Safe Return Doubtful

65 miles (105 km) – Total so far: 140 miles (226 km)

Though out of the tent at 5:20 I wasn’t away until 7. Something I will have to work on, packing. A pleasant thing about the Cascades is that it’s cool at night.

Two passes today and lot of steady climbing.Typical of the US the gradients are rarely steep. 6% is average, rarely more than 8. Today though pretty much the whole of the 30 miles from the lake was up. Fine until about 1 pm. By this time the road is much busier, there was barely a car at 7, and the temperature is up. Today was due to break records in this area, up to 38C.

Down 200 metres off Rainy Pass then up again to the higher Washington Pass. Not so hot up here, but after the rapid descent to Mazama it was like riding into a warm hair dryer.

This heat can be dangerous and it took me a good half hour on arrival at the Pine Near RV Park to feel normal. The 20$ site fee is worth it tonight, a shower, wifi, grass and shade…

Colonial Creek Campsite

Diablo Lake at 7 am

On Rainy Pass at midday

On the pass with the riders of Bike for MS who started the Northern Tier in May and will finish it this week – supported with the van for bags of course

On Washington Pass an hour and a bit later – the haze is from smoke of nearby forest fires

The bike shop sorted my slippery gears. No tension in the cable and fitted my new rear hanger – in 10 minutes – with no cost. A splendid gesture.

Winthrop town was built for The Virginian TV set – from the 70s – now is a good touristic venue.

Recovery – in the Old Schoolhouse

Good choice also…

Today’s story:

Something you only do once…
The first time Nigel visited the US was the summer of his 18th year. Little did he know at that time that he was to live in America for more years than the UK. The flight was a ‘present’ from me for his birthday. In those days I had friends at Continental Airlines and those few years we had very cheap tickets, but that’s another story.
Nigel’s good friend Jimmy came also. This is the first of a few stories about the trip. We were in a hire car from RentaWreck, a company that rented out very cheap bashed up cars at knock down prices. The whole trip was very much on a shoestring budget. Even with a stronger pound to dollar we couldn’t afford to meat out much, or get many motel rooms, and although Nigel and Jimmy could drink in the UK pubs, they were too young for the 21 limit in the States.
We headed for New England flying into Boston and made our way over to where I had enjoyed a year’s exchange at SUNY as a student, at Plattsburgh, New York.
The summer temperatures were in the 30s (or 90s in F), so we sweltered, sleeping in the car most nights, and eating off the top of it breakfast and dinner.
We must have had some ham left from lunch that we ate for dinner. It had been in the car boot all afternoon, must have been something like an oven.
Needless to say I awoke in the drivers seat in the early hours covered in the vomit of Jimmy from the back seat. My own stomach had managed, perhaps due to the student life I had back home, but at 3 am in the morning the car was now awash with the remnants of Jimmy’s last meal. It was to be a long day… And, something you only do once…