Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Reinig Bridge - Snoqualmie River - Snoqualmie, WA
Still on a high from the previous day, I was really looking forward to the day’s ride. Overall, my body was holding up pretty well; my legs were a bit sore but that was to be expected. Our route for the day was a flat start to an overlook for Snoqualmie Falls but then we were going to be tested. The trail was a dead-end at the falls and the only way forward was to take the incredibly steep Lake Alice Rd. A road climbing over 400 feet in less than a mile making it about a 10% grade. I had already resigned myself to a physically strenuous day, so I wanted to enjoy the easy ride to and from the waterfall.
Having started shortly after 4am, we had the trail entirely to ourselves minus the one deer we encountered. As we approached the end of the trail, I could see the short trail to the waterfall viewpoint, but the waterfall was nowhere in sight. The overlook area was in a bad state of upkeep; where the overlook once was now covered by trees that were at least 20-30 years old, completely obscuring the waterfall. It soon became apparent we weren’t going to be seeing the falls after all.
Slightly disappointed, we headed back out and started the slow climb up Lake Alice Rd. We were able to ride for a minute or two, but then the road started to get seriously steep. I got off the bike and began pushing us up the hill. My arms felt like they were doing endless bench presses and they soon began to burn. The road itself has no shoulder so we were walking in the lane of traffic, but thankfully, it is a dead-end road and because we had chosen to start so early, there was almost no traffic to contend with. This was good because I could only push 50-100 feet at a time before having to stop for a break, laying the bike and trailer down in the road as far to the side as possible. I was not comfortable with this situation, but I didn’t have any other choice if we were to continue with the route. Finally, after over an hour of pushing, we made it to the top of the road and I was exhausted but still in good spirits.
Having made it to the lake, the road leveled out and I was able to catch my breath. We headed to the dead-end where we would follow a very short trail, get into a neighborhood, and then back onto a bike path. At least that’s how it was supposed to go. Being as tired as I was from the grueling hour of pushing the bike uphill, I misread a slight turn on the road and thought we were facing east when we were actually facing south. I could tell that things on the ground weren’t matching the map, but it was impossible to get my bearings so we headed in what I thought was the right direction. Our path was on a rough gravel road that ran under some utility lines. It didn’t feel right, but I kept hoping the houses that I should be seeing would pop up any minute.
We finally turned around after our path started making a steep descent and I could see the Raging River in the distance, which we had crossed the previous day. We had gone about 2 miles out of our way and lost about 300 feet in elevation that we would have to redo. To make matters worse, Captain’s nose picked now of all times to burst in one of the worst bloody noses that she’s ever had, showering the entire inside of the trailer, including herself and Zilla with blood. I let Zilla out as we were on a seldom used, powerline road, but Captain was in no state to be exerting herself, causing her heart to work harder and her nose to bleed more, so she stayed in the trailer. At this point, the road was too rough to ride so I walked the bike to try and make the ride as smooth as possible for Captain.
Having completed our 4 mile detour, I was absolutely spent. I took a long break to try and regroup and hoped that Captain’s bleeding would stop. There really wasn’t anything I could do to help her though, so her nose just kept bleeding. After catching my breath and regaining my strength to continue, I figured out roughly where we were and that a gas station was about a mile away. The plan was to go there for some Slim Jim’s for the dogs to help Captain replenish the nutrients she was losing to the bloody nose and so that I could get a couple Gatorades to replace the electrolytes I had lost from all the exertion and the 4 bonus miles from getting lost. As always, the dogs were very excited to have some Slim Jim’s and the Gatorades did me a world of good. We then turned around, about 9 miles earlier than planned, so that Captain could have a chance to rest and clot at the hotel.
(click photos to enlarge and see descriptions)
When we got back to town, I went to the local QFC grocery store to try a bloody nose remedy that a former teacher of mine had recommended, raw bacon. The scientifically backed theory is that you use the bacon to make a nasal tampon that will slow the blood flow. I explained this to the man at the deli counter and he told me he would just give me a piece of bacon instead of making me buy a single piece to use on my dog. After the day that we’d been having, this really struck a chord with me and I will be forever grateful for his small act of kindness towards my ailing pup . What the bacon theory doesn’t tell you though is that it’s practically impossible to rip a piece of bacon small enough to fit in a dog’s nostril and even harder to insert said limp piece of bacon into an unwilling dog’s nose. Though after several tries, I was able to get it to stay in and had decent results. While it hadn’t stopped the bleeding entirely, it did slow it significantly.
After having had plenty of time to rest and clot, I decided to try and knock out the missed 9 miles before dark. The route was almost entirely on dedicated, paved bike paths along portions of the Snoqualmie Ridge Trail and the Centennial Trail. The highlight of the route itself is that the Centennial Trail passes several early 1900 steam locomotives, each with a sign telling you about a particular train car. It was a cool slice of history, especially since it was part of the Great American Rail Trail. Our ride ended for the day in a nice open meadow that had a herd of elk grazing in it. Dogzilla hates elk and tries to fight them whenever he sees them. It’s quite a sight to watch a 20 lb dog charging an 800 lb bull elk. He has the courage of a lion, but I don’t think he’s ever really considered the odds of winning a fight with something 40 times his size….
Sadly, our week of rides was coming to an end as we only had one ride left. Captain’s nose was still doing ok, so we set out on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail and headed to Rattlesnake Lake. It was a bit chilly on the ride, so the only snake we saw was a small dead one of unknown species, but that was fine with me. I like snakes, but I didn’t feel a need to have an encounter with a rattlesnake with the dogs. Having left Snoqualmie, we rode through North Bend which was the last town along the trail for probably close to 40 miles. It was great being back alone in nature.
All too soon, we had finished our climb through the firs, spruces, and pines of the Cascade foothills and popped out at our final destination. There were quite a few people recreating at the reservoir but we managed to avoid them as we made our way to the end of the Snoqualmie Valley Trail and to the start of our next leg, the over-named Iron Horse Trail/John Wayne Trail/Palouse to Cascades Trail (PTC). Of the three, I prefer the Iron Horse, but I believe it is now officially the Palouse to Cascades Trail. This would wind up being our path for the next few hundred miles, so we were going to get to know it quite well as the Palouse to Cascades Trail is recognized as the 2nd longest rail trail in the US.
We took a quick photo at the start of the Palouse to Cascades and then enjoyed the long downhill to the car. Along the way, my back tire went flat so I switched out the tube. Being in a bit of a hurry, I overinflated the tube and it burst. I try to always be as self reliant as possible, so I actually had a second tube on hand and was able to replace it again, this time being much more careful.
Since it was all downhill, I didn’t have to pedal much, so I let my mind wander. Eventually, I turned to look at the dogs and saw that Zilla was really enjoying himself. He wasn’t just standing in the trailer, he was balancing with his front legs on the frame of the trailer, making himself as tall as possible so he could take in every smell and see everything he could. He kept bobbing his head from side to side, trying to not miss anything. He kept this up all the way back to the car which was about an hour away. It made me wonder how long he had been doing this and made me happy that he was so excited to be out exploring.
We eventually made it back to the car and headed home. Though our week was over, we had gotten a taste of what it would be like to be out on the trail full time, and we were hooked!
