Winthrop, WA to Diablo Lake, WA
Day: 64.73 miles, Trip: 4137.16 miles
Another early start. I was o the road by 6:30. It was a nice ride to Mazama where I stopped at the little shop for breakfast. What I thought was a short time later I see Larry and Kristen and Connor. I realized it was actually 8:30 and I had spent way too much time in this awesome shop. So I headed out to start the climbing.
The climb was amazing with cool temperatures, beautiful scenery, only moderate traffic and I am feeling great. This was my best days ride of the entire trip. I was just blown away with the day. At the top of Washington Pass there was a bombing descent that I hit in the 40s mph without even trying. I just sat back and enjoyed the views. At the top of Rainy Pass we crossed the Pacific Crest Trail. Too bad my brother won't be here for a month or so. From Rainy Pass it was another long descent with lots of stops down to Lake Diablo where we are camping for the night.
Somewhere between Washington Pass and Lake Diablo I passed a motorcyclists who started pedaling his legs as he passed me. I was already having an amazing day and that just made it so much better.
The camp site is amazing with large trees, the closest we are going to get feeling like wild camping. There is very limited space for tents but tons of trees to set up hammocks. During the night a park ranger came and complained about the noise, the number of tents, how the vans were parked and the fact that there were decals on the van and trailer. He issued hollow threats. We took care of the things that could be seen from the road and then ignored the rest.
