Crossing The Columbia

If you think I was gonna drive all the way across the state last weekend without doing a little John Wayne Trail recon, then you are a fool, and I know you are not a fool and therefore, I know you did not think that.

From what little I know about the trail so far, there are quite a few discontinuites that require detours. Of those, the three that have the most impact to the experience would seem to be:

1. The section along Rock Lake that is privately owned by someone who won't cooperate with the state on allowing passage by trail users.  I'll get into this in more detail another time.
2. The currently closed 2+ mile long tunnel at Snoqualmie pass.  We did stop at the Hyak [snopark by winter/JWT trailhead by summer] and talk to one of the attendants, who told us that the plan for restoring passage to  the tunnel was underway and that it would probably be open by around June of this year.  That was great news to me, as I wasn't even aware that funding had been secured.
3. The currently closed railroad bridge over the Columbia.  And the subject of this post.

We're all familiar with the I-90 bridge at Vantage. This view is from just south of the bridge on the shoulder of Hwy 243, looking north. You get here by exiting I-90 just before you cross the bridge, if you're traveling from the eastside to the westside.

The trouble with riding your bike across the bridge at Vantage is that the traffic is heavy as a wet blanket, bat-outta-hell fast, and there's no shoulder. Ugly business on a bike.

But despite that, I'd still do it. I'd just time it for early in the morning, when traffic was light, and bite the bullet. The bigger problem, from the perspective of someone (me) wanting to travel across the state on the JWT is that the detour takes you so far off the trail on nasty, shoulderless, RV-laden roads that I assume would kill any middle-a-nowhere pioneer solitude mojo that you (I) may have built up in previous days.  The forced shock of re-entry into the greater Puget Sound mass of population and advanced civilization is just a couple of days away, but why rush it.

Aside from Vantage, there exist a coupla other crossing structures in the vicinity.  3 miles south of Vantage is Wanapum Dam, with its gorgeous road over the top.  And in-no-uncertain-terms gate.

We all know what 9-11 did to civilian travel across the top of dams, but I've heard different reports of cyclists crossing at Wanapum, even post-2011. So we stopped at the dam museum (the only dam office with public access) to ask about the possibility. I might as well have announced that I had just arrived from Pluto on a VW microbus that I'd converted into a spaceship fueled by spent coffee grounds. But after just a few moments processing my request, the attendant made a coupla calls. The short of it is that anyone crossing the dam would have to go through the same clearance as someone visiting the dam for a tour (i.e. school groups, which visit regularly), which takes a coupla weeks, and would have to be accompanied by an escort at all times. Which sounds sort of hopeful, except that educating a group of school children on the inner workings of a major hydroelectic powerplant just flat sounds like a LOT better use of PUD employee time and energy than helping some nutjob ride his bike, unimpeded, through a bunch of sagebrush. I was told that I was pretty much dreaming, but I was also given the name and number of the PR person for the dam (who arranges the school tours). So the door wasn't totally slammed shut; there's a slight crack. I may or may not follow up.

Another 3 or 4 miles south of the dam, is the rail crossing at Beverly.  This is the actual bridge used by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (aka JWT).  This is maybe an engineer-thing, but it's breathtaking, spectacular, in my eyes.  What I wouldn't give to ride across it on my proposed journey.  But alas, it's closed.  And I'm pretty sure it won't be re-opened anytime soon. 

On the other side, the trains took a 90 degrees right to begin the climb out of the gorge. And thus avoided slamming into the cliff.

We drove into the town of Beverly, got out of the car and hiked down the JWT.  This is the gate that restricts you (me) from crossing.  Although I don't exactly see any "No Trespassing" signs.

Patty says:  "Yo dumbass!  Barbed wire.  Don't be stupid."

A (very) small grown-up part of me knows she's right. And at the same time I struggle to summon the maturity necessary to accept as fact that this bridge is really, truly closed.  (Notice how there's barbwire on the top and bottom but not on the sides? Just sayin.) On the way out, I was mercifully (yet temporarily) distracted by this fine piece of tallbike yard art.

Coupla days later, we found ourselves on the west side of the river, looking down upon the same brilliant structure.

This is the JWT, as it heads up out of the gorge, toward Ellensburg.

Turning my camera 180 degrees, this is the view as the trail heads into the Yakima Firing Range.

At this point I'm so damn fascinated with this trail that even if I never end up riding it, I will consider the hours checking it out to be time very well spent.