Darrington, WA

Day 67 (02 August 2014)
Diablo Lake, WA to Darrington, WA
Day:  55.27 miles, Trip:  4192.43 miles

The first stop of the day was at the Northern Cascades National Park Visitor Center outside of Newhalem, WA. From here it was over to Marblemount, WA for the first rest stop. We found a great place and following breakfast the girl at the espresso hut gave us free coffee. It turns out she has MS.

 

Shortly after Marblemount we headed south on Hwy 530 leaving the ACA route and heading towards Seattle. Now it is really sinking in that it is the end, we are skipping the last 70 miles towards Anacortes and instead turning south to Seattle. I arrived in Darrington, WA with Kristen and we stopped at the grocery store and then did the last 3 miles to the campground. It is an ok spot. The sites are nice but the bathroom is far and not the cleanest. I opted to join the card group tonight and joined Michelle, Jen and Richard for some hearts. Another great day of riding, I am really loving Northern Washington.

Diablo Lake, WA

Day 66 (01 August 2014)
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.

Winthrop, WA

Day 65 (31 July 2014)
Tonasket, WA to Winthrop, WA
Day: 73.26 miles, Trip: 4072.43 miles

I got up early (4 am to be exact). It ended up being myself, Kristen, Richard, Joe and Andy. We rode out of town around 5 am (at first light). It is a lot better riding in the morning than the heat of the day. We stopped for breakfast at McDonalds in Omak (all but Joe). The climb started right after Okanogan and it was a lot steeper than I was expecting. But about halfway up it got better. Duncan found me about 5 miles to the top and refilled my water bottles and gave me a banana. At the top I  met 2 self contained cyclists and chatted with them for awhile before heading down from Loup Loup Pass.

We have been seeing and smelling the smoke for awhile now but when I started heading down from Loup Loup I could really taste it. This is the first stretch where we actually traveled through the burned area and see first hand the destruction. These fires around Twisp and Winthrop are part of the larger Carlton Complex wildfire site. In this area over 300 homes have been destroyed. All day long we have been passing various fire groups from all over that are here to help with the fires. Thanks to the drought that the area is seeing, this is the worst season for wildfires that Washington has ever seen. In addition to the charred areas we could see smoke rising and helicopters flying to the active fire zones.

Tonight we are staying in Winthrop, WA (pop 400) at the Winthrop KOA. When we arrived in town the early riders all stopped by Hwy 20 Pizza for some delicious pizzas and a few beers and back to the KOA for a nap. I didn't really take advantage of the campground amenities. All I used was the shower. I did some napping in the shade and opted against going out. Planning on another early morning to limit my heat exposure again tomorrow.

Tonasket, WA

Day 64 (30 July 2014)
Republic, WA to Tonasket, WA
Day:  44.32 miles, Trip:  3999.17 miles

I was up again at 5 am, packed up quickly and Richard and I were at breakfast at 6 am. We headed back to the same restaurant that we had dinner. This had us on the road by 6:45 and as we road back past camp we saw that a lot of the tents were still standing. It is a short day, but even so, I hate the heat. We rode through the morning and made it to Tonasket, WA (pop 1000) by 10:00 am.

The climb over Wauconda Pass was nothing compared to yesterday and the cooler temps were wonderful. When we reached town we saw Kristen at Shannon's having breakfast. We joined in and this is where I ended up spending almost all of the day. Good food, friendly, and a shady patio. Throw in good wifi and our group collected here. We also swung by a local taco truck for some good authentic tacos.

Another early night want to be on the road by 5 am tomorrow. Another 100° day planned for tomorrow. I want to get as close to the pass as possible to avoid some of the heat. Tonight we are staying in the town park of Tonasket. It has a pool, unfortunately it has no water.

Republic, WA

Day 63 (29 July 2014)
Beaver Creek Lodge, WA to Republic, WA
Day:  83.26 miles, Trip:  3954.85 miles

Surprisingly I was actually up early. I tried being quiet (studying to be a ninja like Richard) but accidentally woke up Kristen. She was shocked that I was getting up at 5 am and exclaimed this loudly. I told her to go back to sleep but she got up to ride with us. We beat the heat, at least until Colville, WA where we had breakfast at the 103 cafe. It proved to be more of a coffee shop, but good enough. It was starting to get really hot. We stopped at a gas station at the bottom of the climb to use the restroom, fill our water bottles and get some powerade.

About 6 miles up we hit the rest stop to fill up bottles and get some snacks. 8 more miles we got to refill again with young (Bethany saw a black bear shortly after passing Young). I had heard something moving in the woods beside me but never saw what it was. Up until this point I was feeling great. About 8 miles to the top of Shermans Pass I really slowed down. It was more the heat than the climb itself. At the top Skylar had fruit for us and everyone hung out in the shade. I decided I would rather ride down and get an early dinner at the restaurant at the bottom.

Richard and Kristen seemed to have the same idea and we rode down together. We timed it perfectly and had very little traffic and an amazing descent. While sitting there we were placing bets on who would be the next one down the mountain and I actually got it right with Eric and Jen. Tonight we are staying at the fairgrounds outside of Republic, WA (pop 1000). It has outlets, showers, bathrooms so we are set. Another early night, getting up even earlier tomorrow.

Beaver Creek Lodge, WA

Day 62 (28 July 2014)
Newport, WA to Beaver Creek Lodge, WA
Day:  67.46 miles, Trip: 3871.59 miles

Breakfast was at the McDonalds again, I was too lazy to go search for something better. I also needed to charge my phone and I knew they would have outlets. I then rode on with Richard and Michelle for the morning. We are getting back into some bigger climbs and high heats. The climbs themselves wouldn't be nearly as bad if it wasn't for the high heat.

We had a final rest stop right before the real climbing began and it was already too hot to be riding (for me). I pushed on anyway with the promise of a lake at the top where we will be camping. And just think this is a small climb compared to the ones that are to come. At the top I reached Beaver Creek Lodge campground. I stripped down and went straight for the water. It felt great. Later I had a big burger and fries and then went down in the water again.

When it started to get later I headed back to our camping sites and set up my hammock to relax and do some reading. The site where we are camped is pretty nice, the facilities though are horrible and in general this place is really run down. Early to bed tonight, I am going to try and get an early start to beat the heat while we ride through the high desert.

Newport, WA

Day 61 (27 July 2014)
Sandpoint, ID to Newport, WA
Day:  38.59 miles, Trip:  3804.13 miles

We started the day late since it is such a short day. We went for breakfast at Connie's which was yet another traditional American breakfast. My legs and butt seemed to realized I was going to make it ride again when I put on cycling shoes and chammies and started to complain. Kristen and I got an early start (11:00) most other people were paddle boarding or jet skiing or window shopping. We found the bike path which took us out of town. The ride was easy and uneventful. It started getting warm so I convinced Kristen into a rest stop at the McDonalds for the wifi and AC. It turns out the McDonalds is right next to the camp.

We had also crossed over into Washington, our last 15th and last state. Well ... we are on the border so we have to cross into Idaho for a few minutes and then back into Washington again in the morning. There was a river (Pend Orielle River) next to camp so some of us decided to jump in. We didn't really swim but got rinsed off and cooled off. Later was time for showers and dinner. We all went together and had salad and grilled meat (or fake meat) on the grills the campground provided. It was great having everybody together for good food and good conversation.