With the July 4th long weekend upon us, we box up our bikes and fly from Seattle to Spokane, on the far eastern side of Washington. Despite an approaching heat wave, we are eager to spend days and nights outside on a mini adventure exploring new parts of the Evergreen State. After a short one hour flight, we arrive in the late afternoon and assemble our bikes at the small Spokane airport and set off towards Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, a 23,000 acre preserve with basalt outcrops, channeled canyons, ponderosa pine forests and hundreds of marshes and wetlands. A former rail line turned bike path runs through the heart of Turnbull and as the sun sets, we roll along enjoying the crunch of gravel under our tires, the rich and distinct smell of dry pine forest and the activity of thousands of migratory birds enjoying the cool evening air in this oasis.

We find a spot to set up our tent overlooking Amber Lake and and enjoy the pink and purple sky as the sun goes down.

The following day we wake early and set out on the Columbia Plateau Trail. It’s going to be a hot day and we have over 100 miles to cover, so the easy miles in the cool early morning air almost feel stolen. We ride through a scabland of rolling wheat fields and rocky escarpments. The bird life is remarkable, with Red Tailed and Cooper’s Hawks especially prominent on their morning rounds. After ten miles the trail surface abruptly changes from comfortable gravel to a chunky rock railroad ballast. It’s nearly impossible to ride on our heavy fully loaded touring bikes and after an hour spent covering little more than a mile, we divert to a gravel farm road and are once again rolling along comfortably. The next two days follow this pattern: stretches of great trail that inexplicably become almost unrideable. In all but one case we find good alternatives, but the one exception is a doozy. Called the Cow Creek Crossing, this section of “trail” crosses a private cattle ranch and requires miles of riding along a barely discernable cow path through waste high prairie grasses. It’s hot, bumpy and extremely remote. With some perplexed cows looking on, we find a corrugated metal trough with a sign that says “only water next 20 miles” and wet our shirts and hats.

Later in the day, we ride through the small town of Lind, whose claim to fame is an annual farm equipment demolition derby. Carcasses of battered combines and tractors line the dusty and deserted fair grounds. Beyond, we ride through a green valley where farm workers are harvesting spearmint. The hot afternoon air is redolent and reminds us of Morocco. We stop periodically to stand in the spray of large radial irrigation systems to temporarily cool down. It is over 100 degrees as we approach Othello, a small farming town, where we find a small air conditioned motel to crash.

We cycle along a narrow gravel road through a green valley that gradually descends towards the Columbia River. The geologic history of mighty rivers that have coursed through this area over millennia can be seen in deep canyons on each side of the valley. Again we have moments that remind us of cycling through North Africa.

By early afternoon we cross the Columbia on a newly opened pedestrian/bicycle bridge near Vantage and ride into Wanapum State Park Campground, where we escape the afternoon’s peak heat sitting by the river in the shade of tall poplar trees. The waterfront park gradually fills with families from the nearby agricultural communities having picnics, retirees escaping the heat of their RVs floating on innertubes and resting beer cozies on their bellies, and tattooed hipsters prefunking for the Odesza concert at The Gorge later in the evening. It’s a veritable parade of humanity.

The following morning, we again depart as the sun is coming up. We ride west into the hills outside of Vantage. We take the Old Vantage Highway past the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park and the Wild Horse Wind Farm. This is our first real climb of the trip and as we crest the top we get views of the Cascades and Mt. Rainier. A long descent takes us past farmland into Ellensburg and the Yakima River.

By midday we reach Cle Elum and are met by our good friend Shannon, who has ridden from Seattle and spent his morning watching the town’s Pioneer Days parade while waiting for us. He has discovered the Seattle Cossacks Motorcycle Stunt Team and is enamored. We barely persuade him not to run off and join them. The three of us continue west along the Iron Horse Trail towards Snoqualmie Pass enjoying the tree cover of the Cascade foothills. We take a dip in the Yakima River along the way and find a place to camp above Lake Keechelus near a lovely alpine stream. A rinse in the frigid rushing water revives our tired bodies and a delicious dinner with our friend leaves us happy and mellow. As the sun goes down, the cool mountain air provides a wonderful contrast to the past few days and we fall asleep contentedly.

We wake well rested and set off towards home, starting with a two-mile railroad tunnel at the top of Snoqualmie Pass. The tunnel is dark and cold and smells of earth. We put on our down jackets and headlamps and slowly make our way through. On the other side, we happily roll down the gradual hill towards North Bend, enjoying the morning light, the fast miles and the company. By Issaquah, the route home is practically ingrained in our minds from decades of riding in this beautiful area. We cross Lake Washington and into Seattle. We’re home.