Northern Tier Day #58 Okanogan, WA to Early Winters Campground , WA

Northern Tier Day #58

July 17, 2019 Okanogan, WA to Early Winters Campground , WA 64 Miles
Ride Time 5:58
Tour Total 4519 Miles
details at: https://cyclemeter.com/058ffe3224dd3702/Cycle-20190717-0726-56340

I’ve slept in a bed two nights in a row, and shaved two consecutive mornings. Level 1 all the way! I slept so well on Warm Showers host Leone’s daybed in her craft room. Linda and Henry slept in the loft up above me. Tim and Jeff were in the other room. It was warm when we all went to bed, but we left the windows open and a fan running. It got cool in the middle of the night, and I had to crawl into my silk liner. It was a perfect sleeping temperature, and I slept great. My swimsuit was dry in the morning, and I had clean laundry and fully charged devices. Last evening in the way to the river float, I grabbed some sage brush, crumpled it, and ran it through my fingers. It was incredibly pungent.

We packed up took a group photo with Leone. Then we set off back towards Okanogan. Today we were doing the Loup Loup Pass. Team Spokane was interested in the cleanliness level scale that I’ve been using, so I searched for the original text on last year‘s blog and couldn’t find it. Reading the journal entries from those final days of last year’s tour brought back a a flood of memories. They were beautiful moments, and I was sad they were gone. I realized that I’m now in a similar moment with this tour. It’s so beautiful, fantastic, and awesome; yet it’s winding down. In just a few days it will be over. I’m trying my best to savor the moment, and pack as much of it into a bottle (photos and this journal), so that I can relive it through memory.

Okanogan is a nice genuine little town with character. It’s even got a bike shop. I regret that I didn’t visit the Dawg House Barbecue and Brew. On the far end of town there was construction on the route. There were strips across the road filled with loose gravel, that were bumpy and dusty. I’ve been seeing large stacks of large wooden crates all over Okanogan. It took me awhile to realize they were for the fruit harvest. There was a pear orchard to my right as I rolled out of town.

An update on other tours I’ve been following: Steve G is now in Kansas on the TransAm and Asa is now in Iowa on the Northern Tier.

We stopped at the fantastic Smallwoods Farm for breakfast. Both Leone and the Brooklyn boys had recommended stopping here. Out front was a large fruit crate scale. Each of us was eager to learn how much our fully loaded bikes weighed. Here are the results from lowest to highest:

Jeff 66 lbs.
Henry 68 lbs.
Linda 69 lbs.
Tim 73 lbs.
Rob 93 lbs.

The country store was amazing. From the kitchen I ordered a caramel scone (OMG!), breakfast burrito, and a large chocolate milk shake. We sat out on the back porch with sweeping views of the bare scrubby mountain range in the distance. Upon leaving the country store I passed a peach orchard. I began my climb up through grass pastures. A day cyclist passed me coming down the hill in the other direction.

I got word that the huckleberry pie filling had arrived in Brooklyn, with the large glass jars intact. It’s estimated that I’ve got enough filling for one and a half huckleberry pies. I’ve got an extra large pie pan at home, and I’m planning a lattice top. It’s gonna be awesome!

I rode past several cherry orchards that were covered with white netting. The fruit was ripening and needed to be protected from the birds. There was a pasture with a helipad and two double- decker helicopters. Tim thought they were used to spread the netting over the orchards, but I wasn’t so sure.

It was a steep ascent and I was hot and sweaty. Fortunately it was overcast and cool, with a slight drizzle. I passed a grove of red delicious apples. The first creek I rode alongside was Little Loup Loup Creek. I could hear but not see Summer Creek to my right. I noticed huge fans in the orchards that were used to keep drops of rain from blemishing the fruit.

I stopped to take a photo of two bear pelts nailed to the outside of an old wooden building formerly used as migrant quarters. Linda had to do a bio break, and she let me pass her. At 10am the sun broke through the clouds and I was casting a shadow. I had a gotten a report from Chris and Brian yesterday that their cross over the pass was hot. They urged me to do it as early in the day as possible. Okanagon was only 800 feet above sea level, and Loup Loup Pass was 4,020’. That was a lot of uphill.

I climbed up above the valley and left the orchards and pastures below. There was yellow grass to both sides of the road with occasional cattle grazing. It was mostly scrub. A UPS truck came way too close to me on the shoulder. I was on a downhill and had just passed a ‘Bicycles On Road’ sign. It was the first such sign I had seen on the tour, advising motorists to look out for bicycles. There was a rock cut on the left side of the road and a steep drop to my right. I would not want to land down there. Pine trees were growing up from the bottom of the drop. I noticed a TRANGO public transportation van taking passengers to Okanogan.

The sun hid back behind the clouds which was fortunate for me. The roadside ditch was filled with baseball-sized pine cones. There were numerous lumber trucks on the road today, and I heard several jet planes, ostensibly from Seattle, as I neared the coast. A chipmunk scampered up the hill to the side of the road. Another TRANGO public van passed me, again going east. A full log truck towing a loaded trailer passed me. Lumber trucks were rolling by in both directions.

The grade eased towards the top of the pass, and I was at the top by 11:45am. I would definitely not want to do this pass in the hot afternoon, as Chris and Brian had done. I entered the Okanagon National Forest. At the top of the pass I did the photo documentation ritual with my pal Jeff, originally from New York. I donned my jacket to stay warm during the brisk descent. I was now in the Methow Valley Watershed.

There had been a forest fire on the other side of the pass, but beautiful pink blossoms were springing to life. I saw a sign that read, ‘143 Miles to Burlington’, which was the junction with Intestate 5 and essentially the coast. I was getting close to the Pacific. My first stop was Twisp, population 919, and the heart of the Methow Valley. I crossed over the river into town.

I went to Hanks Harvest Foods, a large grocery store featuring a giant collection of taxidermied wild animals mixed in amongst the groceries. The store had a deli and seating area. I used the bathroom and bought a bottle of Gatorade, before ordering the chicken taco lunch special. I had to cross back over the bridge to leave town and get back on route.

There was really bad gravel at the intersection and it seemed like there was road work ahead on Twisp-Winthrop Eastside Road. Linda did this amazing hand gesture, and got a vehicle to stop and roll down their window. They reported all clear up ahead. This route was way better than Highway 20, and there was virtually no traffic. The daunting Cascade Range came into view towards the west. I noticed plenty of snow up there.

The hard work was done for the day, but I still had another 20 miles to my destination. I was following the Methow River upstream, and was beginning the climb towards Washington Pass. There was a small headwind. The hills to my left had a more yellowish tint then the pink hills ahead. The color was coming from grass, dirt, and weeds and included patches of green scrub. My odometer reached the 4500 mile mark.

It was a beautiful stretch of roadway. The next town was Winthrop, population 394. I made 17 miles an hour on the electronic ‘Know Your Speed Limit’ sign. Winthrop was a great little town featuring wooden sidewalks and an old west feel. It was bike friendly with numerous mountain biking routes during the summer, which then in the winter become cross-country skiing trails. I ran into cyclists from an ACA supported tour, who were spending the night here. I went to the Sixknot Taphouse with Jeff and had an Alpine Märzden.

I crossed the Chewuch River to be back on State Highway 20, and the Methow River was to the left. As I was leaving town I passed a sign that read ‘Blues Fest 1000 Feet Ahead’. I soon passed the large outdoor venue. I saw another ‘Bikes on Road’ warning sign. A lot of people from Seattle come to this area for recreation because the weather is predictable. In the winter it’s in the 20’s or low 30’s with good snow and excellent skiing. Whereas the winters in Seattle are rainy and gloomy. In the summer it’s predictably warm and pleasant here. The summer weather in Seattle changes every minute.

The sun came out for a little bit and I was worried about sunburn. I hadn’t applied sunscreen today. It returned back behind the clouds and I reckoned I was fine.I rode past the Bicycle Farmhouse, a well known cyclist hostel on the Northern Tier. I stopped to take a photo of the mailbox and sign. It wasn’t a useful option for me because it didn’t time out well with the Washington Pass, or an evening meal.

I took a right on Goat Creek Road to get off of State Highway 20, for the last stretch into Mazama. I was now in the Cascades, and the Washington desert was behind me. I noticed black burn marks around the bases of the trees, where there had been a fire. There were towering mountains to both sides of the valley. I rode amongst pine trees with large rock faces up above.

My destination was the Mazama Country Store, where eastbound cyclist Dave, whom I had met in Minnesota, told me I could camp out back. I went inside to inquire. They could have begun their response with, ‘Sorry, but...’. Instead I was met with, ‘No, that’s not permitted’. It was late and I had cycled 60 miles over a formidable pass. I barked back, ‘I’ve ridden my bike 4500 miles to get here. Welcome to Washington!’ Jeff went back in to smooth things out, while we explored our options. We needed a place to stay for the night, as well as dinner and breakfast in the morning. The store didn’t offer much, and was getting ready to close. F the Mazama Country Store.

We continued another 3 miles to the Freestone Inn where we found Jack’s Hut Pizza. I ordered a 14” pizza with anchovies and sun dried tomatoes, along with several Boot Jack Ales. The Tour de France was on TV. Jeff’s pizza had ended up on the floor in the kitchen, and they had to make him another one.

The Early Winters Campground was just up the road. It was getting late, and the steep ascent to Washington Pass was beginning. Because of the Blues Fest in Winthrop, the campground was full. We pleaded with the campground host, who told us to continue up the pass.

Generous people in the campground offered to let us pitch out tents on their sites, Including Jenny, the bakery chef from the Mazama Country Store. Linda’s pole broke while she was setting up her tent. She had the same MSR model as me, and the exact same thing happened to me last year. Neighboring campers offered use of their plastic tool box to store our food for the night. There’s no way it would hold back a bear, but better their campsite than ours.

It started to rain, and I had to jump into my tent before I had brushed my teeth. Inside I realized I had forgotten my silk liner. I fell sleep in my bike clothing, while trying to write this report. I woke up in the middle of the night, and went outside to brush my teeth and retrieve my silk liner.