Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Day 64 - Mazama to Marblemount


































Miles for the day: 74
Total miles to date: 3278

As promised Hil and I showed up for breakfast to find the table set and Dennis and Tom cooking french toast over the fire. We spent a fantastic hour together enjoying the food and conversation. After we packed up our bags we took off to conquer Mt. Washington.

I learned quickly why these mountains are called the Cascades. Everywhere you looked water slid down the mountain side in a picturesque fashion. We climbed the mountain from 8:00 and by 11:30 we finally reached the summit. Hilary is as tough as nails and I was floored by her endurance having not had much training on the bike prior to our trip. As we approached the top a motorcycle rider pulled over and took a photo of us and said, "You two are pretty brave!" I felt overwhelmed with emotions as I looked back on the road Hilary and I had accomplished and at the amazing scenery and realizing what we had just accomplished. After we scavenged some water from people pulled over for photo opportunities and a quick lunch we began to descend the 50 mile mountain. In less than 20 minutes we had traveled 10 miles...and then the rain began. Luckily we had warmer temperatures or it would have made for a miserable descent. It was a serious down pour, we even got pelted by some hail. In the duration of the 50 miles we put on our rain gear and removed our rain gear at least 3 times.
We finally reached a town to fill up on some snacks, moments after pushing off the rain started again. As luck would have it were biking next to the tallest metal electric towers I have ridden next to on my entire trip. Oh yeah, by the way, we were also in a lighting storm. I would say it was a wee bit scary. With some tail winds and a slight down hill advantage we busted out the 15 mile stretch and beat the heart of the storm. We found our oasis in the shape of a restaurant carrying a wide variety of beer and some friendly faces. We treated ourselves to a dinner out instead of cooking in the rain. Opting out of camping my good friend, Holly from Ski For Light, sponsored our evening in a cabin rental. Hilary and I were extremely grateful for the refuge and a good night sleep after a tough 74 mile day!
After laundry and other miscellaneous tasks Hilary and I went down hard for a luxurious night of sleep.

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