A Very Wrong Turn
Comment via blog
Prev
Next
|
Day 23: June 28, 2021 A Very Wrong Turn Comment via blog |
Prev Next |
|
|
|
Yes, my breakfast spot was closer than my dinner spot, but the big
difference is that the temperature was a whole lot lower. The Willows'
owner told me that
Farmhouse Kitchen & Coffee has the best breakfast
in town and I bet he's right. My breakfast was
excellent. Plus, I got a slightly different shot of the motel as I walked
back across the street to pack up and drive off.
|
|
|
I noticed this marker near the Waterville Hotel yesterday but failed to
snap a picture. I corrected that today. The marker is from 1940 when
Company 6435 of the Civilian Conservation Corps, an Alabama group, camped
and worked in Watersville.
|
|
|
It does indeed.
|
|
|
I'm now beyond yesterday's turnaround point. After crossing the Columbia
River once, I crossed the Wenatchee River twice. First on a 1931 concrete
bridge then on a 1907 steel through truss bridge.
|
|
|
Here is where a mistake made months ago in my living room came to light in
a rather scary fashion. The first picture shows the north end of the Old
Blewett Pass Highway as it splits off of US-97. I placed a via point there
when setting up my route. The next via point was back on US-97 at the
south end of the pass. The routing software (Garmin Basecamp) correctly
plotted a shortest path course through the pass. It never occurred to me
that there might be multiple paths through the pass and I had not zoomed
in sufficiently to reveal that fact. I now know that the Old Blewett Pass
Highway is paved all the way through the pass, but on this day I did not
and blissfully followed the plotted course onto the unpaved road
in the second photo. I continued following the route as the road grew
increasingly worse until it directed me down a steep and deeply rutted
slope that I knew I wanted no part of. I then worked on discovering my own
route back to civilization, and eventually spotted some pavement through
the trees and made it to a small parking lot where two men and a dog were
just about to leave. They informed me that the lot was on the side of the
Old Blewett Pass Highway and pointed me in the proper direction. It isn't
very easy to see, but the last picture shows a hairpin turn on the paved
Old Blewett Pass Highway.
The proper route is shown in both the online YTA maps and the maps in the Ridge's soon to be published book. Those maps include identifying road numbers. I could have easily avoided getting into a potentially dangerous situation by paying a little more attention to detail. In addition to feeling very lucky, I was made to feel extremely impressed with two things. One was the fact that Garmin's maps showed what were basically dirt recreational trails with a good degree of accuracy. The second was the capability of the Subaru. As is always the case, the photos do not show the worst of the ruts and slopes because the photographer was too busy driving, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is the furthest I have ever pushed the car and it delivered. |
|
|
I had seen several signs indicating that various streets were scheduled
for their annual chip & seal update but today, on the outskirts of
South Cle Elum, I finally ran into one in progress. "Civilians"
were kept from running head-on into each other by flaggers at both ends
but we were pretty much on our own in avoiding the equipment. The crack in
the windshield appears right after I cleared the work zone but I'm not
sure if it was caused by something in the zone or was a delayed result of
some very loud "pings" I'd heard earlier. I have been driving
with a small chip in the windshield ever since my 2018 Jefferson Highway
trip but this is going to require a replacement when I get home. This is
the car's original windshield. My 2011 Forester was sporting a chip in its
fourth when I traded it.
|
|
|
My day ended in this room at the
Summit
Inn. At check-in, I was assured that my room had an air conditioner
which I take to mean that some don't. After all, the current three digit
temperatures are highly unusual. Note the add-on unit in the picture of my
room. The second picture shows the hall outside my room with several box
fans pushing the warm air around.
|
|
|
| [Prev] [Site Home] [Trip Home] [Contact] [Next] |
