Rode across the state with my good friend and bikepacking partner Matt. Touching the ocean in La Push to the Idaho border east of Spokane. Stuck primarily to off roads and did a combination of XWA Grand Depart, XWA Lite, and some of our own planned and adhoc routes. It was all inspired by this article on bikepacking.com and wanting to do more gravel/dirt/off-road bikepacking. I wanted to do it as self sufficient as possible, meaning taking advantage of public transportation to get to the start and then back home. It was an incredible experience. One where I pushed myself in big ways and have a newfound appreciation for the state I live in.

I took my camera with me to document the journey, wrote short journal entries each day, and recorded the ride on Strava for the stats. Check them all out below.

Day Zero

A long travel day. Biked down to get the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Then two very long bus rides to get to _almost_ the starting point. Stayed at a hotel in Forks. One more bus tomorrow and we start our trek across the state!

• 4 miles
• 0 feet of elevation gain
• ~0% off road
• Strava link

Day One

Woke up early in Forks to take a 25 minute bus to La Push from the hotel. We rode out to the beach, touched the ocean, took some pictures and started on our way! We stopped back in Forks to grab food and headed out of town for our first massive off-road climb to get over the pass. We saw a large heard of elk, rode on some really fun single track, experienced the Olympic Discovery Trail, and found a spot to camp right on Lake Crescent. What an awesome day and start to the trek.

• 66.9 miles
• 4,009 feet of elevation gain
• 70% off road
• Strava link

Day Two

Waking up right on a lake was awesome and made the coffee I made taste so good. I did also start the day with getting my period, which made an already hard thing even more challenging. We made breakfast and continued on the Olympic Discovery Trail, which turned into the Olympic Adventure Trail. Possibly favorite of the entire trip. It was the weekend so we rode by several groups of mountain bikers bikepacking. That section would normally be a big epic day on the bike. We weren’t even half way done after that.

We biked into Port Angeles to grab food and supplies. Ate an entire pizza. The next part was super long and hard. Had a small cry on the last super long and steep hill. We made it to the campsite just before dark. It was one of those pack-in, pack-out campgrounds with just a pit toilet. Saw the most incredible sunset. A treat after such a huge day on the bike. Physically exhausted. Chilly night, slept hard. Loving life.

• 65.9 miles
• 5,801 feet of elevation gain
• 60% off road
• Strava link

Day Three

Started off with some serious climbing out of the campground and through a pass. So many hike-a-bikes. Some light rain, some hail, but overall good weather. 16 miles of paved downhill once we reached the summit. Chilly! Put on all my layers. Stopped in small town of Quilcine to eat and decide the rest of our day. We treated ourselves by ending “early” at 6pm, sleeping inside at an inn in Port Ludlow. The room even had a hot tub, which I took full advantage of.

• 53.6 miles
• 5,272 feet of elevation gain
• 60% off road
• Strava link

Day Four

A much needed shorter day today. Quite a bit of climbing for the length of the day. Rode to the ferry and then home! Really cool that this route passes through Seattle. Was so nice to do some laundry, tweak my setup, buy some Chamois Butt’r, make some changes to the rest of the route, fix my bike, and sleep in my own bed.

• 37.3 miles
• 2,418 feet of elevation gain
• 0% off road
• Strava link

Day Five

Woke up and met up with Matt to continue our journey. Briefly thought about changing all my clothes due to the rain outside. Decided against it thinking it wouldn’t be smart to bring extra clothes I wouldn’t touch after today.

Turned out to not be the best idea. The rain did not let up for the entire 80+ mile off road day. I was almost soaked through. Rain jacket held up the best, really glad I had that. I wrung out my socks several times. Feet and hands felt the worst. This was our longest day on the bike and it felt even longer with the weather. Stopped in Issaquah for breakfast and North Bend for a snack.

We spent the largest portion of the day on the Palouse to Cascades Trail, which had turned into two streams of water. There were times I thought the day wouldn’t end, but overall was very determined and heads down. Passed the time by re-listening to one of my favorite books, M Train. Quickly started it over when it ended and we were still going. Called Bethany just to hear her voice and take my mind off things. Passed two other people who were doing the same route, but racing it. They started two days after us and looked exhausted.

Didn’t take my camera out after the one pic in front of the sign due to how wet it all was. A bit of a bummer because the route over Snoqualmie Pass is so pretty. Just glad I’ve done most of this leg before. I love all the cool bridges you go over, the waterfalls, and the infamous tunnel. Saw elk, deer, and a skunk. Was an incredible feeling to get to the hotel in Cle Elum while the sun was setting, take a shower, and dry off.

• 82.5 miles
• 3,143 feet of elevation gain
• 95% off road
• Strava link

Day Six

Everything from yesterday’s soaked ride dried out overnight in front of the heater, which I blasted. Ate a motel breakfast (make your own waffle) and thought about how good all food tastes when you’re on a trip like this. After a trip to the grocery store to grab food for the day, we found our way back on the Palouse to Cascades trail. Coming out of town, the landscape changed. Really fun riding today with all sorts of different surfaces and big sky. Dirt, gravel, sand, rocks. At one point, the trail turned into sand and had to walk a bit. Glad that bit didn’t last too long.

The only town we passed through today was Ellensburg, where we stopped to get freeze dried meals for the next (last!) 3 days of camping. Matt’s brake was acting up and we dropped in to a bike shop. The guy was super nice and asked if we were doing the Cross Washington. Yep! He fixed Matt’s bike, which had some big-ish issues, while we ate lunch, lubed my chain and tightened a loose bolt. So glad we stopped.

Started listening to Miranda July’s new book, All Fours. So good.

Campground was lovely, right along the Columbia River, saw an incredible rainbow. Hopped a tumbleweed-covered fence with barbed wire. Can’t believe how far we’ve come.

• 61.3 miles
• 1,900 feet of elevation gain
• 99% off road
• Strava link

Day Seven

I had planned this to be an even shorter day to have another pseudo rest day built in. Was a bit longer than I thought but not too bad. Also quite sunny with zero shade, which I was prepared for. Fully covered up with pants and a hooded sun shirt. Alternated between road and dirt because at this point, the Palouse to Cascades trail is in rough shape and not really maintained.

Crazy we are still on it after this many days in a row. I think 5 days is the longest tour I’ve done. No camping along the way here and everything is private property, so we opted to stay at a motel in Othello. We didn’t pass through any towns today, so went out of our way to find a much needed gas station mid day.

After heading due east for so long, tomorrow we will start making our way a bit more north towards Spokane.

• 46.7 miles
• 1,470 feet of elevation gain
• 80% off road
• Strava link

Day Eight

Still at it! Up and to the right today. Stopped in Warden, Lind, and did a last minute audible at the end of the day and headed up to Ritzville for the night instead of camping in a random park with no facilities.

Loved the stops in small towns and the gravel roads. Super friendly people, lots of chit chat. Had a thought today that rural America no matter which area of the country you are in is more similar than different. Along the way, stopping in small towns, it felt like we could be in Ohio, Alabama, or Maine, etc. We get so tied with how unique each part of the country is. New England vs. West Coast vs. The South. We’re much more similar. (Sometimes thoughts on the road feel more profound or make more sense than they do afterwards.)

Another day of being fully covered up from the sun – so glad I have the sun shirt and that it’s not too hot. Saw covered wagons on the John Wayne trail. Rolling hills. Up, down, up, down. Riding through what looks like the Windows 95 desktop background.

Loving the shorter, “easier” days, relative to the first half of the trip. Or maybe I’m getting used to this.

• 58.9 miles
• 2,526 feet of elevation gain
• 40% off road
• Strava link

Day Nine

Cloudier today, which was a nice break. I get so drained by the sun when there’s zero shade.

Rode for a while on Columbia Plateau Trail and then gave our butts a break by heading out on the parallel road. Quite rough and bumpy, not at all maintained. Stopped in Sprague with our final destination being Cheney.

The area leading into Cheney felt like I was back in Colorado. The trees, pine needles, and sandy, dry dirt. So cool how diverse the terrain has been on this ride. All without leaving the state.

Ran over a screw at the end of the day, stopped to yank it out, and tire sealed itself before our eyes. So cool!

Feeling a bit sad this is almost over. What an amazing adventure!

• 55.5 miles
• 1,280 feet of elevation gain
• 25% off road
• Strava link

Day Ten

Done!!

Left the town of Cheney on the last gravel road of the ride. Rode along the train tracks and into Spokane. Dropped off my bike bags and Matt at our hotel. Took the last 30 miles solo. Rode all along the Spokane River on the Centennial Trail. Pretty ride.

Touched the border and headed a few miles down the road to a bus stop. 1 hour ride back to the hotel. Driver was nice and wanted to hear all about my trip. Exhausted but happy. Also a bit sad it’s over.

• 42.68 miles
• 774 feet of elevation gain
• 5% off road
• Strava link

I rested at the hotel, got dinner delivered, watched Yellowstone marathon that was on TV, and went to bed early. The next day was also all about resting. Matt and I grabbed coffee and talked about our trip. We went our separate ways until dinner. I did some shopping, took photos around Spokane, and for lunch, hung out at a bar reading. It was lovely. We ate Indian for dinner and went to bed early in order to catch our 3am Amtrak back to Seattle. We arrived back home at 11am the next day, tired but happy.

My bike/bag setup

I’ve been tweaking my bike setup for the past several years and loved everything about it on this trip with only two exceptions. Noted in italics.

• 52cm Soma Wolverine.
• Nitto B814 handlebars.
• Specialized Mimic
• Rene Herse Umtanum Ridge tires. 55mm front, 45mm rear.
• Dynamo front light with Sinewave USB charge port.
• Front rack with Ortleib Gravel Panniers. Bags rattled too much off road. Came loose. Took the rack off when I got home and put on Tailfin Fork Packs.
• Rear rack with Mountain Laurel Designs Ultra X 100 dry bag. Dry bag was not durable enough. Holes where rack made contact. Ordered a replacement from Sea to Summit.
• Custom Rockgeist frame bag.
• Two Revelate Design feed bags.

I was able to combine all the days together into a single map. Pretty cool to see it all in one view.

Totals

• May 17–26, 2024.
• 597 miles
• 32,151 feet of elevation gain
• ~65% off road
• 10 days of riding
• 2 ferries, 4 buses, 1 train

FAQs

• Was this just another trip? No. I do ride my bikes all the time and especially love to do an overnight bikepack. The longest multi day trip I’ve done was 5 days down the coast of Oregon and it was on paved road with less climbing.
• Was this more mentally or physically challenging? Physically. I was so tired at the end of each day and my quads were feeling it. And of course the butt. Mentally, I felt great. The rain day was the toughest (and longest).
• Would you do it again? Probably not in its entirety. I loved it, but there’s SO many other rides around here I want to do. I’d probably do the Olympic Discovery & Adventure Trail again. This did make me want to do almost exclusive off road bikepacking trips and leave the pavement behind.
• AMA!