Day 3: Rest day

July 18, 2021

Today is a non-travel day in the town of Grand Coulee. I have one strenuous excursion planned, and decided to do it early in the day while it's cool. Today is forecast to be much hotter than yesterday.

Today's excursion is an out and back trip to the Crown Point overlook which has views of Grand Coulee dam and the Columbia river. The overlook is only 4 miles from the motel but some effort is required. Downhill to cross WA 155. Then a 400 foot climb on WA 174 followed by a 200 foot dead end descent to the overlook.

WA 174 crosses under many big power lines. The first group of 6 parallel towers are the oldest power lines.

Big hydro dams have big power lines. These are old, maybe 100 kV.

I stopped to look down on a huge electrical substation, Roosevelt lake, and Grand Coulee dam. Looking into the sun with a bit of smoke below and a dense cloud of smoke in the distance.

Biggest electrical substation I've ever seen. First partial view of the dam. Dense smoke in the distance.

Near the top of the climb I was amused to enter Douglas county. I live in Douglas county, Oregon. My county is much more green.

I live in one of 12 Douglas counties in the US.

The Crown Point Overlook is a Washington State Park. A 1 mile road was built just to serve the overlook.

Crown Point overlook was built in 1952. The Stalinist architecture evokes the concrete and steel of the dam.

I left the motel at 7:20 AM and arrived at the overlook at about 8 AM. At first the view was impaired by smoke. So I sat and waited. The wind started blowing at about 8:45 and the smoke rapidly dispersed.

I stayed for more than an hour and had the place to myself. Still smoky when this picture was taken.

Wide view looking upstream after the smoke cleared. Dense smoke visible in the distance.

From the overlook I could look down on the town of Coulee Dam. It was first called Engineers Town, where the government built houses for senior engineers and managers. Close to the river, with irrigated grass and trees. The laborers lived in tents or wooden shacks far up the barren hill in Grand Coulee.

Town of Coulee Dam below. Town of Grand Coulee in upper right. I will cross the lower bridge tomorrow morning.

The Crown Point overlook has the tour's first view of the Columbia river. I will see much more of the Columbia river in the next 5 days.

Columbia river looking downstream. I will go this way tomorrow.

Old sign made before Three Gorges dam became the world's largest concrete structure.

On the way back to Grand Coulee I stopped to look at the newest power lines above the road summit. They make loud crackling noises. I went up an ungated power line access road (visible in the photo below) for my highest view of Grand Coulee Dam and Roosevelt Lake.

Road summit under crackling 230 kV power lines built in the late 1970's.

View from the power line access road. 300 feet higher than Crown Point overlook. My most expansive view of Roosevelt lake.

My final stop on the morning excursion was to look at the upper canal again. The canal runs 2 miles from the pump pipes to Banks Lake. It has a fast current.

WA 174 crossing the canal that feeds Banks Lake. Looking into the upper mouth of the Grand Coulee. North Dam is visible.

I was back to the motel around 10 AM. I successfully beat the heat. I rested in the room and took a short nap.

Every restaurant in Grand Coulee is closed on Sundays. The closest restaurant is 2 miles away in Electric City, mostly uphill. So I pedaled there for a late lunch. Service was slow but I had plenty of time to spare.

All the restaurants in Grand Coulee are closed on Sunday so I pedaled to Electric City for lunch.

Decorated ceiling tiles in the Electric City bar and grill.

It was very hot when I stepped outside at 2 PM for the 2 mile ride back to the motel. Fortunately it's mostly downhill. Today had a high of 100F (38C). It was a good day to spend mostly indoors.

Tomorrow will be even hotter. Tomorrow will be be the longest, hilliest, and hottest day of the tour. It will be good to start well rested.

The biggest tourist attraction related to Grand Coulee Dam starts at 10 PM every night during summer. The spillway opens and a laser light show is projected on the falling water, with synchronized music. Unfortunately I'm far above the dam and the viewing areas are below the dam. I don't want to do a 400 foot ascent starting at 10:30 PM. I'm not carrying a headlight because the days are so long. Besides, a late night excursion is not advisable when I need to get an early start in the morning.

I like rest days in places where there is something to see, and where the rest is needed. Grand Coulee succeeded on both fronts. The excursion to the Crown Point overlook was an ideal rest day activity. And it will be helpful to start tomorrow well rested.

Distance: 11.7 miles (18.7 km)
Average Speed: 8.1 mph (13 km/h)
Ascent/Descent: +856/-856 feet (+261/-261 m)

Today's ride: 12 miles (19 km)
Total: 86 miles (138 km)

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