The State of Washington is much harder than I ever thought to cycle tour. It is beautiful, but the terrain can bring tears to your eyes. The elevation profile looks like a saw blade, lots of ups and downs. After a day cycling in the San Juan Islands, we departed Anacortes, Washington at sea level and never stopped climbing. Ok, there are some down hills, but tell that to our legs. Made it to Bonnie's sisters house in Marblemount for a very nice, short visit. Then Rosemary Joined us up Rainy and Washington Pass at over 5,000 feet in elevation and feet of snow on the roads shoulders. Going up Rainy pass, I saw a black bear cross the road just ahead of me. I stopped and gave it plenty of room. I didn't forget me last encounter with Yogi. We thought the east side of the mountains would bring us warm, sunny weather, but no luck. It has been very cold, and raining a lot. We have camped most nights, some at campgrounds and some in the wild, which I like. The last two days have brought us two more passes to climb, Loup Loup Pass and Wauconda Pass, both at over 4,000 feet. Today brought Hail and heavy rain right before we were to leave the town of Republic, but with the highest pass to climb next at over 5,500 feet we decided it's best to wait out the weather here. So we got our first motel of the trip. We did laundry and now in the library. So next, it's time to eat, and not instant oatmeal either. We are having lots of fun, but it's also hard work.
1 comment:
Recently heard that this is the coldest spring in 30 years (with most number of temps below a certain threshold). so, it is no surprise that you are cold! hope it breaks soon--you are headed for some pretty dry terrain!
--Rosemary
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