Exploring the deserts of ... WASHINGTON?!
Yes, Washington. The Evergreen State actually has lots of desert country once you get east of the Cascade mountains. Much of it has been domesticated under cultivation since the Columbia River flows right through the middle of the state's driest areas, but there are still a few bits and pieces -- as well as a few large areas -- of wild desert left. And being lower than elevation, it's actually a bit hotter and drier than much of the Oregon Desert. (Now, if you're also surprised to know that there is desert in Oregon, you've got a lot to learn. Read on.)
Back in 2003 Davey Sprockett, King of the Wild Front Tire (aka Sparty) and I did a 3-night/4-day bike trailer camping trip in the Owyhee Canyonlands of Southeastern Oregon. It's taken 5 long years since then for us to synchronize our schedules and attempt a sequel.
Our intention, at least until the last minute, had been to visit Southeast Oregon's Sheepshead Mountains, a spectacular area of dry lake beds, flat-topped buttes and spectacular vistas of Steens Mountain's eastern face. The Steens-Alvord-Sheepsheads region is basically a scaled down version of Death Valley.
But it's been a wet spring. In the week leading up to our trip the area has gotten between an inch to 2 inches of rain, making roads impassable and turning everything into a muddy, gooey mess. I have no interest in pulling a bike trailer through miles of mud, traversing lakebeds that are 6 inches deep in water, and camping in mud. Yeechh. A survey of surrounding regions found that much of northern california and Nevada, as well as southern Idaho, are equally wet if not worse.
Finally, 2 days before departure it dawned on me. Of all places, Washington has been dry for over 2 weeks. There shouldn't be any mud, and the forecast looks good too. Washington doesn't have the enormous wide open desert spaces of Oregon, but I was thinking it has enough for at least a day of bike camping, maybe more. I've posted explorations of some of Washington's desert before but now it was time to dig deeper.
Day 1: Snake River
Saturday found us heading out on a section of the Columbia Plateau Trail, a 130 mile long rail trail that traverses the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington. The trail follows the route constructed in 1908 by the Spokane, Portland and Seattle railway. This route was designed to take an easier climb through Devil's Canyon than the previous railway, but avoiding steep grades in that canyon meant building the line high above the floor of the Snake River Canyon below, and the deep side canyons necessitated the construction of 4 giant trestles, now on the National Historic Register. Unfortunately the trestles are closed to the public because they don't have guardrails, requiring detours on our part:
Although I rode the Devil's Canyon section a decade ago, I'd by now forgotten that the surface was deep, loose, coarse ballast rock. Slow going, even on a 29er with low pressure in the tires:
A few tunnels added some interest to the ride:
A brief windstorm blew through, slowing us down even further. Although our campground was lovely and green, we could now see how it got the name Windust:
Davey checking out the view:
Me riding through a rock cut:
We encountered 2 Crotalus oreganus in about an hour. No wonder they call it the Snake River:
We soon entered an area with no roads, no farms, no nuthin' except rail lines and salmon barges.
Since the warm, stagnant water behind dams disorients and kills salmon, we barge them around the lakes. Here are your federal tax dollars at work:
We discovered that the original 1872 rail line is still in existence along this stretch, and for the most part is much easier going than the official 1908 rail trail. We returned via this route:
All in all, a great 23 mile near-wilderness adventure. Besides the snakes, we were treated to numerous sightings of hawks and owls that we scared out of the rock cuts as we rode through. Some day we'd like to come back and explore more of this rail trail (perhaps on Pugsleys) - which would be far better suited to the surface) but for now our butts had had enough.
Days 2-4: Umtanum Country
Next destination was a couple hours west, a big chunk of state fish and wildlife land southwest of Ellensburg. Along the way we checked out the big new Wild Horse wind farm:
It would be either the Whiskey Dick, Quilomene and Colockum wildlife areas or the Wenas and LT Murray wildlife areas. We chose Wenas.
The ride started with an easy late afternoon climb up over Manastash Ridge:
Then later we'd climb to the top of Umtanum Ridge (in the distance):
But first we dropped down into Umtanum Canyon. The canyon is spectacular, but of course what comes down must go up. We would experience both elation and suffering along the way to the ridgetop. We quickly renamed Umtanum Ridge "Unobtanium" or "Unattainable":
Davey navigating the stream ford in the lush canyon bottom:
At least we spotted some Bighorn Sheep on the way up:
Finally we gained the summit. Davey rolling it:
Great flowers, great views:
Now we had 15 miles of rolling ridgetop in front of us - and a massive headwind to ride into. We decided to save most of it for the next day, especially after discovering this inviting (and wind-sheltered) campsite.
Monday morning the wind had subsided a bit and we headed back out on the ridge. Looking back to the east, with our campsite (the little patch of trees) and the radio towers still in view:
What appeared from a distance to be a gently undulating ridgetop ...
... turned out to be lots of steep, rocky climbs and descents. Some of these were exciting with fully loaded trailers behind us:
But the wildflowers kept us going. The vegetation varied from thick grass and tall sage in the wind sheltered areas to nearly nothing on the windswept ridgetop, but regardless of we were the wildflowers just wouldn't quit. The delicate bitterroots were wide open and hillsides were literally carpets of phlox, lupine and balsamroot:
The views wouldn't quit either. You could see the Stuart Range of the Cascades in the above flower photos, and here's Mount Rainier to the west:
And Cleman Mountain to the south:
And Kittitas Valley (Ellen S. Burg) to the north:
After many miles we finally dropped down the west end of the ridge at Ellensburg Pass. And immediately climbed back up to gain Manastash Ridge again. Lots more trees than Umtanum, but the carpet of lupine was still with us:
Eventually we made camp at a place called Mud Flats. It was a lot more inviting than the name might suggest:
We decided to ditch the trailers and ride our bikes further up the ridge in search of water to filter. The road got rougher and steeper, and on one descent I suddenly noticed my rear brake making a lot of noise. I stopped to find one of the mounting bolts for my disc brake missing -- along with the CPS washers -- and the other bolt backed halfway out. One more good descent and I would have lost the whole brake, causing a crash and likely destroying my rear wheel. A little ingenuity with spare hardware -- including a little nut that I miraculously found along the trail -- and the brake was almost good as new:
We decided to return to camp after that incident, but given more time we would have loved to explore even more. Continuing west, the ridge gradually rises higher and enters National Forest land in a few miles. The opportunities for exploration around here -- desert or forest -- are endless. But at least we had enough time in camp to relax, cook a good dinner, and catch another spectacular sunset over the Stuarts:
We awoke to the sound of rain on our tents Tuesday morning, the last day of our trip. Maybe this was nature's way of telling us to go home. We bid adieu to lovely Mud Flat before it got too muddy, but on the way back the mud found us anyway. 17 miles of riding in the rain on desert roads will do this to you:
We might have ended up wet, muddy and cold, but boy did we have a great time. The stats don't sound that impressive -- 23 miles on the Snake River, 48 miles in Wenas country -- but what an incredible trip it was. I've got to thank Dave for his patience and open mindedness while I proposed the switch to Washington, and his endless positive attitude that kept us going through some serious challenges.
Great Gear
When I've posted travelogues in the past, I've typically described some technical information about the bike setup (obligatory content: custom Vulture 29"er, BW1.0 coil fork, Thudbuster LT and Selle An-Atomica TItanico, Mikesee-built DT Swiss/Delgado Disc wheels, Specialized Resolution front, Panaracer Rampage rear, Midge bar with friction thumbie, Avid BB7s, 26/34/38 x 15/20/23/26/32 gearing). I usually don't go into more detail than that, but this time I'm making an exception. On a trip like this, you are completely dependent on your equipment. Good gear can help make a great trip possible, and bad gear can ruin a trip. On a multi-night ride you learn things about equipment that you'd never find out doing only day rides. I have absolutely no financial interest in any of the equipment listed below. I'm just listing my favorites because they performed great and I want the world to know about them:Food
Backpacker food can get boring quickly, so it's important to keep things tasty and interesting. An army travels on its stomach. Even an army of two.Babybel cheese!
A bit expensive even at Trader Joe's, but it keeps for days at room temperature and is ready to eat when you need it.
Backpacker's Pantry Pad Thai.
By far the best tasting freeze dried backpacker meal either one of us has ever tried.
SeaBear Ready-to-Eat Smoked Salmon.
A true luxury out in the desert, sealed in a foil pouch and ready to eat. Don't even THINK about bringing this stuff if you're camping in bear country, though.
Finally, a snack that is sweet, juicy and rehydrating, yet also crunchy at the same time. It's rich in fiber, moderates appetite, cleans your teeth, comes with biodegradable packaging and literally grows on trees. Yep, that's right - apples! Davey brought several along on the trailer tour. Next time I'll bring a few too.
Camping gear
There's some excellent ultralight backpacking gear out there these days. Here's what worked great for us.Pacific Outdoors Self Inflating pillow.
Ahhh, I've been looking for something like this for years. No more lumps and lines across your face like with wadded up fleece, and you can get the pillow's thickness just right by adding or removing air. I slept better on this trip than I ever have in the backcountry before.
Crazy Creek Power Lounger.
A chair and a sleeping pad in one. Davey also brought another good choice, the Therma-A-Rest Trekker Chair for more cush and similar weight, but I prefer the puncture-proofness of the Crazy Creek.
Princeton Tec Eos headlamp.
1 powerful watt of LED power, runs for hours on 3 AAA batteries. Bright steady mode for seeing your way down the trail, dim for reading in camp, or flashing for being seen in traffic. Mounts on your handlebars, head or helmet. For a trip like this, the Eos was all the light I needed.
Mountain Safety Research Pocketrocket and Superfly stoves. Dave had the lighter and more compact Pocketrocket, I had the quieter and more stable Superfly.
Both are fantastic backpacking stoves, weigh next to nothing and have run for years with zero maintenance.
Organization
Organizing all that gear on your bike is a challenge. These products made it easier.Mountain Feed Bag.
Designed by Oregon's own "Wreckless" Christa, these roomy bags stay just out of the way an otherwise unused space under the handlebars. Best of all, you can open and close them one-handed so you can quickly grab and replace a snack or your camera while pedaling. Worth every penny. I carried one on the left side of the stem for snacks, and one on the right side for gear like my camera, sunscreen, headlamp, knife, and other gear I wanted handy.
CycoActive BarMap.
Good way to keep a map of the day's riding handy for quick reference. Although it's intended to be velcroed onto your handlebars, I found it worked equally well attached to my top tube and tucked behind the water bottle.
Jandd Mountain Wedge III.
The biggest underseat bag I know of, bigger than some rack trunks but without the need for a rack. Even though I had to compress it vertically to avoid bottoming out on the tall 29" tire when the Thudbuster seatpost compressed, it was still big enough for me to carry tools, two spare tubes, spare clothing layers and a pair of binoculars. Alternatively, it's big enough to stuff my entire tent body or rainfly into. And Jandd bags hold up under incredible abuse.
Cateye BC-100 bottle cage.
A classic, and still the best. Lighter than fragile aluminum cages, dirt cheap, and unlike other bottles can be mounted anywhere with a pair of automotive hose clamps. I've got them mounted on the back of my BOB trailer (see below) and in custom locations on my Vulture.
BOB mods
A few upgrades help transform a good bike camping trailer into an excellent bike camping trailer.BOB Yak Fork 28.
The standard BOB fork will not fit most 29" tires. The good news is that the 28/29" replacement fork is huge. Not only will it clear any 29" production tire with over an inch to spare all around, but it appears to have plenty of room even for the enormous Surly Endomorph. Pugsley riders rejoice! The new version also has handy hooks for hanging the retention clips when the trailer is not hooked to your bike.
Tire upgrade.
The standard BOB tire is a good fast roller for road touring, but is a bit small for offroad use and somewhat vulnerable to thorns. Dave has upgraded his with a standard Kenda BMX tire, and I went with the Haro Rap. Nearly a knockoff of the Schwalbe Big Apple, it's cheap, fast, big and tough. Also note the additional water bottle mounts and the fact that I've replaced the fragile stock fender (too small for wider tires) with a piece of corrugated plastic cut from a political sign.
Kratsch Sack.
The standard roll-top BOB bag requires you to buckle it at both ends near the bottom where it's almost impossible to reach when fully packed. Dave's using a spacious and waterproof BOB-fitted bag designed by Oregon's own Chris "SeenYour" Kratsch, which replaces the roll-top design with a heavy-duty zipper and adds an inside pocket and topside tie-downs. Brilliant design.
Other mods.
Balancing a heavily loaded BOB trailer while connecting it or removing it from the bike is always a pain, and trying to park the bike-BOB train is always a hassle if there isn't a tree or fencepost to lean it against. Dave has solved both problems. Check out the grab handle welded to his BOB, and the perfectly placed kickstand:
Thanks for reading.
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