The ferry from Sidney to Anacortes was delightful and free of most of the hassles of our previous ferry trip.
We then had a few mishaps, my boom twisted 90 degrees trying to disembark from the ferry, Jake's chain immediately fell off, and he then had a punctured tube and a tire that went bald in two days. Do you know how hard it is to get a 20" tube with a Presta valve in rural northwest Washington? We won't even talk about finding Ethyl alcohol for our stove. Then I thought I dropped the camera off the trike. Walked back more than a mile, against heavy traffic, on a narrow bridge, uphill, into the wind (you get the idea) with no success - only to find that it had lodged itself in the lower bars of the trike (oops). Jake went off to look for some bread for dinner and was sold 4 slices of bread from a deli for $4.50.
Nice State Park camping that night and a good start in the morning. Easy flat riding for our first full day. Overcast, but no rain until we got to the campground that late afternoon. Jake spotted an eagle during our lunch break. Camped in the rain by the Sagit River. Late start then pretty flat riding for first half of day. Once we entered the North Cascade Wilderness area, the road got rather steep. Jake kept up a litany of complaints and a running monologue on the benefits of backpacking over bike riding. Rode along a nice river, though, and had snow capped peaks on both sides of us most of the way.
Camped by Lake Diablo. Slept 11 hours. Out at @ 8:30. We then spent the next 7 hours pedaling over 32 miles up to the top of Washington Pass. I couldn't get my trike into its lowest gears, so it was not a fun ride. At least the rain held off. Freezing cold at top. Due to a heavy snowfall in late winter, and a series of avalanches, they had the second latest Pass opening on record this spring. The descent was very fast, a bit slippery, and a little scary as there were few guardrails and a precipitous drop on one side.
Made good time downhill to an Inn in Mazama, where we ate too much and soaked in their outdoor hot tub. We face a series of additional passes as we continue east through Washington. I expect the tone of the blog will be more upbeat once we get out of the mountains.
We'll blog again when we next have wireless service.
Jake, remember how I told you I was glad I didn't know, until you were home safe, the story of you in Ecuador almost getting jettisoned off a cliff by a truck careening out of control on the snowy slush, with you and Connor hanging out the door, trying to keep it from flipping over? I wish I didn't know about your sprint downhill on slippery narrow mountain pass roads with no guardrails until we were eating supper together again. My guess is that you had a blast and happily screamed down the whole way. That's why I'm sitting in the front room with a cup of coffee and a cat on my lap and you're on this amazing adventure. Rob remind me, when you get home, to lecture you about taking our son on this crazy trip. Love you both, Mom/Susan
ReplyDeleteI can totally related Susan... breathe.... and call anytime!
ReplyDeleteWhat does not kill you, makes you stronger......so my guess it that the GBT team just got a bit stronger. The first "life passing before your eyes" moments are likely the hardest. Now of course I can say this, but should also include that I would have booked my flight back home, while staying at the Inn. Soon you will be racing down the hills (hopefully not) to make up for the time it takes to climb the mountains.
ReplyDeleteRegarding chains, booms, tubes, tires, and bread.....Oh my! Sounds like a weird version of The Wizard of Oz. If you guys see a yellow brick road or poppies, then there was something wrong with the bread.
Thanks for keeping us posted and the mountain pics are beautiful.
Pedal on...
And....So it began...Is it still going?
ReplyDelete