We woke to the odd clatter and skate noise of two cross country skiers heading out on summer road practice on a cross between wheeled skis and in line skates.
Breakfast was excellent again; the Chewutch Inn is a lovely place to stay. Lynne was particularly taken with the homemade apricot preserve.
Leaving was disrupted as several departing cars were haltewd watching a deer in the garden which was enjoying low hanging fruit from the trees, standing up on it's hind legs to get more than just wind falls.
Into Winthrop town for a sandwich for lunch and head West out of town immediately climbing before passing through a wide flat green valley.
The roads were heavily tree lined and we burst through massive unburned wide forest view. So many places we have driven have had large expanses of burn oout somewhere in the view but here miles of healthy mature firs fill the landscape up to the now visible tree line, High jagged peaks began to appear above trees.
Here we go again, I owe a "Sun apology" as I was unfarely dismissive of the area in recent posts.
The climb continues through levels and on long switchbacks before a final climb to Washington Pass and Washington Overlook – amazing views with the peaks of Liberty Bell.
Small world reminder as we chat with a Warrington couple who have lived in British Columbia for 14 years but still retain their accent.
We carried on and across Rainy Pass where we halted and took a walk to Rainy Lake (hard standing) 25min each way. There are a huge variety of fir trees as we pass though northern USA, we hadn't appreciated just how many there are from the Lodge Pole pines of Yellowstone to Hemlock which bend under the snow and stand up again in spring. One of the cut trees has a soft fibrous core which falls away leaving massive hollow pipes.
After Rainy pass we were on the way down again through steep valleys thick with trees and losing altitude rapidly. It was getting late fro our sandwich and we managed to miss picnic stops at Diablo Lake (seen from above, logjams, canoes, green water).
W eventually stopped by an overlook of an unidentified dam about 2:30 and snacked on back of car under hatch lid, now high 80’s F.
Our route continued down, flattening out into familiar colours and vegetation from the UK. Now only ?? miles from the Pacific, the air is moist leading to a thin fog or haze in air when looking to the mountains which are now merely faint outlines. The sky is no longer the stunning clear blue of Montana but a hazy pale blue.
Only 50 miles of fuel left so into the first gas station. Suddenly aware that we now have to be aware that the end of our trip approaches. The car rental is return empty, a devious way of getting free fuel off us punters, and a quick calculation suggests we only have another 350 miles, well short of a tank full. Averaging about 26mpg but expect better out of the mountains so put 10 gals in.
Petrol has averaged around $2.50 per US liquid Gallon; or about £0.66 per litre.
Found hotel ok and after unpacking spent 10 mins in the pool then after a shower headed to a Chinese restaurant across the car park after much discussion over where and what to eat.
Even though we are now North of Seattle and in a modern hotel, the internet speed is again really slow and it is late and I'm several days behind with the blog which is disheartening. The schedule we give oursleves on these roadtrips is very demanding though also rewarding but it leaves little leeway for downtime.
Today's route:
Statistics: Miles today: 141; Miles so far: 2865; Fuel added so far: 106.7 US gals; States: Washington ; Time Zone: Pacific (UK -8)
No comments:
Post a Comment
We love your comments as it shows someone out there is reading it.
All comments are moderated so you won't see it immediatly.
Thank you for stopping by, Lynne & Ged