Day 8 – Windy Point to Randle – Safe Return Doubtful

65 miles (105 km) – Total so far: 543 miles (873 km)

Time riding 5 hours 34 mins Max speed 31.4 mph Average speed 11.1 mph Altitude 280 meters asl Left 8:40 am Arrived 3:30 pm

I managed to get to bed at 9:30 pm last night. The sound of the fast flowing river Tieton helps drown anything from the road. I spent some time chatting with the guy who gave me a beer when he arrived. Fiercely proud of his state and particular area he I a keen outdoor man. In a couple of weeks him and a friend are being dropped by helicopter into the wilderness of the Northern Cascades to trek out. It is the same area the 16 year old girl walked out from after surviving a plane crash recently. It’s a wild and inhospitable area.

A fine still morning soon clouded over and that south westerly returned. Today was the first of 4 mountain pass days. The climb is gradual up to Rimrock Lake at just over 800 metres, then steepens to 6 or 7%. The road was much quieter than yesterday, but still with quite a bit of traffic, trucks included. There was usually a decent shoulder though. There are a few cafes and bars on the way up, as because this is a ski resort it has all year round passing traffic. I made it to the pass after 3 hours of riding, just before 12:30 pm.

Though the climb is picturesque the top certainly isn’t. The view is dominated by the ski slope, just a bare hillside.

To Packwood the descent is 1080 meters. It’s a decent road, so pretty quick. At Packwood then it’s a 25 kilometre flat ride to Randle, contending still with that wind. Compared to the climb and thrill of the downhill it was pretty featureless.

Shady Firs campground is about 2 kilometres before Randle itself. It’s a large site and has one other tent and one RV. There’s a hiker biker rate with a free shower for $16, which could be worse. The owners tell me the season is their slowest yet. Most of their customers are from the east, and haven’t come this year due to the floods and extreme weather. Apparently Randle has a restaurant, so I will investigate later. First shower since Seattle was welcome.