Day 18: Big Creek to Iron Creek campground

September 2, 2011

Today should be an easy recovery day. 48F at 7 AM.

I got on the road at 8:30 going east, then southeast through dense forest on Skate Creek road. For several miles the road is close to the Nisqually river with highway 706 on the other side of the river. I'm backtracking several miles because there is no bridge across the Nisqually river closer to the national park.

Morning view of Mount Rainier and Nisqually river.

I had occasional views of the river and Mount Rainier, but most of the time the road was in dense shade. Then the road turns away from the river and climbs 650 feet to cross a big hill that separates the Nisqually river watershed from the Cowlitz river watershed.

After the summit the road starts following Skate creek downstream under a dense forest canopy. It was cold, but the scenery was great. For several miles there were awesome creekside dispersed campsites, all occupied. It's Friday morning and a lot of people are getting an early start on the Labor Day holiday weekend.

I didn't start to feel warm until I got to Packwood, at the bottom of the open, sunny Nisqually river valley. First real sun of the day. Packwood was very crowded because it was a flea market weekend with hundreds of vendors set up along the highway. Vendors, pedestrians, and cars everywhere.

I stocked up on groceries because the next food store will be more than 48 hours later. I wanted to buy powdered milk and a fuel canister, but couldn't find either.

Flea market in Packwood, with a partial view of Mount Rainier.

I had lunch in Packwood and by the time I left town it felt almost like summer for the first time in 3 days. 75F.

I didn't have a shower the previous 2 nights and all my clothes were dirty. So I stopped at the huge 800-site Cascade Peaks RV resort to take a shower and do laundry in their nice facilities. I had never done that before during a bike tour. The thought never occurred to me.

A clean body and clean clothes gave me a new outlook on life. Less dread about spending the next two nights at a campground without showers.

The riding was easy going downstream along the Cowlitz river in a gradually widening valley with frequent houses and occasional hayfields. In Randle I turned left, south, onto forest road 25. I will follow this road a very long distance, but today I only go 12 miles. A very steep 400 feet climb got me soaked in sweat. I was hoping to get from the shower to the campsite without that happening.

At 5:15 I arrived at the nearly full Iron Creek USFS campground and paid $40 for 2 nights. The campground is huge, with 6 separate loops. But it only has vault toilets and water faucets. The forest was enchanting and the temperature was in the 60's, warmer than any evening since I left the desert.

I wasn't motivated to take many pictures today. During the morning it was hard to get a good picture in the dense forest. And in the afternoon the valley scenes weren't as inspiring as the mountains of the past few days.

I'll fix that tomorrow...

Distance: 52.5 mi. (84 km)
Climbing: 1503 ft. (455 m)
Average Speed: 10.9 mph (17.4 km/h)

Today's ride: 53 miles (85 km)
Total: 858 miles (1,381 km)

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