Day 2
2025 Palouse to Cascades
Super Epic Mega Awesome
Biking High Adventure

Eastern Washington Heat Wave

Date: August 10, 2025

Day 2 Started early in the morning with a light breakfast of pancakes at Lake Easton.  We packed up our bags and staged them for transport and headed out on the trail east.

Some of the trail consisted of very loose gravel, making travel a little more challenging than day one.  We were still going on a downhill grade, but we were traveling at about half the speed as the day prior.  Our SAG Wagon met us at the South Cle Elum Depot with fresh water and breakfast burritos.  Second breakfast on the trail would become a welcome daily event. 

Prior to Thorp, we went over a few bridges and through a few tunnels.  The day progressively got hotter and hotter as we traveled to Thorp.  At Thorp, we stopped at the Fruit and Antique Mall for ice cream and a break. 

After Thorp we traveled to Ellensburg for another SAG Wagon water refill and break at the park.  This grassy, shaded area allowed us to lie down for a bit.  This was a pretty nice break, but we couldn't stay too long as the weather forecast called for rising temperatures and it was already getting noticeably hot. 

The ride from Ellensburg to Kittitas seemed much longer than other legs.  We no longer had a downhill grade and there was a lot of loose gravel the plow through.  It was also getting hotter and hotter as we approached our campsite.  After several breaks we finally made it to the Secondary School in Kittitas, where we would camp for the night. 

The School had a nice grassing field to set up tents on and we had brief access to showers to cool off and clean off.  Most of the scouts later went to a local lake to swim and returned to rinse off with a hose and camp for the night.  Many of us realized that a tent wasn't necessary and we slept under the stars with intermittent meteor showers. 

Day 2 was a long day, and the longest ride planned for this trip.  That said, Day 3 would be remote, with dangerous hot weather in the afternoon.

Chokecherries were also a common sight, letting us know were are in Eastern Washington

Tunnels!
These ones need a light

We made it to Ellensburg for a quick stop at the park.  Our SAG wagon was there to greet us with Water and Snacks.  Today's ride was more challenging than expected.  The looser gravel slowed the team and it was starting to get hot.