Palouse Cascade Trail

The Palouse To Cascade Trail has been known by many names and the name is a bone of contention amongst many trail users.  Some current on-trail signage still denotes it as the Iron Horse Trail, and after all, it sits in the middle of the Iron Horse National Park   Other signage refers to it as the John Wayne Pioneer Trail, apparently so named because John Wayne rode part of it on horseback once.  The original railway that had been here, which transported passengers and cargo like raw silk, was named the Milwaukee Road.  Whatever it is called, it is a gorgeous place to ride bikes, and we even made it work as an eight day out and back bike camping trip.  

Day 1 it seemed appropriate to start our rail to trail adventure by taking a train there, so we jumped the Amtrak in Portland to and arrived in Tukwila a few hours later.  It's a 50 mile ride (on some beautiful city & regional trails) to the trailhead near Rattlesnake Lake. We had expected to camp there but learned it’s not allowed and daylight was fading so we set up camp right on the side of the trail about a mile in. We could hear a waterfall beneath us but never saw it. 

Day 2 we awoke trailside to the sound of the occasional cyclist passing by our campsite.  This was the beginning of a phenomenon wherein we say hello and the passerby says nothing and glares at us.  That continued for the next several days.  After packing up, I noticed my rear tire was flat and I recalled hitting a steep ledge on a bridge a few miles before camp the night before.  Kids ride tubeless but I’m no kid. We rode 40 miles filled with tunnels and trestles and beautiful views. Railroad grade climbing appears flat and makes you think you’re riding sluggishly, but you’re not! The Snoqualmie Tunnel is 2.5 miles of cold dark drippiness. We grabbed burgers in Easton and enjoyed the hiker-biker site at the Lake Easton campground. Glad to have earplugs to drown out the drone of I-90.

Day 3 was a bluebird day that took us 50 miles from the hiker/biker sites at Lake Easton, past many gates, old depots and informative placards. My train brain started to grow! We dipped into the I-90 hellscape to grab snacks from a loud and stinky truck stop. Later on we got lost in Ellensburg for a while before heading south on the delightfully beautiful (and paved!) Canyon River Road to find our best camp spot of the trip: Big Horn alongside the Yakima River. It was so breezy I had to put rocks in my tent!

 

Day 4’s 60 mile ride started off with breakfast at Big Horn camp by the Yakima River, then a short ride to Ellensburg to see if the bike shop was open. The one pair of bike shorts I brought were failing miserably (my panties were in a twist!). No luck at the shop so we lubed our chains and hopped on the trail to Boylston. The loose deep sand section was listed as 4.5 miles long but it was more like 25 miles. Rock formations with cut-outs for the trail started to appear, and these were often full of fist sized rocks. We had a tailwind and it was downhill yet it was still one of hardest days I’ve had on two wheels. I cried a bit. 

Reaching the spectacular Beverly Bridge felt victorious, after all this was our destination and the impetus behind the entire trip.  On the other side, we met lots of friendly dogs before getting on the highway.  We noticed a sign reading “secure your load - it’s the law”, alongside an onion orchard and a shoulder littered with loose onions. Soon a truck passed filled with unsecured onions. We ate Mexican food (all of the restaurants in Mattawa are Mexican), then rode to our reserved airbnb, named “A-frame hot tub”, which is not a great name for your rental if the hot tub isn’t available. I cried again. We found an ice cream truck and enjoyed sleeping in beds.

Day 5 started at 6am with a team decision to hire a van (Rodeo Town Taxi) to take us to Ellensburg (from Mattawa). The prospect of riding that brutal sandy rocky trail again, uphill and into a headwind, was highly dreaded. We weren’t sure if the paved Huntzinger and Vantage Highway would be safe on bicycles. Streetview showed the Highway had no shoulder and it appeared well-maintained, which we took to mean well-used. We learned later that it’s a great biking route and it’s kept up because of the wind farm maintenance trucks that occasionally use it. 

Ah well, for the low cost of $50 each, we enjoyed playing tetris with our bikes and gear and had a lovely rest day in Ellensburg. After a delicious second breakfast at the Country Cafe, we visited the fascinating Kittatas Museum and the friendly folks at the Recycle Bicycle shop repaired my broken brake noodle and sold me a pair of shiny new bike shorts. I even got to do a short lube clinic for the mechanics! (I work for Dumonde Tech). After beers at the pub and an 8 mile ride to the KOA, I hung out and did laundry while my friends explored some local trails.

Day 6 had been planned as an low mileage recovery day, as we had anticipated a hard day 5. We rode a nice easy 25 miles from Ellensburg to Cle Ellum. I love an “out and back” ride. It’s fun seeing the same terrain twice, and how different it is in the other direction. I hadn’t noticed a carved wooden troll just off the trail the first time we rode by it. We stayed at the amazing Iron Horse Bed & Breakfast (with hot tub!). Our host went above and beyond to share his extensive knowledge of the Old Milwaukee Road rail history. The caboose was quaint and comfy and we could hear a train in the distance as we drifted off.

Day 7’s 55 mile day began with the most delicious scones I’ve ever had and a farm-to-table breakfast at the Iron Horse b&b. It felt like a lifetime ago since we’d ridden this section between Cle Ellum and Rattlesnake Lake. It was summer and we were young. The leaves had started changing and the temps were cooler outside of the Snoqualmie tunnel as well as in. We met lots of riders near the tunnel, including a gentleman who didn’t ride through the tunnel but OVER it - from mouth to mouth! Later on the trail, a sheriff in a pickup truck asked if we’d seen a blonde lady. We saw him several times and wondered what happened to the poor blonde lady. We raced daylight to find a camp spot after the leaving the trailhead, but there aren’t any campgrounds in that area so we got a “warm showers” host to put us up in their backyard. I was stressed out and not stoked to camp on turf until the hosts invited me to jump on their trampoline with their kids and fed us brownies with ice cream.  

Day 8 was our final day and took us 45 miles from North Bend to the Amtrak station in Tukwila. That morning, we learned that the diner made famous by Twin Peaks was nearby so went to check if their coffee really was damn fine. When I took a selfie inside, I swear there was no one behind me. We pondered on the blonde lady the sheriff had asked us about the day before. We found a shortcut so we wouldn’t have to scramble down the ditch to the Tokul tunnel but it did lead us to a closed bridge for our scrambling pleasure. The Snoqualmie Trail felt even funner now that it was familiar. Our first rain of the trip started in the early afternoon, pretty ideal timing overall. We continued to undo our day one and made it with an hour to spare. It felt like tying a bow on the whole trip to take a train to the lovely Union Station in Portland and hop the light rail home.  

Here's a summary of our trip:

Day 1: Tukwila to Rattlesnake Lake: 50 miles

Day 2: Rattlesnake Lake to Lake Easton campground: 40 miles (includes Snoqualmie Tunnel)

Day 3: Lake Easton campground to Camp Big Horn: 50 miles

Day 4: Big Horn camp to Mattaway airbnb: 60 miles (includes Beverly Bridge)

Day 5: Mattaway to Ellensburg KOA: 52 miles (IN A VAN!) we rode just 8 miles

Day 6: Ellensburg KOA to Iron Horse B & B in Cle Elum: 25 miles

Day 7: Cle Elum to North Bend: 57 miles

Day 8: North Bend to Tukwila: 40 miles

And here's what I'll plan to do next time:

Day 1: Tukwila to North Bend hip camp: 42 miles

Day 2: North Bend to Lake Easton campground: 46 miles (includes Snoqualmie Tunnel)

Day 3: Lake Easton campground to Camp Big Horn: 50 miles

Day 4: Big Horn camp to Beverly Bridge to Wanapum camp: 52 miles

Day 5: Wanapum to Ellensburg KOA (by way of Huntzinger and Vantage Hwy): 35 miles

Day 6: Ellensburg KOA to Iron Horse B & B in Cle Elum: 25 miles

Day 7: Cle Elum to North Bend hip camp: 57 miles

Day 8: North Bend to Tukwila: 40 miles

PROS:

The trail was easy to navigate and the surface was easy to ride until east of Boylston  

The plentiful placards made for fun mini rest stops to learn the history of the rail and trail 

There are lots of vault toilets on the trail and a couple spigots (at Hyak and Easton)

Doing several weekend bike camping trips over the summer helped me dial in my gear

Sleeping in beds two of the 7 nights was a luxury.  Laundry at the KOA was essential. 

To make loading and unloading my bags from my bike quick and easy at the train station, I carried a collapsible shopping bag so I could put my trunk bag & water bottle inside.

I cannot say enough about the pros of the "out and back" route.  Seeing everything twice is cool because it looks both familiar and new.  It also creates a safety net feeling in case you need to turn back early.

CONS: 

I am extremely uncomfortable riding in unfamiliar terrain in the dark but both the first and last night really pushed that boundary because campgrounds are so scarce in that area.  Next time, I'll have accommodations reserved for every night.

My friends (who are much faster paced than me) enjoy stopping at many stores and restaurants. I prefer to take lots of short breaks on the trail (especially since I had toted much of the food I needed).  Next time instead of waiting, I'll tell folks "see ya on the trail!"

It felt like a failure to take a van back from Mattawa to Ellensburg, but it also felt like our only safe choice and I'm grateful it was available.  Next time, we'll ride back on the paved route.

I pledge to always bring two pairs of bike shorts on trips longer than one night!  I would've given anything for a backup pair of shorts when my only pair failed so miserably.

If you are counting on a hot tub at one of your reserved accommodations, double, triple and quadruple check it will be available for you to avoid a big disappointment after a hard day of riding.

 

BIKE AND GEAR:

I rode a 26" aluminum mountain bike with 2.25" wide knobby tires.  As always, I carry my gear in a rear trunk bag and rear panniers, along with a front kids' basket to carry my everyday tool kit, which includes a C02 inflator and two C02 cartridges, a multi-tool, tire levers, tweezers, a chain breaker and spare link, spoke tool, spare bolts, schraeder adapter, patch kit and tire boot.  I also had a frame-mounted pump and 3 spare tubes.

In addition to the expected tent, thermarest and sleeping bag, I carried a small fleece blanket which made for a nice lap blanket in the mornings and evenings. 

I brought enough snacks (nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, clif bars) for half the trip and enough oatmeal and ramen for every camp meal.  I carried two 32oz water bottles on the bike and a 2 liter water bladder, along with MSR tabs for sterilization (which I used only once at Camp Big Horn). I carried the tiniest cook stove there is, which is great for getting water hot.  I packed instant coffee and a tube of sweetened condensed milk, along with a variety of teas for each evening.

For fashion statements, I carried a compressive dry bag to squish my clothes, which included: leggings, long sleeve wool shirt, short sleeve wool shirt, jeans, mini-skirt, 3 pairs panties, 1 spare bra, 1 spare pair riding socks, 2 pair camp socks, fleece cap, neck muff and mittens.  I also packed both a puffy jacket and a rain coat and was glad to have both. I wore shorts and a jersey and a bolero (connected armwarmers).

For luxury, I brought my Bumease sitting pillow for trail rest stops, along with a small polyfill head pillow for sleeping.  I don't like sleeping on bunched up clothes.  I brought small tins with tiny candles for camp ambiance.  The big luxury winner were my "mega warmers" which are like little hotties on steroids.  I brought one for every camp night and they made my sleeping bag warmer and also soothed whatever body part felt sore.

For self-care, I was glad to have my earplugs and eye mask along.  I had my homemade first-aid kit and was glad to have the neosporin available when my chammy butt'r stash ran out. My kit also contains bandaids, bandages, butterfly bandages, eyedrops, hydrocortisone, tweezers and ace bandage. My tiny toiletry kit includes micro reusable paint pots (from the art store) so I could have the assortment of lotions and potions I need to feel good and look beautiful.  My face cream hack is to combine SPF cream, primer, tinted moisturizer and highlighter cream in one pot.  Who needs a five minute face when you can do a five second face!

I will definitely be going back next year and am planning on putting together a group of 4 riders.  Would you like to join me?