Week 9: Wicked Cool Cascades

Week 9

Day 57

Spokane WA: Rest day #1

I forgot to mention in the last post that our host in Newport fell through and we had to rack to Spokane and missed 40 miles of our ride. It was not an ideal situation, but we now have two back-to-back rest days in Spokane. Jess, Rachel, and I knew we wanted to find a place to hike, so we asked Matar, Gino, and Josh to drop us off at a Lakeside Park trail. The trail they dropped us off at went for about a quarter mile along the road until it ended at a boat launch. By that time, we realized we were on the wrong side of the Spokane River and were walking the wrong way from town. The only option was obviously to swim across the river, and we recruited three friendly kayakers to ferry our backpacks. The water was much colder than we expected, and when I first dove in it was hard to take a first breath. I laughed too hard the rest of the way across to be overly worried, but I was also grateful to have boats near me in case I cramped up from the cold.  Now on the correct side of the river, we started our “5” mile walk back to the Spokane downtown. This would become a joke because when we checked the mileage every hour, the GPS always told us we only had 5 miles left. Eventually, the vans picked us up when they realized it would be hours until we reconnected in town. That night we shared the YMCA with Team Portland. We have been in the same town before, but this is the first time we have been in the same host.

Day 58

Spokane, WA Rest day #2

Portland and Seattle together

Our grand Spokane finale was to go to the river and jump off of some rocks and watch the people of Spokane doing Spokane things on the beach. Later that evening Kelly and Heidi Greenwood, the parents of my friend Josie Greenwood, picked me up and took me out for the best ice cream around. We talked about how beautiful western Washington is and how people from all the world come to bike over the Cascades. Thank you Heidi and Kelly for the great conversations and ice cream!

Day 59

Spokane, WA-Grand Coulee, WA

We did our morning dedication with team Portland, and played a modified game of Simon Says in order to choose riding groups. It was good to get to know our “rival” group, even though Hannah lost the vegetable off at the very end, so Portland ended up winning the game. The defining moment was when she though they told her to be a rotten tomato instead of a ratchet (crazy) tomato.

It was my turn to van and Rachel Hughes was my navigator. Lucky for me, she is our best navigator by far, and chalked the dreaded bike trails all through the city. We started off late because of the game, and then found out there was a warning of sever wind storms in the afternoon. At every succeeding water stop the team dragged themselves in against headwinds. We trying to make a 6:30 pm dinner deadline, but the trucks, dust, and sudden gusts meant that we racked our bikes 30 miles from the host and still were half an hour late.

Because it was so highly recommended, we went to the Grand Coulee Dam to watch a laser show. We were all surprised when the show turned out to be an entire history lesson of the day and surrounding complete with a narration and characters. I still don’t understand how the lasers where showing fish swimming up-river. 

Day 60

Grand Coulee, WA- Twisp, WA

Mike’s birthday today!

Riding for Jocye. 

Our best car experience happened when a black minivan passed us with a women hanging out the passenger side window cheering and dancing. We were all too shocked to say anything or wave back until they drove past, but it was much appreciated.

Our day started at the bottom of a canyon, but we then biked up into the sagebrush scablands and Eastern Washington. Off in the distance we could see the Cascades and it seemed impossible that we would be surrounded by them later that day. Unfortunately, the happy lady in the van was overshadowed by an angry man in a Subaru who screamed at us to get off the road. This shattered my assumption that all Subaru owners are awesome. On a brighter note, I dunked into the freezing cold Methow River at lunch and was rejuvenated for about 5 minutes after I got on my bike.

Sash of the flats 

That night we stayed at a grange and celebrated Mike’s birthday by singing and with a fancy dessert the host van found. Today I rode for Jocye, the wife of my Dad'd good friend Dana. I also got my second flat of the day via a goat head seed. Tradition requires the rider who got a flat to wear their tube as sash until the next water stop. 

Day 61

Twisp, WA-Colonial Creek Campground, WA

Climbing the Cascades for Bob Aaserude

That morning we were able to meet our hosts when they came to the grange and cooked us Hungarian Coffee Cake, poached eggs with smoked salmon and pesto, and fruit salad made of home grown fruit. There were also boxes of apricots and plums from their gardens. Kim and I talked for a while about our love of wilderness and she told me stories of when she lived in a Teepee off the grid on Orcas Island. Twist was an adorable town, but nothing compared to Winthrop, the town 10 miles up the road where we stopped to explore and buy coffee. Winthrop had keep all their old fashion buildings and looks like an old western town. It is now filled with outdoor stores, restaurants, and art galleries.

Soon our 18-mile accent over the Northern Cascades started. This was the same mileage for crossing the Rockies, but with a much steep grade and a much hotter day. Kelly was my climbing buddy, and we chatted a bit, but mostly thought our own thoughts as we climbed for hours.

The night before I had explained the concept of a rain shadow to my team, and while biking it was easy to see the gradual change from a dry ecosystem on the east side to a rainforest in the west side. We had our water stop at the top of the pass, and some our team members with the guy who holds the record for biking across the country in something like 8 days. Apparently he was not too interested in learning about our cause.

A poor picture of Diablo Lake

The decent was incredible as we biked past waterfalls and caught glimpse of high mountain lakes. Since there were no showers at the campground, our only way to wash the grim off was jump into the freezing glacial water of Diablo Lake. It took a lot of peer pressure to jump off the dock, and it was a situation were as soon as you hit water you were already swimming towards shore. I’m sure the campground was delighted that there 21 college kids screaming on the dock, but all were exhausted from a 78-mile mountain pass day, and went to sleep early.

Day 62

Colonial Creek Campground, WA- Anacortes, WA

Another long but great day as we biked straight to the coast. We were team Thunder Knobs in tribute to a sign we saw in the Norther Cascades National Park. We still have no idea what a Thunder Knob is. The down hills were awesome and we did a lot of howling as we flew down them. We also hit the jackpot when we stopped at the fireman’s garage sale. I bought a tie with a rainbow fish on it to use for presentations in my fish classes next semester and a backpacking pot the exact size I have been looking for a year all for $2.

Team Thunder Knobs rode as hard as we could to make it in time for 7:00 PM showers, but had to stop and take photos when we reached the water. Going through Idaho felt like home, but coming back to the coast and the smell of salt water is like going back to California.

Anacortes Sunset

A highlight of the day was meeting Lori, an artist at a craft fair who is a 3-time cancer survivor. She is passionate about using what we have and not being caught up in a consumerist life style. What she said was inspiring to me because I also try tp resist buying unneeded products. She cried when we told us how much our trip meant to her and how what we are doing is what saves people from cancer.

That night in Anacortes, Connor, Leslie, Aaron, and I hiked to the top of a hill to watch the sunset over the water. We are night quite on the ocean, but close enough to provide us with an absolutely stunning display of west coast sunsets. 

Day 63

Anacortes, WA-New Townsend, WA

Our mornings are getting slower every day because we are so exhausted every day. I have started to wake up and have no idea where I am or what is happening. All day we got to ride next to the water through small coastal towns. Aaron got two flats in two hours, but both times we made the best of having to sit and wait for 2 hours. The first time we on a pullout overlooking a rocky shore, and the second time was next to a ripe blackberry patch.

The best part of the day was taking the ferry from the peninsula where we were to Port Townsend. We payed 50 cents a bike, and got to hang out on deck. I was hoping to see some orcas, but the sea gulls were enough for me.

We were greeted for dinner by our hosts at the Presbyterian Church of Port Townsend. People from the congregation had volunteered to host us at their house, so we split into groups and got to sleep in real beds. Rachel, Hannah, Liz, Adriana, Jess, and I stayed with Nellie. That night we all watched the Olympics and drank tea and milk with homemade cookies. I also think Nellie and my Grandma B are long lost friends because while growing up they both spent all their summers in Yosemite and are the same age.