Read more about our Super Epic Mega Awesome Biking High Adventure on these Subpages:

Day 1 2025 Palouse to Cascades Biking High Adventure August 9, 2025

Day 2 2025 Palouse to Cascades Biking High Adventure August 10, 2025

Day 3 2025 Palouse to Cascades Biking High Adventure August 11, 2025

Day 4 2025 Palouse to Cascades Biking High Adventure August 12, 2025

Day 5 2025 Palouse to Cascades Biking High Adventure August 13, 2025

Day 6 2025 Palouse to Cascades Biking High Adventure August 14, 2025

2025 Palouse to Cascades After Adventure Report

Launch Day

Read more and see pictures at: Day 1 2025 Palouse to Cascades Biking High Adventure August 9, 2025

After months of training and preparation, we finally started our High Adventure.  We started with an uphill grade towards the Snoqualmie Tunnel.  We were full of energy and fought gravity to the pass.  We were greeted with a 2.3 miles long tunnel that was protected from the sun and had a smooth and flat dirt surface to ride over.  Past the tunnel in Hyak was our SAG Wagon waiting for us at our first SAG Wagon break of this adventure.  There were two popup shelters and nice cold water.  We certainly earned our lunch for the day and enjoyed that and some of the snacks we brought with us.

The rest of the day would be on a light downhill grade.  This was fantastic and allowed us to fly at higher speeds most of the rest of the way to camp.

Eastern Washington Heat Wave

Read more and see pictures at: Day 2 2025 Palouse to Cascades Biking High Adventure August 10, 2025

We road from camp east to Cle Elum for a SAG Wagon stop and second breakfast.  The trail was paved with really loose gravel, making for a much more unstable ride that the day prior.  This caused us to travel much slower that planned.

We made it to Thorp for a SAG Wagon stop and a short ice cream break at the Fruit and Antique Mall.  It was starting to warm up a bit and we were running behind schedule.  A little further down the trail was Ellensburg where we took an extended SAG Wagon supported break in the shade of the city park.

The 7 miles to Kittitas was slow moving.  The loose gravel slowed one of our riders with narrower tires and we could feel the temperature slowly climb.  This resulted in more and more breaks, and with each break, we could feel it get hotter. 

We finally made it to camp just before 2pm and as the temperature became too hot to ride in.  It was the beginning of a 2 day heat advisory. 

Four Miles of Hell

Read more and see pictures at: Day 3 2025 Palouse to Cascades Biking High Adventure August 11, 2025

Day three consisted of a ride through the Yakima Firing Center.  This military base doesn't allow civilian vehicles to enter, making SAG Wagon support or pickup impossible.  Given the remoteness, high heat and rugged terrain, Scouts were allowed to opt out of this section. 

We started with a wakeup at 3am to beat the heat.  It would be very dangerous to be caught in the middle of the desert after it gets really hot and we were hoping to finish our ride by 10am.  We started from camp in the dark and rode east over loose gravel and over the Renslow Trestle.  This should have been an incredible view and place to take pictures, but all we could see below us was darkness and the tiny headlights of vehicles below.

We had a quick SAG Wagon stop before entering the Yakima Firing Center and enjoyed a second breakfast.  There was some apprehension about the "Four Miles of Hell" that awaited us down the trail.  He got back on the trail and met he promised soft sand and uphill grade.  Our group struggle to slowly travel down the trail with the soft sand bringing bikes to a halt on occasion.  There was now only two ways out, either continuing 25 miles east to the exit point or turning around.

After the "Four Miles of Hell" we finally made it to the Boyston Tunnel Bypass.  The trail was two track path that went over the tunnel and was paved with larger black rocks that looked like they were thrown off the back of a Humvee.  One was made it up the steep climb to the top, the rest of the bypass was all downhill, allowing us to fly down and around the other side of the tunnel.

After hitting the other side of the tunnel, it was all downhill, allowing us to fly at high speeds.  We had to slow down at spots were littered with sharp rocks, resulting in multiple flat tires, mostly from the same bike.  Despite all the stops to repair flat tires, this was an incredibly enjoyable ride and we reached the other side of the Yakima Firing Center just before 10am and just as it was starting to get really hot. 

The Hill of Woe

Read more and see pictures at: Day 4 2025 Palouse to Cascades Biking High Adventure August 12, 2025

The day was forecasted to be dangerously hot in the afternoon and we started our day with a 3am wakeup.  Our ride started out in the darkness before dawn.  We crossed over the Columbia River in total darkness and head east over sand dunes and soft gravel.  We could see glowing eyes looking back at us from the desert landscape ahead. 

We had second breakfast at our SAG Wagon stop.  There the trail was overgrown ahead as it is know to have Puncture Vines that are guaranteed to flatten every tire trying to pass through it.  We took a detour down a gravel road the parallel the trail.  In the early morning, it remote road was all ours.

We traveled east following the trail to the north.  A little past Smyrna, the trail ended as there was still an active railroad there.  We continued east to a historical site call Corfu and then up Danielson Road where we would end our day with a nice overlook of the valley to the north.

The hill to the overlook was steep and the temperature was just starting to climb.  The Hill of Woe was humbling as we used the last of our reserved to push our bikes up to the pickup point.  Most of our Scouts passed out during the ride to our camping spot in Lind. 

Night of the Dog

Read more and see pictures at: Day 5 2025 Palouse to Cascades Biking High Adventure August 13, 2025

We road from Lind into the Scablands east.  There was no sleep the night before where a dog in Lind barked all night, with short pauses for the train and his booming horn.

We rode on smooth rocked gravel on trails surrounded by grass, brush and tumbleweeds.  We had a quick stop in Ralston before exploring the Cow Creek Bypass, which consisted of a two track sand path that wound through private property.  There we were greeted by many cows, hills and a pretty fun ride.

Idaho

Read more and see pictures at: Day 6 2025 Palouse to Cascades Biking High Adventure August 14, 2025

We rode from Rosalia through Tekoa and to the Idaho border. The trail was relatively flat and paved in gravel.  The majority of the trail was surrounded by farms and grass and we started to see Ponderosa Pines as we approached Idaho.  

Many of the bridges in this area had burned down and required short detours down to and up from the road or dry creak below.  The bridges that were still intact were some of the most interesting ones we encounter during this journey.

We ended our trip at the Idaho border where we took pictures and loaded up our gear.  We stopped for lunch in Tekoa followed by ice cream and coffee at The Trestle Bakery and Cafe.

We covered 300 miles heading east on this adventure and would spend the next 5 hours driving back home.  It was amazing how much distance we covered and all the different ecosystems we rode through.