59.6 miles today, 171 miles total
It was a long day today. The scenery changed dramatically and the trail surface deteriorated, substantially!
After a cold, but dry start, we rode alongside the Yakima River. Wildflowers were blooming.
But soon the walls of trees that provided beautiful shade, gave waway to walls of rock.
Or, great open spaces.
(this suited Dan, because the solar panel strapped to his bike eventually started working).
We crossed I-90 on the Renslow Trestle (an obvious landmark for anyone who has driven that road).
However, our excitement was soon tempered by the miserable condition of the trail, and we turned back (Bob may have stopped to kiss the asphalt, but if so, we were too giddy with our newfound traction to notice).
This disappointment was, eventually, rewarded with miles of downhill grade where we coasted at over 30 mph (a literal order of magnitude more than we were making on the trail when we turned back).
As our shadows grew longer, we watched elk running between wind turbines.
We arrived in Vantage at 7:50 where we procured a 6 pack of the best beer EVER, but had to wait another 30 mins before we could drink it at the campsite.
What a day!
When we arrived at the campground we were greeted by a ranger who had seen us on the road on her way home, and then come back to check us in! Awesome! She had seen us earlier on Vantage Highway and surmised we had nowhere else to go, so she was expecting us. Washington State Park staff are great.
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