So I guess you are all wondering if we survived our "adventure" in the kayaks on the Methow River. Since I am writing this we did, and had an awesome time. Corbett brought the kayaks to the campground and dropped them off. We went to church before our kayak ride or is it float or paddle. Not sure since we have only been in a kayak a couple of times on a lake that has no fast moving water. We were able to walk right behind our tent and put the kayaks in the river. The water didn't look fast until we were IN it! The kayaks were the type that you sit on and not in. So if we fell out we didn't have a chance of getting stuck inside. Corbett had told us that it was a fairly easy float with no big rapids. She also said it might take 2 or 3 hours to float to her house about 10 miles away. Once I sat down in my ship off I went. I had some trouble trying to figure out how to "drive". The kayaks were pretty much bullet proof thank goodness. Because I hit everything in the way. I tried to follow Captain Hap, but sometimes it just wouldn't work. At one point I swear I must have hit some class V rapids cause my little kayak went straight up in the air! Hap thought it was pretty funny. I asked him what happened and he explained that I shouldn't AIM for the big waves that meant there was a big rock under it. Oh.....but that's so much fun....once I figured out that I should go around the "bumps" I had a much smoother ride. At one point I was behind Hap. He went through what looked like a shallow area and a 90 degree bend in the river. All of a sudden it looked like Hap went flying through the shallow section, into the side bank and a bunch of rocks and was thrown off his kayak. As I was going through the same section I was thinking "I wonder how Hap fell off? He was floating downstream holding his kayak and laughing. The next second I was flying into the rocks and got thrown into the COLD water. I couldn't touch bottom so now I was floating downriver, holding my kayak and paddle, trying to get to the shore. The water was flowing so fast I couldn't get to the side. Then I started losing my shoe. So now, I'm trying to hold onto everything, AND not freeze to death. Hap finally helped me to the shore so I could get back in the kayak. We sat on shore for awhile (so I could warm up!) and discussed how that happened. We decided it was a good thing we had not taken the camera like we were thinking of doing. Then we paddled upstream to see if we could go through there again. But we would've had to carry the kayak over all the rocks to try and we needed to get the kayaks back. The whole trip took us 5 hours. It was just awesome! The water was so clear. We saw alot of people playing on the river. Finally we got to Corbett and Peter's house. He was waiting for us and asked what took so long. He took us back to our campground and we thanked him for a super day.
The next morning we left the campground alittle late. I spent alot of time on the phone trying to arrange a massage in the next town of Winthrop. I finally found one who was gracious enough to work me in for the day. We rode up to Winthrop and stopped for breakfast before the massage. Thanks Juliette for the great massage. My back thanks you very much! Todays ride was all uphill. We gradually climbed to the town of Mazama on Rt 20. It was a beautiful ride. The weather was perfect, not the 100 degree weather we have been having. In Mazama we were expecting to be able to buy some groceries but discovered the store was not well stocked. One of the problems with this type of tour is knowing how much food to carry. You don't want to carry too much weight but you want to have some in cases like this. We were entering the North Cascades National Park so we knew that after Mazama there wouldn't be any supplies for at least two days. We picked up a can of pineapple and some beans to put on our spaghetti (they only had a huge jar of spagetti sauce). We headed off for a campground a couple of miles up the road called Early Winters Campground. It was a primitive campground which meant pit toilets, a water spigot and camping spots. But it was a pretty spot along a small river. We set up camp and headed to the COLD river for a "bath". As we were setting up an older women, Sylvia, that was camping in an RV came over and offered us some fresh cantalope. Would you like some? Duh..........we talked to Sylvia and Ed for awhile, they invited us into their RV to talk for awhile. We said we would come back after we ate. We cooked dinner. Yes, the spagetti noodles with the beans were very good. After eating we went in and talked with them for quite a while. They were a neat couple. They were in their mid 70's. She was a nurse and he an engineer. Sound familiar? They lived in canada (only 2 hours away) and left their RV in the US to camp because it was cheaper than Canada. But they had to return every 2 wks because of their health insurance. Canada has socialized healthcare. I didn't really understand what she meant but it had something to do with they had to report in every two weeks. Didn't make sense to me. Sylvia said that they used to wind surf and she had always had a goal of doing it until she was 70 but had only made it to 68. They walked everyday and just enjoyed camping. They also used to be the campground host in the National Park. It was a fun night. We got into our little tent and had a great nights sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long climb of two passes, Mt Washington and Rainey Pass.
In the morning Sylvia came walking over with two eggs. We thanked her very much. She said they were going to move their RV to the next campgrounds three miles up the road. That was their excitement for the day! We cooked oatmeal, had peanut butter and bagels and boiled the eggs for breakfast. We also had some Endurox (powdered protein drink) that we occasionally carry with us. We finally got away about 10:30am and continued our climb up the passes. It seemed to be a pretty gradual climb, not bad at all. We got passed by a couple of cyclists. One guy looked like a triathlete in training. The other was a girl, with pink handlebar tape and saddle. No, it doesn't bother me that a girl with a pink bike passed me, no it doesn't bother me that a girl passed me, no it doesn't.............. Later on they came flying down from the pass. We saw a helicopter that was transporting something underneath of it down the mountain and then coming back empty. We passed the helicopter parked on the side of the road further up the mountain. The scenery was beautiful. Some of the mountains still had snow on them. Some had some fog or clouds covering them. At the top of the first pass, Washington Pass, we stopped to eat our last bagels and peanut butter for lunch. When we left we ran into a guy from England, Steve, who was cycling in the US on a holiday. He is planning to ride to Los Angeles and then to New Zealand for three months. Once over Washington Pass we went downhill for alittle while and then began climbing again to Rainey Pass. Wash. Pass was a three hour climb. Rainey Pass only took maybe an hour or so. It wasn't bad at all. At the top of the pass though the temps dropped to 50 degrees so we stopped and put on more clothes. That's why we carry all this weight! We had a great downhill of about 20 miles or so. But of course we had a headwind so we ended up pedaling downhill. I hate it when that happens. We stopped alot to take pictures. There were two beautiful lakes, Ross and Diablo that I hope my pictures come out. The water was a wonderful shade of green. There was quite a bit of swirling wind which made the downhill scary in some sections. We had planned to ride to Newhalen because we thought there was a campground with showers. We were disappointed to find that although it was a nice campground there were no showers (again!). We set up camp just as Steve arrived. We decided to share our campsite with him. It was a nice to be able to talk with another cyclist. Our dinner was our "emergency ration". It was vegetable soup, a can of tuna, and pineapple. So now we really need to get to a store.
This morning we got up to some misting rain. Welcome to the northwest. We packed up and rode 10 miles to Marblemount for breakfast. It looked like all the town was closing down. Things were either for sale or already sold and closed. We found a place a few miles outside of town, Clarks Inn for a great breakfast. Steve stopped and ate with us also. Most of today we spent riding downhill toward the coast still on Rt 20. We ran into a pretty hard rainstorm so stopped to put on our rain covers and gear. The temps weren't cold so it wasn't too bad. We stopped in Concrete to find a motel to stay in. After two nights without and shower and needing to do laundry, I decided to make an executive decision (after consulting with my captain.....) and we are staying at the Cascade Mountain Lodge. It is a really nice hotel. They let us do a load of laundry in their machines so we didn't have to ride back into town. We walked next door to the grocery and got some more supplies. For dinner we had lasagna from a pizza shop next door. Hap cleaned up the bike and I wrote this blog. Now I'm going to a nice clean, dry bed. And I may take another shower just for good measure! Tomorrow we plan to ride to Anacortes, WA and the Pacific Ocean!
Until next time!
The next morning we left the campground alittle late. I spent alot of time on the phone trying to arrange a massage in the next town of Winthrop. I finally found one who was gracious enough to work me in for the day. We rode up to Winthrop and stopped for breakfast before the massage. Thanks Juliette for the great massage. My back thanks you very much! Todays ride was all uphill. We gradually climbed to the town of Mazama on Rt 20. It was a beautiful ride. The weather was perfect, not the 100 degree weather we have been having. In Mazama we were expecting to be able to buy some groceries but discovered the store was not well stocked. One of the problems with this type of tour is knowing how much food to carry. You don't want to carry too much weight but you want to have some in cases like this. We were entering the North Cascades National Park so we knew that after Mazama there wouldn't be any supplies for at least two days. We picked up a can of pineapple and some beans to put on our spaghetti (they only had a huge jar of spagetti sauce). We headed off for a campground a couple of miles up the road called Early Winters Campground. It was a primitive campground which meant pit toilets, a water spigot and camping spots. But it was a pretty spot along a small river. We set up camp and headed to the COLD river for a "bath". As we were setting up an older women, Sylvia, that was camping in an RV came over and offered us some fresh cantalope. Would you like some? Duh..........we talked to Sylvia and Ed for awhile, they invited us into their RV to talk for awhile. We said we would come back after we ate. We cooked dinner. Yes, the spagetti noodles with the beans were very good. After eating we went in and talked with them for quite a while. They were a neat couple. They were in their mid 70's. She was a nurse and he an engineer. Sound familiar? They lived in canada (only 2 hours away) and left their RV in the US to camp because it was cheaper than Canada. But they had to return every 2 wks because of their health insurance. Canada has socialized healthcare. I didn't really understand what she meant but it had something to do with they had to report in every two weeks. Didn't make sense to me. Sylvia said that they used to wind surf and she had always had a goal of doing it until she was 70 but had only made it to 68. They walked everyday and just enjoyed camping. They also used to be the campground host in the National Park. It was a fun night. We got into our little tent and had a great nights sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long climb of two passes, Mt Washington and Rainey Pass.
In the morning Sylvia came walking over with two eggs. We thanked her very much. She said they were going to move their RV to the next campgrounds three miles up the road. That was their excitement for the day! We cooked oatmeal, had peanut butter and bagels and boiled the eggs for breakfast. We also had some Endurox (powdered protein drink) that we occasionally carry with us. We finally got away about 10:30am and continued our climb up the passes. It seemed to be a pretty gradual climb, not bad at all. We got passed by a couple of cyclists. One guy looked like a triathlete in training. The other was a girl, with pink handlebar tape and saddle. No, it doesn't bother me that a girl with a pink bike passed me, no it doesn't bother me that a girl passed me, no it doesn't.............. Later on they came flying down from the pass. We saw a helicopter that was transporting something underneath of it down the mountain and then coming back empty. We passed the helicopter parked on the side of the road further up the mountain. The scenery was beautiful. Some of the mountains still had snow on them. Some had some fog or clouds covering them. At the top of the first pass, Washington Pass, we stopped to eat our last bagels and peanut butter for lunch. When we left we ran into a guy from England, Steve, who was cycling in the US on a holiday. He is planning to ride to Los Angeles and then to New Zealand for three months. Once over Washington Pass we went downhill for alittle while and then began climbing again to Rainey Pass. Wash. Pass was a three hour climb. Rainey Pass only took maybe an hour or so. It wasn't bad at all. At the top of the pass though the temps dropped to 50 degrees so we stopped and put on more clothes. That's why we carry all this weight! We had a great downhill of about 20 miles or so. But of course we had a headwind so we ended up pedaling downhill. I hate it when that happens. We stopped alot to take pictures. There were two beautiful lakes, Ross and Diablo that I hope my pictures come out. The water was a wonderful shade of green. There was quite a bit of swirling wind which made the downhill scary in some sections. We had planned to ride to Newhalen because we thought there was a campground with showers. We were disappointed to find that although it was a nice campground there were no showers (again!). We set up camp just as Steve arrived. We decided to share our campsite with him. It was a nice to be able to talk with another cyclist. Our dinner was our "emergency ration". It was vegetable soup, a can of tuna, and pineapple. So now we really need to get to a store.
This morning we got up to some misting rain. Welcome to the northwest. We packed up and rode 10 miles to Marblemount for breakfast. It looked like all the town was closing down. Things were either for sale or already sold and closed. We found a place a few miles outside of town, Clarks Inn for a great breakfast. Steve stopped and ate with us also. Most of today we spent riding downhill toward the coast still on Rt 20. We ran into a pretty hard rainstorm so stopped to put on our rain covers and gear. The temps weren't cold so it wasn't too bad. We stopped in Concrete to find a motel to stay in. After two nights without and shower and needing to do laundry, I decided to make an executive decision (after consulting with my captain.....) and we are staying at the Cascade Mountain Lodge. It is a really nice hotel. They let us do a load of laundry in their machines so we didn't have to ride back into town. We walked next door to the grocery and got some more supplies. For dinner we had lasagna from a pizza shop next door. Hap cleaned up the bike and I wrote this blog. Now I'm going to a nice clean, dry bed. And I may take another shower just for good measure! Tomorrow we plan to ride to Anacortes, WA and the Pacific Ocean!
Until next time!
1 comment:
Diane,
I had no idea that it was Corbett who loaned you the kayaks! She is a good friend (and massage client) of mine. Glad your back feels better.
Happy trails!
Juliet
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