Tag: Leavenworth

Leavenworth to Mazama

Leavenworth to Mazama

gavscyclingadventures

Here Comes The Sun – 9th, 10th & 11th May

Monday 9th May – Rest & Recovery Day

After 6 days of back to back cycling, it was time to enjoy a well earned day off & what better place to do that than in Leavenworth. It grew on the back of settlers who were hungry for gold, furs & timber. However by the 1960’s it was shuffling along towards extinction – until the town leaders had the bright idea of changing Leavenworth’s appearance to take advantage of the amazing alpine hills & turn it into a German themed town.

More than one million people now visit Leavenworth each year – they’ve done more than just give the town a facelift, they’ve adopted many of the German festivals, including Octoberfest!! The town is also home to The Nutcracker Museum, where over 7,000 nutcrackers are on display – I didn’t go in, but it brought back many happy memories of my childhood, as we had a homemade nutcracker that used to come out every Christmas.

Every building & business in a 3 block by 3 block square is now Bavarian themed – I thoroughly enjoyed the day mooching around, relaxing in the town square with a cherry strudel & coffee, just watching the world go past. We got chatting to a couple from New Jersey who were halfway through a 6 week trip in the Recreational Vehicle (RV) which had taken them through Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Idaho & Oregon. They were planning to head home along a similar route to us, but it will take them 3 weeks rather than 6 months!

We also had to catch up on essential admin like working out our routes for the next 3 days & booking accommodation in suitable motels – we’ve accepted we’re still a couple of weeks away from camping. A day off the bike was just what was needed, as by the end of the day we were both looking forward to our next block of exploring on our big adventure!

Tuesday 10th May – Leavenworth to Chelan (Stage 9)

We awoke to azure blue skies for the ride to Chelan, so for the first time on the trip we needed suntan lotion – happy days! The route would take us downhill most of the day, with just one climb towards the end of the day, so we were already expecting to make decent time & have a fairly relaxing day. A tailwind was the icing on the cake.

Leaving town we took one last look at the snowy-peaked mountains of the Stevens Pass, before leaving town on SR2 & heading into prime farming land. There were orchards of apples, pears, cherries & olives in every direction. We stopped briefly at Smallwood’s Harvest just so I could insert a puerile photo where you, the reader, can choose your own title! The SR2 became a 4 lane highway after about 8 miles, but although we were effectively on a dual carriageway, we had wide hard shoulders all to ourselves as we rode next to the Wenatchee river.

We took a small back road from Monitor to Sunnyslope , where after covering 24 miles in the first 90 minutes, we stopped briefly for coffee & a cookie. We were reminded that the UK & the USA are nations divided by a common language! When asked where we were headed I explained that we were on our way to Chell-an – the server’s face was a picture, so I tried again Cheeeelan…..I now know the correct pronunciation is Shey-laaaan! There were big views of mountains & rivers in all directions, all on deserted roads. This felt like cycling paradise.

We joined the Cascades Scenic Loop on the Alt 97. For the next 25 miles we followed the course of the Columbia river – originally I was expecting us to be gently climbing, as we were heading upstream, however, the river has been dammed at various points & so the road is able to follow the railroad track a few feet above what are effectively a series of lakes.

Passing through Entiat we stopped at Silicosaska Park – there was a stunning metal sculpture of Chilcosahaskt a member of the Entiat tribe in 1872. His Great-grandson, Wendell George has worked with the city to create this haven of peace & tranquillity on the waterfront. I was so glad I’d stopped to learn a bit more about the original custodians of the land who now live on the Colville Indian Reservation.

At one of the small turnoffs from the Alt 97 I stopped to get a photo of me next to an iconic railroad crossing sign (sadly we didn’t see a train all day). We continued to follow the course of the river, with the river cliffs getting ever nearer. At the 45 mile point we encountered our only climb of the day, a 750 ascent which took us out of the Columbia river valley via a short tunnel (we pressed a button & it set off flashing lights to let motorists know there were 2 stupid cyclists in the tunnel!).

Exiting the tunnel, we were on a plateau that continued to rise for another couple of miles, but our friendly tailwind continued to blow us up the small incline! As we crested the climb, we could see rain falling at one end of Chelan lake, while glorious sunshine was very much evident over the town of Chelan – someone was looking after us today!

We fairly flew down the descent into town & quickly found the Deepwater Inn, our motel for the evening. Once we’d checked in, we popped over the road to the laudromat to clean our kit – we now know how everything works & are considering applying for jobs on EastEnders when we return to the UK! We’ve been in the USA for a couple of weeks & this evening we’ve started trying to live as locals, rather than eating out every night – we visited the local Safeway & bought food for this evening’s meal & tomorrow morning’s breakfast.

Stage Stats – 56 miles, 2,828 feet of climbing. Slightly downhill most of the day, with one small climb. Weather was warm & sunny all day.

Wednesday 11th May – Chelan to Mazama (Stage 10)

For the 3rd day running we awoke to blue skies overhead. After enjoying a breakfast of cereal, yoghurt, fruit & croissants we headed out of town by 9am on the Alt 97 for what would be our longest day to date. After a very small drag out of town, we’d be climbing all day, although there wouldn’t be a hill to speak of. For the first 10 miles we had the road pretty much to ourselves as we cut through a small canyon, then dropped back down into the Columbia river valley, where we’d spent much of yesterday.

We briefly cut inland, giving a slightly different view of the surrounding scenery, including some dandelion like flowers. We were on the lookout for fish eagles (or ospreys), as we’d been told this was a common breeding area – the key was to look out for pallets on top of telegraph poles. We passed one pole with a pallet on it, but no ospreys were home. As we reached Pateros we joined SR153 towards Twisp – for the next 33 miles we’d be following the course of the Methow river, untamed by man.

This was where the uphill would start & continue for the rest of the day, as we were now cycling against the flow of the river. The road regularly criss-crossed the river as we continued on deserted tarmac & then out of the blue an osprey flew into view & landed on an old tree stump not 300 yards ahead of us. I had my phone out in a flash & zoomed in, all the while hoping he/she would wait for me to line up the shot – I’m quite pleased with the end result.

We occasionally passed through small hamlets, as we continued along the river & although we were making decent time, this stretch felt like it passed in slow motion. As we passed through Carlton we saw a gas station & decided to top up our caffeine levels -it was a bargain at 99 cents for 12 fluid ounces! Along with a couple of scoops of trail mix (mixed nuts, raisins plus M&Ms) we were re-invigorated.

We also got our first brief glimpses of snowy mountain peaks in the far-off distance. This gave us fresh impetus, as we’d detoured all the way round SR2, over Stevens Pass & on to Chelan so we could cycle one of the these peaks – find out which one tomorrow!

Arriving at Twisp we briefly re-joined the SR20 (we’d spent Stages 2, 4 & 6 riding sections of it in week one of our adventure), before taking a quieter back road to Winthrop – by now the snowy peaks were looking much closer! We also spotted another Osprey flying overhead – seeing one in a day felt special, so to see two was very exciting!

From Winthrop we had a long drag of 15 miles into a nagging headwind – at the end of a 76 mile ride it felt hard work, plus we both experienced numb feet. After such a stunning day it was a small price to pay & it all melted away when we finally reached our accommodation for the evening – the Freestone Inn is an oasis, with a beautiful lake that backs onto our room.

As if that wasn’t enough, we’d been left a chocolate bar treat!! We’re both a bit nervous about tomorrow, as rain is currently forecast & we’ve done the best part of a one week detour to get here. We’ll be cycling up a big mountain pass tomorrow regardless of the actual weather, but it would be preferable to do it in the dry.

Stage Stats – 76 miles, 4,558 feet of climbing. Dragging uphill all day. Weather was warm & sunny all day again.

Gold Bar to Leavenworth

Gold Bar to Leavenworth

gavscyclingadventures

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

Sunday 8th May – Stage 8

Gold Bar to Leavenworth via the Stevens Pass. Since we floated the idea of re-routing south to cross the Cascade Mountains, this day had been playing on my mind. It would be the first serious examination of our ability to cross the USA coast to coast. The Stevens Pass is a 15 mile climb that rises to 4,061 feet above sea level & we would be attempting it with fully loaded panniers on heavy touring bikes – while we’d done many training rides, none of them could compare to today’s route.

Enough of the hype – We would be on State Route 2 all day, heading in an easterly direction. As we expected a long day in the saddle, we’d finished breakfast & were on our way by 9am. We started under lead grey skies, with clouds hiding most of the snow covered higher peaks.

We could make out light dustings of overnight snow on the pine trees which dominated the lower slopes. Our hotel rooms were booked in Leavenworth & were non-refundable, so one way or another we had to crack on! We followed the Skykomish river & railroad as they criss-crossed their way across the valley, always creeping ever higher. In the blink of an eye, the grey skies were replaced with sunshine for the first time in a week & we saw the immensity of the landscape around us. What struck us was how close we were already to the snowline, yet we were at barely 750 feet above sea level!

Our first animal surprise was spotting an active eagle nesting site on the top of a telegraph pole by the side of the railroad & one of the eagles was guarding the nest – you may be able to make out the other eagle flying just above the trees on the right of the photo. This was quickly followed by a completely unexpected sighting of a Bigfoot just outside of Index – this is where Harry & The Hendersons was filmed back in the late 1980’s & early 90’s. Needless to say we stopped for a selfie with the big man himself!

We pulled in at LouSkis in Skykomish after 19 miles, so we could enjoy a huge chocolate brownie & americano before setting off for the main course. The climb began in earnest at mile 22 as we passed Deception Falls – up to this point we’d gained about 1,000 feet of elevation. Over the next 15 miles we’d be gaining another 3,000 feet at a fairly steady 4% – 6% gradient.

As we hit 1,500 feet above sea level we reached the snow line – small little hummocks & mounds to begin with. Soon the ground was covered in snow everywhere except on the road, which remained mainly dry & completely ice-free. Sean gradually began to pull away from me at the 3 to 4 mile point in the climb, so I took the time to record my thoughts on the lower slopes of Stevens Pass.

At the 6 mile point the road turned back on itself as a hairpin (or lacet) & I realised that we’d had a tailwind up the climb so far & would now be into a headwind!! Crikey, that would add another level of difficulty to proceedings. As would the snow that was now starting to fall as the temperature plummeted to below zero degrees centigrade. I was generating enough heat that I was still comfortable in a short sleeved jersey, arm warmers, gilet & cycling shorts.

I stopped for a moment to take a photo of my bike next to the large snowbanks by the side of the road & then recorded another snippet of video to remind myself how the climb felt. A few cars hooted their horns & waved at the 2 mad Brits cycling up Stevens Pass in the snow!

A mere 1 hour 50 minutes after we started the climb, we were congratulating each other on the summit, taking a couple of photos for posterity, then I was putting on long fingered gloves & my Castelli Gabba for a lightning descent towards Leavenworth, some 34 miles down the mountain.

We were still in the cloud cover as we commenced the downhill, but it only took about 10 minutes for us to return to the sun again. I hit 42 mph as we plummeted to the valley below.

All the while, we had huge views across to the mountains on either side of us. There were a couple of short, leg stinging uphill sections, but we were generally enjoying a 34 mile descent towards Leavenworth. SR2 was tracing the course of the Nason Creek until Coles Corner. Then a few miles later we joined the Wenatchee river for the final 10 miles into Leavenworth. It’s a fast flowing river with many sections of white water – we were lucky enough to see a deer by the edge of the river & an eagle soaring on the thermals on this stretch.

Just before 4pm we entered Leavenworth at the end of a truly epic day in the saddle. As if the day couldn’t get any better, we spotted 3 deer on the pitch & putt golf course as we walked into town for food & a few celebratory beers! Tomorrow is a rest day after all!!

Stage Stats – 71 miles, 5,702 feet of climbing. Rolling to begin with, Hors Category climb, then exhilarating descent. Worthy of its billing as the Queen Stage so far.