The Northern Tier Bicycle Route which I am navigating along begins in Anacortes, WA which is along the Puget Sound a good 2 hour drive North of Seattle. I took the ferry over to Clinton, WA to shave some miles off the journey to Anacortes and to enjoy the water views before going into the heart of darkness (the inland/midwest).
I stayed in Clinton that night with warm showers hosts Kathleen and Jay since Seattle to Anacortes would have been too many miles for one day. They have an AMAZING place out in the thick jungle like woods of Whidbey Island and a little shack off to the side of their own place for passing cyclists and visitors. I couldn't believe my luck to have such a nice shelter and pair of hosts on my first night. I am now commited to having my own shack someday for passing cyclists and friends to make their travels easier. I should shed light on what warm showers is to people unfamiliar with what it is. It is a web community for touring cyclists to find hosts all across the world to make their travels easier. Hosts can offer their lawn's for camping, guest bedrooms for sleeping, or their shower for a smelly rider. Amazing site and group of people which has already done so much to make my trip amazing. Check it out:
Since my trip is from "coast to coast" the traditional thing most cyclists will do to begin and end their cross-continental trips is to dip their tires into the ocean on each end of the ride. So, here I am dipping my tire into the sound on a boat ramp just outside of Anacortes. I imagine by the time I get to Maine in late October for my tire dipping ceramony I will be ready for a cold swim in the Atlantic ocean. We will have to see if I follow through with my thinking. It will probably happen. While in Anacortes I stayed with warmshowers hosts Art and Lexi who were amazing. Art treated me to an amazing meal of fish and chips before setting off and gave me a great tour of Anacortes. My night in Anacortes was actualy my 24th birthday so I even managed a free beer down at the bar.
Concrete, WA was my first inland stop on my trip and I wasn't looking forward to it all because I was about to sleep in a town called Concrete. I pictured a run down old town with toothless hill billies driving 80's era Ford Broncos around trying to give me a hard time. So, I was relieved when I found out that they had a municipal airport just outside of town. I rode up there hoping to maybe find a friendly face and maybe a place to camp, however I ended up finding a full blown fly-in with tones of awesome planes. I met an amazing group of folks while there and had such a great time that I stayed two days. One particular group took me under their wing while in Concrete to make my trip especially unique. This particular family had salvaged the front half of an old DC-4 Propliner before it could be chopped up for parts in Arizona. They hauled it all the way up to Washington and now have it sitting outside their hangar waiting to fix it up and make it into a unique "guest house." The cabin has some old crew bunks in back just aft of the cockpit so it will serve that purpose well once complete. So, instead of having to pitch a tent at the airport for the two days I stayed at the airport, they allowed me to sleep in the aircraft's crew bunks. It was amazing and I felt honored to be allowed to sleep in it. It was comfortable, safe, and I smelled like a unique cross between antique furniture and hydraulic fluid each morning after sleeping in it all night. In addition to getting to sleep in a relic like the DC-4, I also made it up on a couple of flights to see the area. Flew around the base of Mt. Baker and along the valley of the Skagit River. It is hard to put into words how great my two days in Concrete were. Thank you so much Steve, Preston, Monte, and Jackie. You guys spoiled me.
In the days that followed Concrete, I got my first taste of just how hard it can be to be trying to make it out on the road. I camped 3 consecutive days after leaving the DC-4's comfortable bunks. Twice out in the woods, and once behind a visitor center in Tonasket, WA. Camping behing the visitor center was actually really nice. The security of sleeping in town versus out in the Bush is welcomed. I wouldn't even listen to my I-Pod while in the tent out in the woods since I wanted to be able to hear whatever critters or things might be coming up at me throught the brush. I didn't have access to showers during this 3 day spree so I must have looked like a dirty hippie walking around town in Tonasket by day 3. I was crossing passes 4000 Feet and higher in the Sierra Cascades during this time on days that were well into the 90 degree temperature range. I recall climbing Rainey and Washington passes from an initial elevation of 1200Ft to a crest of 5400Ft on July 26th with temperatures greater than 100 degrees showing on my computer. I would stop at the natural springs along the highway and get myself completely drentched in this super cold glacial run-off only to be completely dry again 20 minutes later uphill.
The climbing sucked and I am happy to be done with most of the bad stuff. I topped out in Washington at 5575 at Sherman Pass and that is the highest elevation I will see while on my trip. In Montana the highest I will go is just above 4000Ft since I am riding an alternative route around Glacier National Park. I will admitt that it is an amazing feeling going down the backsides of these mountains with the wind in your face and not having to touch the pedals for upwards of 30 minutes. I got the bike up to 43 MPH flying down the backside of one mountain and that is scarey if you consider the handling of my loaded bike. It is very sluggish, like a wet sponge, with the gear being mounted high on the bike, and despite my efforts I can't always get even weight distribution in my panniers/saddlebags which is especially bad for handling.
7 days after setting out from Anacortes I crossed into Idaho on July 30th after a long 92 mile ride to push myself out of the tinderbox of Eastern and Central Washington. I went to the nearest city park I could find (which involved backtracking into Newport, Washington to get to) and took a nap in the grass. A guy walking his dog struck up a conversation with me and he ended up letting me sleep on his coach. He had a black lab named Brutus which weighted 140 pounds, (I only weight 130), he smelled of smoke and alcohol, walked with a cane, and seemed "unique". I was tired as hell from riding all day and didn't want to deal with finding somewhere to camp so I took him up on his offer. His name was Joe and he deffinitley wasn't all there in the head but he was nice enough. It did end up raining that night so it saved me an uncomfortable night and morning.
I am now hanging out in Sandpoint, Idaho with Paula, a warmshowers host, and spending some extra time here to relax and take in an amazing town, the best I've come across so far. We rode bikes up to Schweitzer Ski Hill today to check out some live music and took the chair lift to the top of the moutain. Got an amazing panoramic of the valleys and mountains of Idaho and Montana I will be riding into when I depart on Tuesday bound for Missoula. Check back in a couple days and I should be able post something from Missoula and more about Sandpoint.
