Date:
03.07.2018
Altitude:
2877.3 ft (877 m)
Distance:
69.13 mi (111.25 km)
Total
Altitude: 122637.8 ft (37380 m)
Total
Distance: 4404.29 mi (7088.02 km)
This
morning I left the really nice Motel in Republic and started the
climb up the second pass in Washington right away. Now I have
finished two out of four passes in Washington on my way to the
Pacific. The climb to Wauconda Pass was a lot shorter an easier than
the ascent to Sherman Pass. The weather this morning was similar to
the weather, yesterday. The day started out cold and cloudy, but at
least it didn't rain. So it was not as freezing on the bike as
yesterday. In the afternoon the sun came out and temperatures
increased, so that it was a lot nicer out. In the next couple days
the temperatures should increase and it will be a lot more pleasant
on the bike.
In
the morning I found again a really nice place to eat breakfast. I had
a really nice steak breakfast. A great way to start the day and to
get the energy to get through the day. After breakfast I left
Republic and the ascent to Wauconda Pass started right away, so I had
no time to get going before the climb. But today's climb was not that
hard, since it was quite short and not as steep as yesterday. The
road over Wauconda Pass had almost the whole time a wide shoulder to
ride on and there was less traffic than yesterday. So it was a really
enjoyable ride. On the ascent the road went through forests, just
like the last few days. From the top of Wauconda Pass it was almost
all downhill to Tonasket,WA and than it stayed almost flat for the
rest of the route along Okanogan River to Omak. Going down from
Wauconda Pass, the scenery along the way started to change. At the
beginning the route stayed in a forest area but as I came down the
pass I started leaving the forest area and entered into the plains. I
could tell it was a lot dryer here than on the other side of the
pass, also the fire danger was a lot higher. In the plains along the
route there were a lot of cattle/horse ranches. All in all again a
beautiful day.
After
I haven't met any other cyclist the last few days, I met again some
people going east on the Northern Tier. Since I'm getting closer to
Anacortes,WA most of them just started a few days ago. But what a
start into a cross country tour that is, with four mountain passes
right at the beginning. This doesn't really gives you any time to get
used to being on the bike every day and build up your fitness. I'm
pretty happy to have theses mountain passes at the end of my trip and
not at the beginning. Also today, after I didn't have any kind of
problem with dogs for a while now today must have been biker hunting
season. I was chased by a few dogs again, today. The first two dogs
that chased after me, I encountered on the way up to Wauconda Pass. I
really didn't expect it, in the middle of the forest, but it
motivated me to go uphill a bit faster. The second time was at the
end of the route, when a dog came running out to the street from a
house by the side of the road. This one had some endurance and
probably followed me for half a mile before he gave up. I could have
done without the dogs but if it is not continuing like this for the
next few days, it's okay.
Conclusion
for the day:
There
is nothing better than to start the day with coffee and a nice steak.
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