often driven by cars going extremely fast.  If you choose to ride this road, make sure you are visible and take your time.  Along the way there is a fishing spot where you can pause for a rest near the restrooms and be in the shade. You could also choose to have someone pick you up in Doris (the 'town' at the end of the Eastern side of the reserve).

There is a beautiful old trestle, Beverly Bridge, that crosses the Columbia River, however, you may not cross as there is no decking to the trestle and it is closed due to fire damage.  You can choose to ride Huntzinger Road and then have a support vehicle pick you up to transport you across I-90 and down to Beverly on the eastern side of the Columbia River and where the JWPT continues.  This is the option we chose as it was the safest.  We did start to ride down Huntzinger Road, but when we reached the fishing spot we decided it was unwise to continue.  We had my husband, Nick, pick us up there and transport us across the river to Beverly.  After a heart-felt conversation and realizing we were too exhausted to jump on the trail again, Nick kindly drove us to a campsite near Warden, cutting off about 40 miles of the trail.  For us, this was the best decision; I had needed to walk about 7 miles of the trail due to how deep the sand and gravel were at the beginning of the reserve and we were utterly exhausted.  It was hard to cut off this section of trail, but we intended to return in the future and try again.

While this information may be worrying, the reserve is an utterly spectacular portion of this trail and I highly recommend riding it!  My intention is to provide realistic expectations of what the trail holds. If you were riding with fat tires, this portion would be much easier!

Here's our journal entry for the day...

Rode from military base west end to east end ~23-25 miles.  Restroom pit toilet about half way; potable water, toilet and potential side road (?) at around 3/4 way through.  Horrifying deep and, large rock ballast, ended up walking ~7-8 miles; terrifying crosswinds and occasional headwind.  Had to walk with our bikes leaned over just to not be blown off the trail.  Rode with Dan for quite a ways. Found his flags, didn't get to say goodbye.
Tunnel was bypassed and canyon was insanely deep; couldn't even see the bottom!
Rode part of the way down Huntzinger (scary!); Nick picked us up at a fishing spot on the road at a pit toilet.
Drove to Beverly, nowhere to camp, exhausted, no desire to continue on trail.  Had Nick drive us to outside Othello and camped at Scooteney campground.  Did laundry at a spigot and reloaded gear for the Eastern part of our ride. Did not ride ~37 miles of the trail.

Memorable moments: No injuries! A few gear mishaps from all the rough terrain, sand and wind. Sandy left her tent poles at Huntzinger fishing spot. Smells of dust, ancient rock, grasslands, sage baking in the sun. The canyon cut-throughs howl with the wind and the grasslands sound like wood flutes playing; listening to bats as we fell asleep.

Wildlife sightings: Amazing red tailed hawk swooping out of canyon; bones and owl pellet; lots of tracks - scrub elk, mountain goat (super sweet to spot baby tracks alongside adult) and coyote; sweet canyon birds; bats at campground.

Vital stats:
4 trestles
15-20 canyon cut-throughs
Fitbit says = 30,096 steps; 12.46 miles
Rachel's bike computer says -

• 21.59 miles
• ATM = 3:29:15
• MXS = 17.9 mph
• AVS = 6.1 mph

My mom's bike computer says -

• 23.26 miles
• ATM = 3:21:07
• MXS = 18.6 mph
• AVS = 6.9 mph

JWPT Day 4

2016 John Wayne Pioneer Trail - Day 3

Day 3 was when we started to notice the trail terrain really changing - mix of sand and heavy river rock.  With my narrow tires there were moments I had to do quite a bit of walking and just sheer muscling of my bike down the trail.  Day 3 for many people is the hardest, whether hiking or biking or doing any physical activity.  Day 3 is often the day your muscles are the most sore, your emotions are really struggling for balance, your mental exhaustion may be peaking, your calorie burn is really starting to hit, etc.  It is a hard day and remembering to be gentle with yourself, push to your comfort level and taking breaks is so very important. So many lessons were learned on day 3 - when a detour is suggested, you should probably take it; when lost, ask for directions; when needing help, be willing to knock on doors; lean into the discomfort, fear, anger, frustration and journey; be open...

Trail riding notes: The trail can be a little tricky when you reach Ellensburg.  At the  old depot in Ellensburg, cross the road and continue on the trail for a short ways where it leads directly into W 14th Avenue; turn left onto 14th and follow through the CWU campus.  The road becomes E 14th Avenue and then E Dean Nicholson Blvd, when you reach N Alder St. turn right and follow until a 4-way stop light.  Continue through the stop-light and you will begin to ride onto the Ellensburg fairgrounds; rejoin the trail to the left where the brown trail sign indicates.  The trail continues on out of Ellensburg and through the small township of Kittitas.  As you leave Kittitas the trail will begin to gradually climb until you reach Prater Road (there is a large alfalfa farm to the right of the trail with very large hay stacks).  This is the detour around the closed trestle that crosses I-90, approximately 3 miles down the trail - take the detour!  Turn right on Prater Road, left on Boylston Road which will come to a 'dead-end' T at Stevens Road; there is a road sign and trail sign to follow.  Turn right onto Stevens Road and ride up onto the Yakima Training Center reserve.  If you choose to wait a day to begin riding the reserve early the next morning, there is a pit toilet and you can camp at the primitive West entry of the reserve. This is a dry camp and there is no water.

Trail angels: Brad King, CWU (Central Washington University) police, helped us re-find the trail after we got lost in Ellensburg.  No water at the campsite, so we went up the road and met a sweet ranching lady who let us fill up with her garden hose while her sweet dogs made sure we were welcome visitors.

Wildlife sightings: 1 milk snake, rabbits, mama Killdeer guarding her eggs, beautiful bird sightings - hawks pair hunting, Red Tail Hawk swooping, Turkey vultures, funny quail!!

Memorable moments: Didn't take a detour, went 6 miles out of the way; endured hiking up and down a 45 or more degree slope - I screamed at the top, "I did this!!! YES!!!!"  Sobbing, so brutalized.  Rode back ~3 miles in a wicked headwind.  Rachel got a tire puncture, heard a pop, saw white spray and then rolled forward so Stan's stuff sealed; never had to add air or anything.  Did some major hills and by the time we got to the military base we couldn't go any further.  Camped in a crazy windswept plain and planned to get up at 4am to try again.  Smells of dust, grass, sagebrush.

Vital stats:

33 bridges/trestles

28.76 miles

ATM = 3:47:50

MXS = 27.5 mph

AVS = 7.5 mph

JWPT Day 3

"There is a sacredness in tears.  They are not the mark of weakness, but of power.  They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues.  They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love." ~Washington Irving

2016 John Wayne Pioneer Trail - Day 2

During my training and riding I had decided I would ride my Specialized cross bike with touring size tires, 4 panniers (2 small, 2 large) and a handlebar bag.  I also ended up adding a backpack to carry extra water in that was lashed between my two large, rear panniers.  Day 2 is when the trail started to reveal the level of different terrains we'd be facing - some heavier river rock, deep gravel and super rugged areas over multi-use sections in Cle Elum.  These are sections of the trail where ATV's are allowed to also use the trail.  I have lots of different feelings about mixed-use trails, but I'll talk about that in another post...

Trail riding notes: We were not able to make Hyak on our first day of riding, but on my ride in the fall we were able to do so.  When you reach Hyak, the tunnel is very dark and cold; be sure to have adequate headlights/headlamps and you might want to add a jacket or layer.  Water drips from the ceiling and the sides of the trail through the tunnel drop off to keep water off the trail.  Be sure to ride towards the middle of the tunnel rather than the sides as you risk falling when you ride on the sides. The tunnel can also be crowded at times with other riders and lots of walkers. Once you reach the other side of the tunnel there are primitive campsites a little ways past Hyak; at Hyak there are restrooms and showers to use (you need coinage to operate the shower).  The trail continues on from Hyak with no detours and is slightly downhill (a welcome respite after your climb!!).  There are several camp sites and pit toilets along the way between Hyak and Thorp, including the sweet Iron Horse Inn B&B in Cle Elum.  There are several gates prior to gravel road crossings that you can ride or walk around; make sure you close, re-chain and/or lock any gates you go through.  As you approach Thorp you will ride through several tunnels.  These tunnels have been repaired and are safe to ride through; some you will need lights for and others just be sure to take your sunglasses off. 😉 When you reach Thorp, ride a short ways past the fruit/antique stand to the trestle that crosses the Yakima River. Directly before the trestle, down to the right is a very sweet riverside campsite.  Easy river access, lovely sandy spot, flat-ish campsite area, trees to hang clothes on and wonderful place of rest. Please keep this place clean and well kept for future trail users!

Here's our day 2 entry...

Wildlife settings: 3 Douglas squirrels, 3 rabbits, lots of birds, 1 bull snake, 1 lizard, at the last tunnel going into Thorp we saw bats in the tunnel, saw our first livestock - cows

Trail people met: Byron with Bike Hugger, Greg with The Starving Cyclist, Dan on his way to Cle Elum (he helped us unlock Sandy's chain and was our first Trail Angel)

Memorable Moments: Epic ecological transitions, Sandy's chain bent and got stuck, Rachel stabbed herself in the leg with her large bike gear.  So windy on the East side!!  Thank goodness for tail wind!! Set up camp next to the Yakima river at a sweet little spot and bathed in the river.  Smells of dust, smoke and Pine.

Vital Stats:
26 bridges/trestles
5 tunnels (1 was the epic long Snoqualmie/Hyak tunnel)
2 sets of chained gates - no locks
Lots of road crossings
2 railroad crossings
57.4 miles
ATM = 6:46:24
MXS = 34.7 mph
AVS = 8.4 mph

JWPT Day 2