Comment by chihuahua | Hacker News Reader

Comment by chihuahua | Hacker News Reader

The part of the trail that's in Washington state is in pretty good shape. Next summer, the crucial missing link will be restored when the Beverly bridge across the Columbia is repaired. Amazingly, this project has an approved budget and a plan that that is (so far) being executed on schedule.

The western part of the trail (from the North Bend to the Columbia, across the Cascade mountains) is in very good shape. The most scenic and pleasant part of the trail from North Bend to Thorp is amazing. It includes the 2.1 mile Snoqualmie Tunnel, which is exciting the first time you try it. The section through the Yakima River Canyon is my favorite.

The eastern part (from the Columbia to Idaho) is pretty rough and a few small pieces are missing, but a road detour for a mile or two is probably a welcome change from the endless trail.

A few years ago, some state representatives conspired to give away the eastern half of the trail to private land owners, but their own incompetence doomed this attempted theft of public land. The law, as written and passed, specified a section of the trail that had a length of 0. But it attracted enough attention and outrage, and as a result, there is now more of a budget for maintaining the trail.

I rode the majority of the route through Washington in 2018. Parts were clogged with mud and another section blocked with a wall of tumbleweed at the time. I had to cross the Columbia River on I-5 at 4:30am to avoid traffic as there is no shoulder on part of the bridge. Despite its incompleteness, the trail is amazing and is a treasure. Improvements keep coming and the Beverly Bridge over the Columbia is scheduled to be finished in 2021, as is are the bridges at Renslow and Takoa. Progress is being made.

We owe it to future generations to help make this happened. https://www.railstotrails.org/greatamericanrailtrail/ https://palousetocascadestrail.org/

I rode from the Preston WA area out past Cle Elum with a school trip in high school in the 90s. The Snoqualmie tunnel was a trip, especially with 90s era incandescent flashlights, where you can only see the walls of the tunnel if you stare straight ahead and use your peripheral vision.

Coincidentally, I took COVID WFH as an opportunity to spend a week in Idaho. While there, I rode both the Trail of the Coeur D'Alenes (30mi out and back for me), as well as the Hiawatha Trail which is another rail-to-trail (probably not on this proposed route, though?) which includes a 1.6 mi tunnel that's not even straight, so you can't see the light at the end.

It's amazing to me how each mode of travel has its own cadence. I've cycled along paths I've driven, and seen far more on the bike than in the car. And then I've run or walked the same path, and still seen more. It never feels like you're 'wasting time' when you're going slower.

I will probably never through-hike the AT or PCT, but I've motorcycled from California to Alaska, and will probably make it a point to take a sabbatical some day in the future to bike tour cross country with my wife when this trail is near completion. We've never done any bikepacking, but can you think of a better reason to start?

> It includes the 2.1 mile Snoqualmie Tunnel

I ran a race through this tunnel back when races were still a thing. Very surreal experience running in a dark, wet tunnel with hundreds of others in the clouds of steam illuminated by headlamps. I really love this section of trail.

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