Day 8: East Wenatchee to Ephrata

July 23, 2021

Cedars Inn had an awesome hot breakfast buffet. I left the motel feeling well fed at 8 AM, but stopped at 7-11 to buy snacks for the road. On the trail at 8:10.

I stopped to look at the two bridges near the motel. Closest to the motel is the old 1908 bridge. Then half a mile south on the trail to the new main bridge.

Yesterday I pedaled 4 miles on the Eastside trail. Today I pedaled another 4 miles south on the Eastside trail until it ends and puts me on WA 28.

Apple Capital Eastside trail south of East Wenatchee.

WA 28 is busy, with a paved shoulder. Going south I have nonstop views of the Columbia river to my right. The highway goes close to Rock Island dam which is the last of 5 Columbia river dams I see during this tour. Rock Island dam is the third Columbia river dam I've seen that is operated by a county Public Utility District.

Rock Island dam is not very tall but it was the first dam built on the Columbia river in 1931. It was surely regarded to be a major engineering achievement to tame a portion of the mighty Columbia river for the first time. The turbines must have given the Wenatchee area fabulously abundant electricity in the 1930's.

Two miles downstream from the dam WA 28 turns away from the river. It was my last view of the Columbia river. At the top of the hill I turned left onto Palisades road to enter Palisades canyon. I could see a smoke cloud ahead in the canyon.

Palisades road entering Palisades canyon and approaching a smoke cloud.

The smoke got gradually denser as I pedaled into Palisades canyon. I didn't want to pedal through the scenic canyon in a dense cloud of smoke. So I stopped for 1.5 hours at a ranch house to nap in the shade. As expected, most of the smoke blew away before I got back on the road.

Palisades canyon. On the edge of the smoke cloud.

Palisades canyon is obviously a coulee scoured by ice age floods. After the tour I learned that Palisades canyon is the lower half of Moses Coulee.

Palisades canyon. I don't know how irrigation water gets into the canyon.

Palisades canyon has many irrigated farms and a few farm houses in and around the village of Palisades. The remote village still has an elementary school but the former store is now a house.

Former store in the remote village of Palisades.

5 miles beyond Palisades I turned left on an unpaved road to the Douglas creek swimming holes. The road starts flat, crossing Douglas creek in the valley where the creek is shallow. Then the road climbs aggressively. Mostly 10% grade, sometimes steeper, with many big loose rocks. I pushed the bike for most of the 500 foot climb.

Looking down on Palisades canyon from the road to Douglas creek swimming holes.

Upper part of the climb to Douglas Creek swimming holes.

Then a 150 foot descent to the actual swimming holes. Douglas creek has a huge gradient in this area. The many cascades scour a swimming hole below each cascade.

Douglas creek has many small cascades that scour deep holes in the otherwise shallow creek.

There were only about 5 other people in the area. It was easy to find a vacant pool for skinny dipping. The air temperature was 90F and I worked very hard to get there. It felt good to cool down in the 75F water.

My private skinny-dipping pool. About 75F.

The return trip to Palisades canyon is easy, with much intense braking on the 10% downgrade. The descent gave me good views looking both upstream and downstream in Palisades canyon.

Looking down Palisades canyon, towards the Columbia river.

On the way out I took a photo of the place where the gravel road crosses Douglas creek in the canyon. The water was only 4 inches deep but it was so bouldery that it was difficult to pedal across. I walked the bike instead. It's good to use sandals.

The 5 mile Douglas creek detour took 3 hours! It was very hard work. The 1.5 hour nap and 3 hour detour will cause me to arrive in Ephrata very late and very tired.

The road to the swimming holes crosses Douglas creek.

Back on Palisades Canyon road I had only 1.5 mile of pavement before gravel resumes. But this time it's well graded with few loose rocks. The road goes near impressive eroded basalt formations. It's very scenic and there is no traffic. Maybe a car every 5 minutes. Palisades canyon is awesome.

Back to pavement for a short distance in Palisades canyon.

6 volcanic layers visible, including columnar basalt.

Today had a high of 90F which is about normal. Blue sky early and late in the day, but I pedaled into a cloud of smoke at mid-day. Pedaling into a cloud of smoke has become an almost daily habit during this tour.

The volcanic layers in Palisades canyon remind me of the John Day river canyon in northeast Oregon which has as many as 13 visible layers of lava. Here I could see 6 layers in many places.

Eventually I left the flat irrigated valley behind and began climbing escarpments that take me out of the canyon.

First major climb to get out of Palisades canyon.

After climbing the first escarpment I could see the main pouroff into the coulee. It's a smaller version of Dry Falls that I saw on day 1. This one is only half a mile wide.

Approaching the "mouth" of Moses coulee.

Climbing to the main pouroff into Moses coulee.

Near the lip of the main pouroff the road veers right and makes the final climb out of the coulee in an eroded side channel. The climb out of the coulee is about 500 feet, but the climbing is only just beginning. The road continues to climb gently for another 10 miles to 2300 feet elevation, the highest elevation of the trip. Fortunately pavement resumes shortly after I climbed out of the coulee.

The area above the coulee is gently rolling hills of golden grass. Very few trees or bushes. The uphill grade was only 3% most of the time but I was exhausted. Progress was slow.

Barren farm fields after climbing out of the coulee.

Finally a long continuous descent to downtown Ephrata, towards a slightly visible cloud of smoke.

In downtown Ephrata I turned right and pedaled pedaled 4 level miles south on WA 28 to my parked car at the Oasis RV park. I arrived at 7:35 PM! The sun had already set behind the hills and the temperature was in the 70's.

Starting a 1000 foot descent to Ephrata. Smoky haze in the distance.

I drove back into Ephrata and got a room at Ephrata Inn again. I don't have a reservation this time and it's Friday night. The room cost almost twice as much as it did before the tour. I hoped that I could start driving home tonight but I arrived much too late for that.

I was exhausted and starving. Dinner was an excruciatingly long wait for a pizza.

I'm glad I did the strenuous detour to the Douglas creek swimming holes. Most likely I will never pass through the area again.

Distance: 61.2 miles (98 km)
Average Speed: 8.2 mph (13.1 km/h)
Ascent/Descent: +2957/-2414 feet (+902/-736 m)

Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 348 miles (560 km)

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