Amtrak won't allow bikes to be unloaded in Wenatchee, so alternate transport was sought out:
Stopped in a tunnel under downtown Seattle:
Link Transit Route 25 brought me to Waterville. 2000' of elevation gain for $1: can't beat that!
Headed south on bike from Waterville. Things get really rural really fast:
The headwaters of Douglas Creek, where it begins to descend into Slack Canyon
Attempted to follow the old railroad grade, but it's pretty overgrown here, so I had ascend to the plateau and find another route:
After following Slack Canyon Road into the canyon, discovered a new trailhead where the road intercepts the railroad grade:
Ditched my heavy stuff and rode up the grade as far as I could:
The trail crosses the creek many times. Tevas came in handy for fording these crossings:
Turned around at a spot where an old trestle used to stand: It was passable, but it was getting late and I had been warned about rattlesnakes:
Evil log. When you reach the middle, it rotates and pitches you into the muddy water:
Beaver Dam and ant hill:
Woodpecker damage: I caught one in the act:
Hmm, are bikes really allowed? Doesn't say they're prohibited, but it's a little ambiguous:
Giant bird feeder:
Place of Prosperity:
Camped on Friday night on a shelf next to some waterfalls:
Saturday Morning:
Railroad grade abruptly ends at a collapsed tunnel, road goes up ridge to bypass:
Slack Canyon impressively dumps into Moses Coulee:
Followed the grade perched on the wall of the coulee, as it made it's decent to Palisades:
A few obstacles:
Back to pavement, now pointing my bike back towards Wenatchee:
Dam:
Now waiting for my ride in Wenatchee. This pedestrian bridge is a wonderful amenity, I can wait on the east side of the river and monitor the tracks on the other side:
Found a train, but it doesn't seem to be moving:
Finally, a late Sunday morning departure.
A pleasant stop at Merritt Siding, for about an hour:
Skykomish River:
After the batteries died in my camera, my ride stopped in Everett. There I transferred to a 510 bus, and was home just in time for dinner.