Friends!

I last left off at parting ways with Grant! It was such a wonderful, albeit brief, time biking with him and I hope our paths cross again at some point! After Twisp, I head over 3 mountain passes in 3 days. The first one was Loup Loup, which led me into Tonasket where I set up camp behind their visitor information building. 

There was a sign on the lawn warning campers that the sprinkler system would come on at 9am. I figured I had plenty of time to pack up and get out of there by then. Oh boy! Was I wrong!! Instead of turning on at 9, like the sign said, I was suddenly awake at 4am with the loud pellets of sprinkler water pounding against my tent. They turned off after about 20 minutes. And then on again at 5! Not the best night of sleep (a man also walked by my tent around 1:30 mumbling something about trying to find a place to sit where there was no smoke), but I still got up on schedule to head over the second mountain pass- Wauconda. This one was super pleasant and the weather was really nice as I pedaled up to the old mining town. 

I rolled into Republic around 3 or 4, anticipating getting a snack and then heading over to my warm showers host’s home. However, sitting outside of the local food co op I started chatting with another biker who had passed me on the way up Loup Loup two days ago. Him and two of his buddies are biking the northern tier as a group and one of their sister’s is driving a support van so that they can crush it all the way across the country. Dave, the gentleman that I was talking to, is from Keene, New Hampshire, just a hop, skip, and a jump from where I’ve spent many many summers and from the mountains I learned to ski on. What a small world!

I told him the macaroons inside were incredible and then hopped back on my bike to head over to my host for the night. Patty and Rob had informed me that there were two other ladies staying with them and when I rocked up these two chicks were so excited to meet me (as was I!). Alex and June are two UConn med students biking across the country and raising money for a local organization that provides free summer camp activities to kids with serious illnesses. Students from their school have been doing this for over a decade and it seems like it’s a really great tradition! They have notes on where to stay and what alternate routes to take from previous groups, which is gold! 

After a night of delicious food, a soak in the hot tub and a long sit in their marvelous massage chair, we all went to bed for a long day going over Sherman Pass the next day. We hoofed it on up and had a yummy lunch just over the top. We spent the night at Kettle Falls on the Columbia River. I’d originally planned to stay at a bike hostel maybe 10 or 15 miles farther down the road, but I was pretty beat and decided that I would stay with my new friends for the night and continue riding with them. Our campsite neighbors offered to cook us food and give us showers in their RV. Miriam and Karen are two sisters that seem to have led incredible lives. We chatted with them and their husbands over a delicious dinner of pasta, homemade bread, veggies, and salad. They told us about their families and all the adventures they’ve been on and the ones they hope to go on in the future. 

They told us they’d give us some cookies too once they were finished baking, but I fell fast asleep long before then. I went into my tent to blow up my pad and rest a little, but passed out underneath my pad instead of on top of it! In the morning Miriam was walking to the bathrooms to blow dry her hair and told us that she’d hungry back to the RV to whip us up some pack lunches for the road! What an incredible woman- she handed each of us ziplock baggies with beans, cheese, and tortillas for wraps and chips and snack bars for munching on!

We rolled out of Kettle Falls to head into Colville to check out their bike shop and do some restocking at Walmart. The bike shop was entirely unhelpful- Alex has been experiencing a lot of hand pain and was hoping to get a higher stem put on her frame so that she could relieve some of the pressure. But they didn’t really have anything for us. We went on over to the Walmart where I got a pair of hot pink shorts that cover more of my legs so I won’t get so sunburnt. We continued on and I decided to spend the night at Leo Lake, just before Tiger and Ione. My gal pals continued on to Ione so that the following day wouldn’t be so long for them. I wa planning on taking a rest day at Leo Lake instead of continuing on with them, but hopefully be able to catch up once in Sandpoint, ID. 

There were no sites when I got there, but a very kind couple allowed me to set up my tent on the outskirts of their site because they were staying in their camper. They also let me store all my “smellies” in their vehicle because there were no bear boxes or suitable tree limbs for a bear hang. I slept like a rock that night and was somewhat looking forward to my rest day on the lake.