On my way out I quickly cycled through some of Tekoa and came across this beautiful mural at the Museum. 
Next to it is the Town Hall and a small rest area.
Accross the street are the Eclairs Coffe Shop and the Empire. I was glad that I could get a good coffee here.
I needed some time to plan ahead. The details of the Palouse Trail east of the Columbia River is somewhat murky and I wanted to get more information.
I met another cyclist last night. He is going in the opposite direction and told me about muddy patches that I would get to immediately after crossing the Tekoa Trestle. He advised taking a detour.
Must say, I have never seen pink-colored lids for coffee cups. The coffee was still good though. :):):):)
More specifically, I also chatted with the bakestress that will bake a special cake for the hard opening of the Trestle this coming Sunday. She had a wealth of information on how the community came together and started workinging for funding to repair the trestle.
The repairs to the Tekoa Trestle (in total about US$1 million) have been completed and this coming weekend would be the "hard" opening with the Governor of WA State there to formally open the Trestle. I met up with this group of volunteers busy soring out the parking area.
I asked the team what the conditions are up ahead and they told me about the bad mud that there was quite before. They even had a nickname for the section, the Swamp. A lot of work was done in 2021, so I would be able to get through easily. There may be small spots of mud here and there, but nothing when compared what I went through yesterday.
I decided to follow the trail rather than go for a detour from the start.
This is how the Trestle was constructed so many years ago.
This is what it looks like now that it is repaired. Of course, now for a much lighter use.
Good job, guys!!!!
Of course, the view from the trestle over the town is great.
From the Trestle, the Trail condition was great and I was making good time.
Even the swampy areas had good, but softish surfacing. I thought everything would be OK up ahead.
Until I reached Lone Pine where plans became unhinged very quickly.
The mud was clingy and the entire trail width was wet. I was quite upset to see how the earlier work was done on the trail surface (probably filling potholes, etc.) and the side drains were not touched fo long sections. Without drainage you will get serious ponding and this is what is going on here.
I pushed for about 1.5 miles, cleaning wheels regularly.
At last I was out of the mud.
However, my problems did not stop. This part of the trail has quite large pebbles and rocks on the surface and my gravel tires are just not wide enough to make the ride comfortable. I pedaled on, as the next town, Rosalia, was quite near.
I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. Rolling hills with newly germinated plantings and flowering trees along the rail line.
I soon came to the Seabury Trestle.
There are good views from here, both oveer the surrounding farmland and the 
alignment of a crossing rail line that made this bridge essential, but now also abandoned.
There are quite a number of missing trestles along this section.
But the scenery is great.
By the time I came to this missing trestle, I had enough of the bumping and cycled the last 5 miles on a parallel paved road to Rosalia.
I continued to enjoy the surrounding scenery. You can see the trail on the right in the picture above.
I soon reached Rosalia where I passed the local Caltex filling station and
a repair shop. The Vampyrie car is fun.
I stopped at the Red Brick Bakery for a Coke and a slice of Apple Tart. Both were great. I again looked at the road ahead and, as I was going into an area where the 2020-wildfires burned through entire towns with very reinstatment completed. I decided to tackle the next sections tomorrow.
I pitched my tent for the first time this trip under
beautiful Cottonwoods in the Rosalia Camp Ground. I was humbled by the friendliness and responsiveness of the Camp staff. The Camp is not fully open yet for the new Season. It looked as if somebody lived in the Men's restroom. The cleaning personnel immediately came and did a thorough cleanup. Thank you, Margie, and staff.
No comments:
Post a Comment