Day 3 - Cashmere, WA, to Grand Coulee, WA

ADP ns_adp_parse -string failed:
could not allocate 1 handle(s) from pool "subquery"
    while executing
"ns_db gethandle subquery"
    invoked from within
"set db [ns_db gethandle subquery]..."
    (procedure "gt_category_id_list_inner_swcm" line 3)
    invoked from within
"gt_category_id_list_inner_swcm "236661" "static_pages" "Destination" "1" "0" """
    ("eval" body line 1)
    invoked from within
"eval $tcl_statement"
    invoked from within
"set statement_value [eval $tcl_statement]..."
    invoked from within
"if { ![info exists generic_cache_awhile_value($tcl_statement)] || ( [expr $generic_cache_awhile_timestamp($tcl_statement) + $oldest_acceptable_value_i ..."
    (procedure "Memoize_for_Awhile" line 11)
    invoked from within
"Memoize_for_Awhile "gt_category_id_list_inner_swcm \"$id\" \"$table\" \"$category_umbrella\" \"$limit\" \"$min_weight\" \"$department_id\"" 90000"
    invoked from within
"set list [Memoize_for_Awhile "gt_category_id_list_inner_swcm \"$id\" \"$table\" \"$category_umbrella\" \"$limit\" \"$min_weight\" \"$department_id\""  ..."
    invoked from within
"if {[regexp {article-view|article-upload} $url_stub1]} {
	    set list [gt_category_id_list_inner_swcm $id $table $category_umbrella $limit $min_weigh ..."
    invoked from within
"if {[info exists id] && [info exists table]} {
	if {[regexp {article-view|article-upload} $url_stub1]} {
	    set list [gt_category_id_list_inner_swcm ..."
    (procedure "gt_category_id_list" line 181)
    invoked from within
"gt_category_id_list 1 "Destination" $page_id"
    invoked from within
"set category_id [gt_category_id_list 1 "Destination" $page_id]..."

Most Popular

Travel Resources

ShoulderSeason

Special Issues

Photo Galleries

Screensavers

ADP ns_adp_parse -string failed:
could not allocate 1 handle(s) from pool "subquery"
    while executing
"ns_db gethandle subquery"
    invoked from within
"set db [ns_db gethandle subquery]..."
    (procedure "lp_photo_gallery_p" line 2)
    invoked from within
"lp_photo_gallery_p $category_id"
    invoked from within
"if { [lp_photo_gallery_p $category_id] > 0 } {
ns_puts "<tr><td class=PlainBlack10 align=left><a href=\# onClick=\"window.open('/lonely_planet/lp_ima ..."



	Guidebook Content

			Buy Lonely Planet Guides

ADP ns_adp_parse -string failed:
can't read "destination_name": no such variable
    while executing
"ns_puts -nonewline  $destination_name..."

Day 3: June 21, 2000, Update

Cashmere, WA, to Grand Coulee, WA

Today's Miles: 103.2

Miles since Seattle: 236.6

Wow. That's all I can say. And it feels so good to say it, I will say it again: Wow. What a day!

Climbing to the top of Waterville Plateau

The first century of the ride — that's a day of riding that covers more than 100 miles. The first real scorcher. A day of tough climbs and seemingly endless prairie. A day like an opera's overture, when hints of all things to come in the pedal across the country are represented up front and in a short period of time. A day after which the sense of accomplishment, of completion, left some people feeling a little giddy, and others feeling a lot of soreness and pain.

The Columbia River and the Prairies

Most of all it was a day of dramatic geography. Early on, everyone descended into (and later climbed out of!) the Valley of the Columbia River, an ancient waterway that has played a major part in forming the landscape of more than just eastern Washington. We discovered this in great detail as we scooted across the glacier-flattened, wheat-covered prairies, and then dipped into the deep water-carved canyons that gave us both our screaming descents and our creeping climbs.

Present-day Columbia River

But first a little ancient history. Once upon a time, in an age when the polar ice caps stretched far to the south covering and flattening huge swaths of land, a massive ice dam was formed at right about our level. Hundreds of years later, as the glaciers retreated, a lake hundreds of feet deep and thousands of miles wide spread out across the area. Pressure built, temperatures rose, and then all at once, the ice dam broke. Water spilled out across the land, flowing with a force (apparently) ten times greater than all that of all the earth's current rivers combined. Needless to say, the changes wrought to the landscape were dramatic.

The present path of the Columbia River, the one along which we pedaled in the morning, was settled into as a result of the ice dam. Somewhat stemmed at its source during the Ice Age, and blocked along the way by the ice dam, it too spilled into the massive lake, and eventually found an outlet farther west than it had originally run. The original course is now an eerie, steep-walled, dry canyon. A mini and spirit-lifting surprise after a score of miles across equally unexpected rolling prairies and a gorgeous wide-open sky.

Brian Scanlon in the

Columbia River's former canyon

Banks Lake

Toward the end of the day, energy sapped and skin roasted by the sun, we turned north along Banks Lake, a massive reservoir settled into a wide and dramatic canyon. This reservoir is dammed at both ends of the canyon and used as an overflow holding area for water flowing through the Columbia's Grand Coulee Dam near its north end.

The flatlands of eastern Washington

Whereas the wind had been blowing steadily from the rear and helping us across the prairies, it was a little less friendly along the lake. But nothing could take away from the glory of the day. A long day. A very long, 100-mile day. And one that most people will have a hard time forgetting. Especially those determined cyclists who were cheered into camp 12 tough hours after leaving Cashmere.

Ethan Gelber contributed this report.

For more information about today's ride, check out the Riding Reporter.

ADP ns_adp_parse -string failed:
could not allocate 1 handle(s) from pool "subquery"
    while executing
"ns_db gethandle subquery"
    invoked from within
"set db [ns_db gethandle subquery]..."
    (procedure "get_lp_page_children" line 2)
    invoked from within
"get_lp_page_children $page_id"
    invoked from within
"set child_page_ids [get_lp_page_children $page_id]..."