Touring From Seattle Beginning Early In May

[rjstolzberg]

Pacific Northwesters,

I will begin by noting that I am a hopeless optimist, and I figure great weather will continue forever. I did this around spring solstice this year, and my son and I had a great 3-day backpack in the Olympics, with only 2 hours of snow/rain. I am taking the same attitude with me for a 3 week unsupported tour out of Seattle beginning the first week of May, a month that does not have a perfect history of warm sunny weather in the Seattle coastal area. I have my airplane tickets from Fairbanks, my two Washington State Parks Bicycle Route (WSBR) maps, and information that the North Cascade Highway was opened to traffic earlier this month. With an eye on the long range weather forecasts, I'd like to solicit suggestions about early season touring on both loops in the WSBR. Right now four specific questions come to mind, but I'd be interested to hear about any 'not to be missed' side trips or any particularly dreadful stretches of road or anything that someone without webbed feet should know (but it does get rainy and cold in Interior Alaska on  occasion in the summer).

Am I apt to find that State Park and Forest Service campgrounds are closed prior to Memorial Day?

I am assuming that it will be decently dry east of the Cascades. Is this a bad assumption to be making?

What are the relative merits of clockwise versus counter clockwise on both loops?

Is it feasible to bike comfortably in the vicinity of the I-90 corridor from Ellensburg to Seattle if I were to shorten the eastern loop?

Thanks for your suggestions.
Richard

[indyfabz]

You can find opening and closing dates on official web sites. While things may have changed, Colonial Creek Campground on the North Cascades Highway was open both times I stayed there in '99 and '00. Going W-E, it's a great jumping off point for the climb. IIRC, the U.S.F.S. campground in the Newhalem area was also open before Memorial Day. Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Rockport, which has Adirondack Shelters, was, too.

[adventurepdx]

I am assuming that it will be decently dry east of the Cascades. Is this a bad assumption to be making?

It's a good assumption, but not always true. I did two different tours in Eastern Washington and Oregon, both late May/early June, and encountered more rain than I wished for. Though this year it looks like a better chance of dry.

Is it feasible to bike comfortably in the vicinity of the I-90 corridor from Ellensburg to Seattle if I were to shorten the eastern loop?

Yep! Have you looked into the Iron Horse State Park? It's a rail trail along the old Milwaukee Road that parallels I-90 from outside North Bend to about Ellensburg. And there are several camping opportunities along the way.
http://www.parks.wa.gov/521/Iron-Horse
Please note that it is gravel, though doable on road bikes (so long as those tires aren't too narrow), and there are a few tunnels they close in the winter.

[johnsondasw]

Is it feasible to bike comfortably in the vicinity of the I-90 corridor from Ellensburg to Seattle if I were to shorten the eastern loop?

Thanks for your suggestions.
Richard
[/quote]
I live along I-90 in the Kittitas Valley west of Ellensburg.  Because of construction, you cannot road bike over Snoqualmie Pass, but can ride the unpaved John Wayne trail as mentioned by others. There are rough sections on this unpaved converted RR route but it can be done with a road bike with beefy tires. The tunnel on the JWT at the pass is closed, but in that area you can take paved options on I-90 and/or alterrnate frontage roads. Another consideration--travelling west in the Kittitas Valley all the way from the Vantage area to the Easton area there are HORRIBLE headwinds 80% of the time. It is not uncommon in spring and summer to have steady winds of 25 mph with gusts 30-40 mph.  Just look at all the windmills around you.  I know.  I've been here 40 years and do most of my road biking elsewhere or early in the day before the winds come up or in the few somewhat protected parts of the county.

[scottb]

I would definitely check into the campgrounds because they seem to be a bit different sometimes, and with the mild winter and early spring some may open up early this year. Some are also partially open, I went through one last weekend that was open, but only their RV sites.

It's definitely more dry east of the cascades, but that doesn't mean always dry.

I don't really have any input on clockwise or counter. I did the Olympic peninsula part two summers ago counter clockwise and enjoyed it, but could see clockwise being just as good. I'll be doing the eastern Washington loop this summer clockwise, but I'm not sure if it makes much of a difference.

There is a road bike detour at snoqualmie pass to avoid construction that I have seen signs for, but have never been on. I would highly recommend the John Wayne Pioneer Trail/Iron Horse State Park (same thing). The tunnel under the pass is open, I was on it last weekend. I've only taken it as far east as about 8 miles east of Cle Elum. West of Cle Elum it's very doable with not super skinny tires. The 8 miles I went east of Cle Elum were noticeably looser and more difficult, but maybe it was just a short section.

[jamawani]

Also, the I-90 bridge over the Columbia at Vantage is super dangerous.
No shoulder - zero - and pretty heavy traffic.
There is no old highway bridge option.
The Milwaukee Railroad bridge downstream remains closed, too.

This is unfortunate because the old highway from Ellensburg to Vantage is super.
And the back roads on the east side of the river are also excellent for touring.

[johnsondasw]

Also, the I-90 bridge over the Columbia at Vantage is super dangerous.
No shoulder - zero - and pretty heavy traffic.
There is no old highway bridge option.
The Milwaukee Railroad bridge downstream remains closed, too.

This is unfortunate because the old highway from Ellensburg to Vantage is super.
And the back roads on the east side of the river are also excellent for touring.

This is true about the bridge at Vantage.  I rode over it in June of 1991 fairly early in the morning.  There were 4 of us and we all waved out left arm vigorously as we rode.  I heard of one person who hitchhiked over it by waiting on the freeway entrance for a pickup and when one stopped they threw the bike in the back and took the ride over the bridge and then got back on the bike and rode on!
Jamawani is right, the old road from Ellensburg to Vantage is cool, as are the old roads from Ellensburg to Cle Elum and you can also ride nice old bucolic roads west from Cle Elum for another 10 miles or so.

Again, I would be reluctant, to say the least, to ride this area into the west wind.  I have seen people literally cry in frustration in the summer gales!