August 28, 2011
Day 13: Blu-Shastin to Yakima canyon
52F early in the morning. Nice and crisp. I was on the road at 8.
The climb was mostly in cool dense shade. The first 10 miles were on US 97 with heavy traffic and a narrow shoulder. There was no traffic at all after I turned onto Old Blewett Pass road. In 1.5 hours I saw 3 bicyclists and 2 cars. The road is very winding and has many potholes caused by falling rocks. But the potholes are easy to avoid when there is no traffic.
Besides having no traffic, Old Blewett Pass road is 3 miles shorter and has slightly less climbing than US 97. I don't know why the ACA map directs cyclists onto busy US 97 instead of wonderful Old Blewett Pass road. I submitted a map correction about this.
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Old Blewett Pass is 4064 feet elevation, but still on the dry eastern slope of the Cascade range. The forest is mostly pine trees, and pine beetles are killing many of the trees. The trees aren't very dense and there is almost no understory. So the forest has a much more open feel than the dense forests on the west slope of the Cascade range.
The descent to the Yakima river valley was very long. I stopped for lunch at Mineral Springs Resort, in a historic log building.
The weather was hot in the Yakima valley. 97F, and shade was a rare commodity. Just before Ellensburg was one more steep 550 foot climb.
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In Ellensburg I missed a turn and saw the campus of Central Washington University. Ellensburg is a big town but the apple industry doesn't seem very big in this area.
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When passing south through Ellensburg, Main street turns into Canyon road, heading towards the Yakima river canyon. After several very flat miles the road enters the canyon.
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I saw many people rafting in the river. It's a very hot Saturday afternoon. The Yakima river has a fast current. Drifting rafts sometimes outpaced my bike when I was going uphill.
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I got a campsite at the deserted Lmuma campground, a primitive BLM recreation site in the middle of the canyon. It was nice to have some shade and a river to cool down in. I probably saw a hundred rafts go by during the evening.
This was easily the warmest evening of the tour. 76F in my tent at 9 PM with no wind.
Today was a long hard day but I felt strong. The heat really bothered me in the evening, though. Maybe I had a mild case of heat stroke. Tomorrow is also forecast to be hot.
Distance: 65.2 mi. (104 km)
Climbing: 3300 ft. (1000 m)
Average Speed: 10.1 mph (16.2 km/h)
Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 642 miles (1,033 km)
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