Down hill fast (it's a good thing)

Day 6 Ellensburg, WA

Days like this are the ones that keep me coming back to this crazy passion.  It was not an easy day but it was filled with remarkable riding experiences.

We started with breakfast at the Big Y Cafe next door to the Wedge Mountain Inn.  Jim has convinced me that his favorite breakfast on the road is a really good one.  That is, french toast, one egg and bacon.  Good balance of carbs, fat and protein.  Self supported touring is great if you love to eat because you can just about eat whatever and as much as you want.  You need it to be high quality food though, not junk.  So we ordered the same breakfast but had to get an extra order of french toast because the menu item had just two small slices.  

So we were off to a good start to get us part way up the long, long climb to Blewett Pass.  This was 22 miles long and was all climbing.  On most of these long mountain climbs there are some areas of downhill, which is a mixed blessing because you do have to climb that much again to get over the top, but it does give the legs a break.  On this climb there was no break.  It was all up.  Most of it was very manageable but there were a couple of stretches where it was 8-9%, the most difficult being, of course, right at the top after we had been climbing for 3 hours.  

Along the climb we were treated to some of the most beautiful mountains, rushing creeks (big and full of glacial water with its characteristic clear green color), huge pines, massive rocks, and a meditating hawk up on a branch.  Hawks are good luck I hear.

At the top we got a picture together with the 'Blewett Pass, elevation 4102 ft' sign.  We had climbed 22 miles and 3000 ft in 3 hours.  The downhill was a good experience, the top being fairly steep and then levelling out a bit as we descended.  All that went by a little too fast to describe but the scenery did not seem as spectacular as the climb.  The whole descent was about 14 miles.  We stopped in the midst of it to have a meatloaf sandwich lunch.  Then we continued the descent to the bottom of 3 mile climb which was leading us to our destination in Ellensburg.  On the climb we could see the huge snow covered dome of a distant mountain, probably Mount Rainier.

As we crested the climb we turned slightly and started down another long descent, this time with a wicked wind AT OUR BACKS!  Can you believe it?  We couldn't.  This descent was also 14 miles in to Ellensburg. It was great fun riding that far and hardly needing to pedal. 

Ellensburg is the home of Central Washington University and is the county seat of Kittitas County.  We have found a wonderful little Italian restaurant already.  This is our planned day off so we will be here Sunday and Monday and rest the legs.  

Hope the tailwinds decide to stick around a couple of days.