Author: Dwaine
Adam and I are Puyallup Cyclopaths cut from a slightly different cloth. We own pickup trucks. We ride our bikes in the gravel. We ride our bikes when it's cold. It should be no surprise that our riding season has not yet ended. Last weekend we took the opportunity of a dry Winter day to explore and report on the Willapa Hills Trail.
The Willapa Hills Trail is a converted railway bed that extends 56 miles from Chehalis West towards South Bend. The Washington Parks Willapa Hills web page gives some details. It is paved for five miles at its Western end. The gravel is described as 'improved' for the next twenty miles and mostly 'unimproved' for the remainder of the length towards the ocean. As a converted railway it is mostly flat and straight.
What it does not detail is the definition of 'improved' nor does it give clues on if the 'unimproved' section is passable via the gravel style bicycles that we so dearly love. Adam and I chose a dry and cold day to do some firsthand exploration.
We met in Chehalis and were rolling before 9 a.m. A local dog walker warned us of ice on the trail and we observed frost or ice on most of the many bridges that repeatedly crossed the Chehalis river.
As expected the first five miles were paved and rolled quickly by. When the trail transitioned to 'improved' so did the scenery. The 'improved' gravel was about as smooth and perfect a non paved surface could be. The scenery would swing between open farm fields and wooded river banks.
This section sped by as well. As often happens our conversation wandered onto pickup trucks. Adam is considering a change and we debated the pros and cons of various choices. Gas versus diesel. New versus used. I could go and on. Our truck conversation was interupted by our arrival into Pe Ell at about the 22nd mile.
Pe Ell is about where the 'climbing' started. Please imagine air quotes around the word 'climbing'. Other than the bridge aproaches the grade never exceeded two percent.
Mile 27 brought the hugely anticipated change to 'unimproved' gravel. We were quite pleased that the road was still flat, smooth, and fast. The improved section had included crushed fine gravel. The unimproved did not. We kept trucking along.
Our next waypoint was near Pluvius Hill. We had climbed about 550 feet since leaving Chehalis 28.5 miles earlier. This is where the trail begins to ever so gently descend towards the ocean. This might be called a pass or summit by some. That is worthy of debate. But on this ride we noticed only a slight change in speed as we pedaled on.
My initial route planning included another waypoint at mile 32. But just before we got that far we were treated to a drastic change in scenery. The typical mixture of lowland Western Washington conifers and decidious species changed to a single species of birch. The sun was shining to the forest floor and we stopped for the only photo of our day:
The Willapa Hills Trail follows the same basic route as WA state Highway 6. In a few places the trail requires riders to cross this two lane country highway. But at mile 32 trail users are afforded the luxury of passing safely under Highway 6. This was our chosen turn around point and the closest we would get to the Pacific Ocean on this day.
The ride back was uneventful. Since the sun had been out for a while the temperature was up to about 40 and we stopped in Pe Ell just long enough for me to get my jacket off. Some time after the three hour mark we were feeling some serious fatigue. The conversation continued to be engaging but our legs were starting to talk a bit on their own.
After four and a quarter hours we completed the 64 mile ride. Being nearly flat meant we were spinning for almost every minute of the ride. I felt the effects at the end and once my bike was safely leaned up against the grill of the Vanagon I found a sunny spot in the parking lot to sit, stretch, and rest.
Hopefully next Spring Adam and I can complete the trip to the Ocean. When that happens you can bet I'll report our findings right here.
