I got started a little late again this morning, after a great night's sleep. I didn't make it even 5 miles before my front tire went soft. I found a goathead, a sort of barbed thorn with a sharp point of strong enough to stick in tires and tubes, buried in the tire, and patched that hole. I ran my hand around the tire and found two other sharp goatheads that had broken off. So I had to apply three patches, but that held. I had decided to follow the Columbia Plateau trail for the officially open portion then jump on the highway. The surface was just like a slightly loose and not well travelled gravel road that badly needs to be regraded to smooth out all the holes. It was pretty scenic as it passed through some dramatic rock cuts and had the Snake river right beside most of the time. I actually passed a couple of boat ramp access points along the way to the official completed end 15 miles later at Snake River Canyon road. It had a covered picnic table and I sat and ate a snack before continuing up the canyon. As soon as I jumped on my bike I could tell my front tire was soft. Rode back to the picnic table and patched another hole in my front tube. The rear was totally fine, as it was set up tubeless. Although I didn't see any broken off ones on it, I guess the front cleared the way... I climbed up to the highway and rolled on down the road a bit to the tiny town of Kahlotus. It actually had a cafe and convenience store so I got a soda and a Klondike bar. It was pretty hot by this point in the day. I also found a faucet and filled my bottles on the bike for good measure even though there was another town not far away. Not too long after leaving my front tire went soft again. I found the hole quickly, patched it and got going again. I had a great tailwind and was riding pavement but just couldn't get a rythm going. After a few miles I had to stop again and almost gave up looking for the hole but finally found a tiny one and patched it. I made sure to run my hand around the inside of the tire each time. It was getting frustrating. I was afraid of riding the bike anywhere but the main part of the road that the right side of the cars was going over. If someone came up behind I went to the shoulder but I didn't trust it. I really miss having tubeless on both tires. I rolled into Washtucna and filled up all my bottles in anticipation of yet another dry camping situation and an unknown distance to the next water source. Got a soda and a snack at the little store there, and ultimately decided to try and make it to something marked on the map as Rock creek recreation area. I turned onto a deserted back road which was paved, as almost all are around here, and finally relaxed a bit. I went through a really small old town called Benge, and then turned north, where I had to ride about 10 miles with a crosswind to get to another rail trail, the Palouse to Cascade trail. It is actually competed and runs for 250 miles. I planned to take it a few miles east and camp in presumably public land. But when I got to the trail, the gate was locked. There were several official signs about trail rules and such. None saying it was closed. Website didn't say it was closed either. I hopped the short barb wire fence next to the gate to go around, perturbed. I was extremely tired by this point. I decided the trail is mostly barely used here, so I just went down a couple miles away from the road and found a little rock cut at a curve, with a bit of extra space between the two barb wire fences protecting the grazing land. Plenty of flat space for my tent. I'm pretty much in the middle of nowhere plus the gate was locked so I doubt there is much traffic on this section. A herd of deer ran off when I got to this spot, indicating no one had been here recently. I just didn't have the energy to just make it to a probably very similar random campsite several more miles down the road. It's getting so very old riding through such open and utterly desolate countryside. Locals at the towns told me this was a great time to be passing through, as last month it was three weeks of 100+ temperatures, and it hit 120 once. I have no idea how people live here.