I never get bored of riding the same trail segments. I have ridden over 1000 miles on the RRVT in the past couple of years and especially in the pandemic it was a great way to relax and recharge. Judging by the pace of trail construction here, it will take many years to complete, but I am still excited to see it happen. I live just off a portion of this trail (the Racoon River Trail) in Iowa. We've never done any bikepacking, but can you think of a better reason to start? I will probably never through-hike the AT or PCT, but I've motorcycled from California to Alaska, and will probably make it a point to take a sabbatical some day in the future to bike tour cross country with my wife when this trail is near completion. It never feels like you're 'wasting time' when you're going slower. And then I've run or walked the same path, and still seen more. I've cycled along paths I've driven, and seen far more on the bike than in the car. It's amazing to me how each mode of travel has its own cadence. While there, I rode both the Trail of the Coeur D'Alenes (30mi out and back for me), as well as the Hiawatha Trail which is another rail-to-trail (probably not on this proposed route, though?) which includes a 1.6 mi tunnel that's not even straight, so you can't see the light at the end. The Snoqualmie tunnel was a trip, especially with 90s era incandescent flashlights, where you can only see the walls of the tunnel if you stare straight ahead and use your peripheral vision.Ĭoincidentally, I took COVID WFH as an opportunity to spend a week in Idaho. I rode from the Preston WA area out past Cle Elum with a school trip in high school in the 90s. But it attracted enough attention and outrage, and as a result, there is now more of a budget for maintaining the trail. The law, as written and passed, specified a section of the trail that had a length of 0. The eastern part (from the Columbia to Idaho) is pretty rough and a few small pieces are missing, but a road detour for a mile or two is probably a welcome change from the endless trail.Ī few years ago, some state representatives conspired to give away the eastern half of the trail to private land owners, but their own incompetence doomed this attempted theft of public land. The section through the Yakima River Canyon is my favorite. It includes the 2.1 mile Snoqualmie Tunnel, which is exciting the first time you try it. The most scenic and pleasant part of the trail from North Bend to Thorp is amazing. The western part of the trail (from the North Bend to the Columbia, across the Cascade mountains) is in very good shape. Amazingly, this project has an approved budget and a plan that that is (so far) being executed on schedule. Next summer, the crucial missing link will be restored when the Beverly bridge across the Columbia is repaired. The part of the trail that's in Washington state is in pretty good shape.
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