It's more of a sagebrush steppe than a true desert. And it comes on slowly, but a big part of that is that the route the ride follows: through the canyons, out on north-facing slopes, etc.
I wouldn't normally have done this one, it's too desert-like for my taste, but a guide-book I got recommended it, and I didn't have a better plan in mind on Sunday.
It was windy like you wouldn't believe. Not just headwinds, either, the crosswinds made the descents a lot less enjoyable. Sometimes the side of the cliff would shelter me, then I'd come around a corner, or out of the trees, and a big gust would hit me sideways. Other times it was constant. But it was humid and cloudy in Seattle, dark and gray, so the wind was a good trade to get some sun.
Anyway, I took the bike out to Leavenworth (where a few other good rides have started) and rode down to Wenatchee and back, mostly on side roads, climbing up and down the hills walling the valley in. I turned around at the Columbia River after I dunked my head to cool down - this is the one BC is named for - at Confluence State Park where it meets the Wenatchee River. I lost the route in the book a few times, but had fun, and I really wish I'd had more time to explore other roads I had to pass up. This wasn't a long climb and then a long descent, like the pass, it was rolling hills and flats, and wildly varied scenery.
The second pic is
nothing like my style, but I like it. And the climb was a *****.
Finally, this ride was from a book I got,
75 Classic Rides in WA.
