Day 9 – June 12 – Walla Walla, WA to Chief Timothy State Park, WA – 89 Miles

The rest day was so welcome.  We were able to get on the road at 8:30 AM.  We would see how we felt as to how far we would go today.  It would be at least 65 miles.

Our first stop of the day was Waitsburg, WA.  Joe and I had gotten a few things from the complimentary continental breakfast at the hotel, but needed something more substantial for fuel.  Bette’s Diner fit the bill.  It is a nice small town diner in a store front just off Route 12 in Waitsburg.  Service was prompt and the portions generous.

I was amazed today at the way the scenery changed during our journey.  Between Walla Walla and Waitsburg were these beautiful rounded hills farmed in wheat.  Between Waitsburg and Dayton, the scenery changed and we were travelling down a valley following a creek bed and old abandoned rail line.  Small wooden grain elevators still stood in many of the small towns.  The hills in wheat gave way to more desert scenery as we proceeded toward Pomeroy.  We also start to climb.

We reached Pomeroy, WA, our tentative goal for the day at 4:00 PM.  We found ice cream and milk shakes at Myers Hardware.  Myer hearkens back to the day of the old general store.  It has hardware and a lot of stuff way beyond your typical True Value hardware store.  While we were there most of the business was at the soda fountain, ice cream, espresso counter.

After looking over the maps and noticing Chief Timothy State Park on the Snake River about 8 miles outside of Clarkston, WA we decided to go for it.  The park was about 24 miles from Pomeroy.  The course took us up a substantial 10 mile climb over Alpowa Summit at 2785 feet before a long 12 mile descent to the Snake River.

We arrived at Chief Timothy Park just after 7:00 PM.  Tents were set and Joe got busy putting together a cooking fire.  I put together meat and cheese tortilla wraps with items we picked up in Pomeroy.  We both got hot showers and called it a day.