Palouse to Cascades Trail

After leaving Sully’s we headed to Seattle. Bernie planned to ride the Palouse to Cascades Trail. I must admit that I wasn’t up for another ride before arriving in Seattle. An uphill ride along a mountain trail just seemed like punishment. However, I knew that riding more miles would help me complete the Olympic Peninsula.

We had trouble finding the trail entrance and even more trouble finding a place to fill our water bottles. After riding around the small park we located both the water station and trail head.

Grudgingly I began to climb the mild grade through a dense rain forest. My mind immediately focused on the beauty that surrounded me. Wild flowers and waterfalls lined the climb. I knew we were only going to do about 25 miles because of the late start so my attitude greatly improved with this realization.

We ran across a young group of rock climbers about halfway up. I thought of Cindy immediately. The rock face they were climbing seemed like the challenging climb Cindy would enjoy.

At mile thirteen we turned around and that’s when my fun began. My new Ribble gravel bike was made for fast descents over rough terrain. I let it loose on the way down averaging close to 20 mph. The bike performed like a dream. Riding dirt motorcycles as a young man also helped me  keep the bike under control.

https://giphy.com/gifs/ifhtfilms-fall-bike-mountain-OZh2prUPYBdXGY8x5U

My companions didn’t have this advantage and had to descend more slowly even though they are all stronger riders than myself.

Once down the mountain we drove to a nice hotel just outside of Seattle. Tomorrow we drive to our Olympic Peninsula starting point, Magnolia Lutheran Church.