Sunday August 20, 2018
We awoke to smoke haze here in Spokane Valley. Our plan was to ride early before the heat of the day. We rode on the street about a quarter mile to the Centennial State Park Trail and headed west.
This trail follows the Spokane River. We had great views of the river while riding thru pine forests. It was hilly, but nothing extreme. Just fun!
There were a couple areas where the trail was along the street. That is our least favorite place to ride especially with lots of traffic. The trail passed through the Gonzaga University campus. Moving in day for some of the students.
We made our way to Riverside Park in Spokane which was a 17 mile trek for us.
We only saw a few other bikers, some walkers and joggers. Many people fishing, wading and swimming in the river. The water was crystal clear with huge rocks and boulders throughout.
We returned to the trailhead in Spokane Valley and decided to ride east for a few miles. From the trailhead it is 6 miles to the Idaho border. We went out 4 miles but the smoke haze seemed much worse so we headed back. We were beginning to smell the smoke. We completed 43 miles.
The smoke haze continued to increase throughout the afternoon. The sun was red – what an eerie feeling. Air quality now in hazardous range. Tomorrow we are headed for Prosser, WA – wine country. If air quality doesn’t improve we may adjust our plans and travel closer to the coast.
