SCOOTENEY RESERVOIR RECREATION AREA: The Full Gamut From Farming to Shakespeare

August 8, 2019

"Where are you headed today?" asked the woman at the desk when I walked up with my bike to check out.

"I'm going toward Pasco, but I'm not sure if I'll make it that far," I replied, remembering that I haven't even done a 60+ mile day yet on this trip.

"It's doable," she said with the authority of a bike rider, "but you aren't taking Highway 17 are you?"

"Yeah, I am."

"And 395?"

I looked at my map. "Yes."

"Oh, PLEASE be careful," she pleaded, "there are so many big trucks on those highways."

"Yeah, but there are shoulders aren't there?"

"Yes, but . . ."

"I don't mind heavy traffic as long as there's a good shoulder. I live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area and I ride on busy roads every day."

"Please be careful," she reiterated. "There ARE some side roads you could take, although it's harvest season so there'll probably be a lot of trucks on those roads too."

I assured her I'd be careful. Then I wondered what the heck they'd be harvesting around here . . . sagebrush? Dry grass? Rocks?

Anyway, I do have confidence in my willingness to ride on roads many others wouldn't, but I admit she got me a little worried. Despite my cockiness about riding on big city highways, I can remember a few roads that had me positively terrified. But they didn't have shoulders. Highways 17 and 395 have shoulders, right? She said they did. While the Rand-McNally Atlas is undoubtedly an excellent source, it does not tell you if the dotted highways or any other highways have shoulders. It does not tell you traffic levels. It does not tell you about road conditions. They're just lines.

In the same way, Rand and McNally also don't tell you much about the land that surrounds the roads. They do point out forests, cities, national and state parks, some mountain peaks, lakes, rivers, etc. But they sure don't inform you about where there is going to be a big hill, or a series of big hills, or whether there are going to be any services in a small town. Their maps are designed for automobile driving. Car drivers don't care about that kind of stuff.

Now, I do have some basic geographical knowledge, so I know that there are going to be downhills and uphills in and out of river valleys. And I know that roads in southern Arizona are going to be going through the desert, and roads in Michigan's Upper Peninsula are going through forests of view-blockers, and roads in central Colorado are going through mountains.

THIS state, however, seems to change from day to day--sometimes from hour to hour. It's okay, though, because I LIKE to be surprised, and today's surprise was the immediate transition from deserty sagebrush, brown grass & big rocks to fertile farmland. There were fields of corn, beans, potatoes, squash, onions, and more. It made me feel like I was back home in Minnesota. There were huge apple orchards too. And vineyards.

The green agricultural fields of central Washington

Whatever this crop is, it's grown in nice, neat arcs.

Perhaps you noticed the common denominator in the three pictures above: Irrigation. Without it, I can't imagine any kind of farming could be happening here. Thanks to the forethought of the Martian engineers--or the pre-historic floods from the glacial era, depending on who you choose to believe--there are still lakes and rivers in this desert.

And water is diverted from those lakes and rivers via irrigation canals like this one.

After a couple of hours I came to the eastern edge of Othello. I've been waiting all morning to make a Shakespeare joke.

I couldn't come up with a good Othello joke because that's one of Shakespeare's plays I haven't read. (Shame on me.) Instead of a joke, I just looked up some quotes from Othello. How about this one? "How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?"

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There were animal sightings today too, and you know how animals and I like to stare at each other. In this case, I captured a nice picture of cows and horses living in peaceful harmony.

The funny thing is--none of them are staring at me.

Ten miles past Othello I saw a sign for a U.S Bureau of Reclamation campground. The Bureau of Reclamation is the same good group of folks who brought us the Grand Coulee Dam, so I owed it to myself to at least check the place out. The bumpy road leading into nothing but a sagebrush desert was a good sign, though it would have been nice to have a few shade trees on another sunny day well above 90-degrees.

Well, as Mr. Shakespeare might have said, "lo and behold!" I spotted a desert oasis, of sorts, complete with a blue reservoir, green trees, and well-watered grass. I knew right then and there that this would be my home for the night. I quickly set up camp and then rode back to a mountain bike trail I saw on the way in. The Reckless Mr. Bing Bong is not a mountain bike, so I hid it while I hiked in the sagebrush and dry grasses for an hour. I took my shirt off. The sun felt good upon my back.

To those who say "I don't see the beauty in that," I say . . . well . . . I don't know WHAT to say.

I suppose it's true that I'm not going to get to where I want to go with all these impromptu camping opportunities, these hikes, and these sub-40-mile cycling days, but I have to trust my HAPPY-sense. If I find a scenic place to camp, I've got to take advantage of it.

This is getting to be an old joke on my journals, but here it is again: Who hasn't experienced Cheetoes fingers?

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Today's ride: 36 miles (58 km)
Total: 426 miles (686 km)

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