Stilllife at Camp, Diablo, WA

A stop at the North Cascades Ranger Station in Sedro-Wooley was invaluable here. First off, they were able to point me to this campground near Diablo. Awesome find. Not far off the road, potable water, pit toilets (but cleanish ones with hand-sanitizer), and free. Free! Secondly, they gave me a map of the elevation gains and points of interest from Sedro-Wooley through Washington Pass…..a map designed from a bicycle perspective.

Okay. The elevation gains were just depressing. But the info on where you could expect to refill water, and where to watch for bad pavement and narrow shoulders was really fantastic. Every National Park featuring a mountain pass should have something like this. (Hello Canada, I’m talking to you!)

The climb from Sedro-Wooley through Marblemount, Newhalem, and Diablo is pretty gradual, just a titch above perfectly flat. This is really important for me, with the massive amount of gear I’m carrying. Anything greater than that titch above flat and I’m gutting it out at 6 mph or so. But on this sort of terrain I could keep a steady 12 to 14 mph, no problem.

Washington Pass

After Diablo, it pitches up significantly to Rainy Pass, drops back down again, and then up to Washington Pass. I felt pretty good on this stuff at first. I passed a couple of recumbent riders early on in the day, which both made me feel strong and motivated me for much of the rest of the day not to lolligag too much lest they catch up with me again. (Depressingly, I ran into them the next day as I was breakfasting on the sidewalk in front of a grocery store in Twisp. It turns out they were working on their seven-thousandth mile of their Paneverywhere tour AND that one of them had nearly completely ruptured one of his Achilles’ tendons about three days earlier. How they were still cycling at all…? But they said they were “taking it easy” to nurse the injury. I felt significantly less studly.) But pretty soon the heat and the grade were taking their toll. I was just counting the miles between water breaks. Finally, about 2pm, I crested Washington Pass. Zoomed down the other side at excess of 40 mph in sections. As the road flattened out toward Winthrop, I crossed paths with a couple on fully laden bikes headed in the opposite direction. Just starting the climb in the late afternoon. Woe to them.

Bellingham
Sudden Valley
Sedro-Wooley
Marblemount
Newhalem
Gorge Creek Campground (Free National Park campground just outside Diablo)

Monday, August 17, 2009 (73.6 miles)

Gorge Creek Campground
Rainy Pass (4600′)
Washington Pass (5477′)
Winthrop
Pearrygin State Park

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 (90.1 miles), Hot 102ºF

Pearrygin State Park
Winthrop
Twisp
Loup Loup Pass (4020′)
Okanogan
Omak
Riverside
Tonasket
Oroville
Osoyous Lake Veterans Memorial State Park

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 (29.4 miles)

Osoyous Lake Veterans Memorial State Park
Oroville
US-Canadian Border
Oroville
US-Canadian Border
Enter British Columbia,  Canada
Osoyoos, British Columbia
Oliver (Belair Cedar Motel)

Thursday, August 20, 2009 (112.1 miles), 38.5ºC

Oliver
Okanagan Falls
Penticton
Summerland
Kelowna
Vernon
Empty lot 2 miles north of Vernon which someone has been using as an illegal trash dump.

Friday, August 21, 2009 (90.9 miles)

Empty lot
Falkland
Monte Lake
Monte Creek
Kamloops
Pine Grove Campground & RV Park

Saturday, August 22, 2009 (0.0 miles)

Pine Grove Campground & RV Park

Sunday, August 23, 2009 (120.3 miles)

Pine Grove Campground & RV Park
McLure Ferry
Barriere
Little Fort
Clearwater
Avola
Blue River
Blue River Campground

Monday, August 24, 2009 (56.5 miles)

Blue River Campground
Valemount
Wild Creek Campground

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 (78.7 miles)

Valemount
Cross continental divide
Enter Alberta
Enter Jasper National Park
Jasper, Alberta
Whistlers Campground in Jasper National Park

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 (55.0 miles)

Whistlers Campground
Jasper
Pocahantas
Hinton
Hinton Centre Campground

Thursday, August 27, 2009 (0.0 miles)

Hinton