Day 7: Chelan to East Wenatchee

July 22, 2021

Breakfast was across the street at the Apple Cup Cafe. On the road just before 9 AM. The morning was sunny-no smoke!

When pedaling through downtown Chelan I stopped again to look at the Episcopal church. It was built in 1898 using logs floated from the far end of the lake which is forested. Volunteers left the church open while they were working on the beautiful landscape outside. A rare opportunity to see the inside of the church.

The logs were floated from the far end of the lake.

Then I followed the west shore of Lake Chelan 10 miles to Lake Chelan State Park. The bridge across the Chelan River is quite interesting. Recently the narrow 2-lane bridge was re-configured to be 1 southbound car lane and 1 northbound bike lane, with wider sidewalks.

The downtown bridge has 1 southbound car lane, 1 northbound bike lane, and newly widened sidewalks.

The first 5 miles along Lake Chelan are on US 97A. It has moderate traffic and always a good paved shoulder. The last 5 miles is on WA 971 which has less traffic, but still a usable paved shoulder.

A roadside information sign is quite interesting. One thing the sign doesn't mention is that Lake Chelan is the 3rd deepest lake in the US behind Crater Lake and Lake Tahoe.

When leaving town I passed the boat tour dock. During a 2013 tour I spent more time at Lake Chelan and did the boat tour to to the village of Stehekin at the far end of the lake. In Stehekin I rented a bike and pedaled a few miles in the forest. I'm glad I did it but the boat ride is 3+ hours in each direction. Kind of boring.

I passed several fancy vineyards. Every time I visit Chelan I see more vineyards. 50 years ago it was all apple orchards. Now the world-famous apple orchards are all replaced by vineyards.

Lake Chelan's world famous apple orchards have been replaced by vineyards.

I stopped for 1.5 hours at Lake Chelan State Park just to relax and enjoy the lake. The morning was cool enough that I wasn't motivated to swim in the lake.

Looking across Lake Chelan at the town of Manson.

After Lake Chelan State Park is a 550 foot climb on WA 971. The road climbs into pine forest but still has several good views of the lake below.

Looking "up" Lake Chelan toward the Cascade range.

WA 971 road summit 550 feet above Lake Chelan.

After the summit is a 1000 foot descent back to the Columbia river. That was fun. I enjoyed seeing the trees gradually fade away during the descent. WA 971 has no paved shoulder in this area, but also almost no traffic. It's a very quiet road. All the traffic is on US 97A .

About halfway down the descent I enter the Columbia river canyon again.

Descending into the Columbia river canyon.

Along the Columbia river I stopped briefly to look at the Chelan Butte fire lookout which was moved from nearby Chelan Butte to this riverside wildland firefighters museum.

Fire lookout at a private wildland firefighters museum.

Shortly after rejoining the Columbia river, US 97A crosses the mouth of the Entiat river. It's the upper reaches of Entiat reservoir (on the Columbia river) so it's hard to judge the actual size of the Entiat river.

I had a big climb to get out of Lake Chelan, but the remainder of the day is relatively flat along the river. I enjoyed the blue sky and good visibility. No smoke today!

US 97A has heavy traffic, but always a good paved shoulder with minimal debris. The noise was the only annoying thing.

US 97A close to a railroad and Columbia River/Lake Entiat.

Today had a high of only 84F/29C. Very pleasant. I wasn't overheated, but stopped for a peach shake at a roadside fruit stand. Call it a late lunch.

I had a peach shake at this roadside fruit stand.

The park at Rocky Reach dam was gated with many stern No Trespassing signs. I visited the park before during a tour in 2013. The dam and park are operated by Chelan County. Yesterday I visited the park at Wells dam, operated by Douglas county. Chelan county's dam park is closed.

Rocky Reach dam from the highway. The park was closed. 4th of 5 Columbia river dams I see during the tour.

3 miles south of Rocky Reach dam, on the edge of Wenatchee, I turned left onto the Apple Capital trail. It's the main riverfront recreational trail for the Wenatchee area which is the commercial capital of Washington's apple industry.

I crossed the Columbia river on the trail which shares a bridge with US 2. Then I turned right to follow the Eastside trail downstream to East Wenatchee. The Eastside trail also goes upstream several miles.

Apple Capital trail crossing the Columbia river alongside US 2.

I followed the Eastside trail 4 miles south to East Wenatchee. My destination, Cedars Inn, is across a busy road from the bike trail in the middle of East Wenatchee.

Apple Capital Eastside trail across the river from downtown Wenatchee.

Today was a slow lazy day with many long stops. I arrived at Cedars Inn at 6:20 PM. The motel is quite fancy, with an indoor swimming pool and a hot buffet breakfast.

Dinner was a few blocks away at a Thai restaurant. A casino bar and grille were closer, but looked disgusting.

In the evening I went back to the bike trail to have a look at the old truss bridge. It was completed in 1908, the first road bridge across the Columbia river in the US. A few miles downstream, Great Northern railway completed the much sturdier Rock Island rail bridge in 1892.

The bridge has been closed to vehicle traffic since 1950. Now the bridge hosts a recreational path and a huge sewer pipe that leads to a water treatment plant on the east shore just north of the bridge.

The bridge hosts a multi-use path and a huge sewer pipe.

I enjoyed walking on the bridge and the nearby trail and seeing the city lights. It's the closest thing to an urban experience during this tour. Wenatchee has 35,000 people. East Wenatchee has 14,000 people.

View downstream from the bridge. East Wenatchee on the left. Wenatchee on the right.

Today was a great day with relatively cool weather and no smoke. The hot and smoky periods in recent days help me appreciate a cooler, smoke-free day. And today had a good variety of scenery with a glacial lake, pine forested hills, and more of the Columbia river.

Distance: 50 miles (80 km)
Average Speed: 9.0 mph (14.4 km/h)
Ascent/Descent: +1606/-2015 feet (+490/-614 m)

Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 287 miles (462 km)

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