Day 3 took us into the Yakima Training Center.  This remote area does not allow for civilian vehicle access, making emergency evacuations very difficult and slow.  The forecast showed dangerous high temperatures in the afternoon and we were under a Heat Advisory.  It was determined that we should end the ride by 10 if possible which meant that we had to get up at 3 am to start our ride at 4 am.

Because of the terrain and difficulty of the trail, a few of our Scouts opted out for today's ride.

It was an early start.  We packed up in the dark, had a quick breakfast and hit the trail.  Our ride to and over the Renslow Bridge was in complete darkness except for the lights from our headlamps.  We made good progress and met up with our SAG Wagon at the entrance to the Yakima Firing Center.  

We had welcomed second breakfast and refilled on water.  Two of our riders were really sick and caught a ride back to camp in the SAG Wagon and second support vehicle.  After a steep climb back to the trail we started our journey though the Army Base.

We were warned and we had a good idea of what was to come.  "Four Miles of Hell".  The first 4 or so miles was soft sand.  Mountain Bikes with fat tires slowly push up an uphill grade while bikes with narrower gravel tires slowly plowed through the sand and sometimes came to a complete stop.  This was a rough ride making us question why we were here and if we were going to be stranded when the heat wave hit.

Past the "Four Miles of Hell", we made it to the tunnel bypass.  The tunnel at the high point of the trail was closed for safety reasons.  There was a bypass around the top of the tunnel composed of a double track made from course black rock/gravel.  After making it to the top of the bypass, we were able to cost down over the sharp, but loose rocks, making for an exciting descent down to the other side of the tunnel.  The trail east of the tunnel was a nice downhill grade all the way to the Columbia River.  It started out with some loose sand, which was hardly noticeable since we could pick up speed and coast downhill. 

The downhill grade allow for allowed for very fast riding.  This was immensely enjoyable after the first half of the Day's ride.  We passed through several rock cuts, where the previous railroad cut a slot through rocky hills.  Most of these rock cuts were littered with sharp rocks that have fallen from either side of the cut.  In the first rock cut, we had our first flat tire.  This now was easy to seal with a plug in a tubeless tire.  We would encounter many more rock cuts that were like minefields for bikes.  We had several more flats and had to change out tubes, extending our time and exposure on the trail.

With the downhill grade, we were able to easily pick up speed  between flat repairs and had the most exciting ride of the High Adventure as we passed through cut after cut and dodge rock after rock.

At the east end of the Yakima Training Center is a huge silo next to an unmanned fire station and restroom.  The rest stop had two water faucets with high pressure, cold water!  We refilled our water bottles and did a mandatory head soak from the faucets that blasted out cold water to the side.

We were still early in the day, but the wind from the east was hot, an ominous sign of what it would be like if we overstayed time here.  Our Adults reconned a shortcut that is sometimes closed off with piled up tumbleweeds.  The shortcut was clear and we were in luck, shaving off 4 miles of our journey, some of which was uphill.  We slowly descended down a very steep trail and under a gate with just enough of an opening to pass a bike under while still upright.

We had an extended break at the Cove with SAG Wagon support and then biked the final 2 miles uphill to Camp Wanapum.  We finished our trail ride right as it was starting to get really hot. 

After a break at camp, we were able to swim in the Columbia river and camp for the night under the stars.