Elk Pass. Oh no you won't

Day 10  Cascade Rocks, WA

So.  This is an interesting story.  One of those that can only happen when you put yourself out there and hope for the best.

We finished our bad day yesterday at an RV campground between Packwood and Randle, WA.  We both slept well although I was awoken by the loud hoarse bleating of some kind of deer that hangs around the campground.  We did our usual camp breakfast of oatmeal, green tea or coffee and Jim has some rice pudding cup he favors.  We were off by 7:30.  We had at least one and perhaps two major climbs ahead of us so we stopped at the One Stop in Randle.  We talked to someone in the parking lot and the very friendly attendant in the store where we should get 'second breakfast'.  This is the idea that if you ride for a while and you have a big day ahead, more breakfast is good.  

Both fellows recommended the Mount Adams Cafe.  Walt, the attendant said to tell Will the cook that he sent us.  So we did.

We had a very nice breakfast and very good service, I must say.  We each took our turns in the restroom after we finished and as Jim was doing his thing, one of the locals sitting at the counter next to us asked where we were headed.  Over Elk Pass I said.  Oh no your not said the three in unison.  Why not I said.  Because the road is closed on account of 3 feet of snow they said.  Oh really I said.  So how can we get where we are going?  By then Jim had joined us for the news flash.  We spent a half hour or so studying maps with the guys and determined our only option was to continue west on US 12 to the I-5 corridor and take the side roads down to the Columbia River and then west to where we want to be.  It would add a 70 mile detour to our route but it is do-able.  The route is flatter, though not flat, than the one we had planned.  We should be able to make better time and find a place to stay for the night.  

Off we go, in the direction we did not anticipate.  There was one quite big climb, perhaps 3 or 4 miles, but not too bad compared to White Pass. 

We had planned to get to a town, Toledo, about 50 miles down the road.  We looked to see what accommodations there were there and found none listed on Jim's Garmin GPS device.  We got to another town and noticed their library with WiFi and stopped in to inquire about lodging or camping up the road.  We finally, after a lot of searching and questioning, found an RV campground about 20 miles further than we had intended to go.  It is an upscale one, in contrast to where we were last night and it has WiFi available at every campsite.  Whew!

One of the troublesome questions we have had is how we negotiate the I-5 corridor, without going on I-5.  So, fortuitous event number two for the day, we ran into a cyclist at the library who had just completed the route we were thinking we needed to follow, in the opposite direction.  She had her cue sheet of directions and was done with it and would be happy to give it to us.  So we had a plan.

We rode like crazy to get here.  Stopped along the way to take a picture of Mount Rainier in the distance.  We had not been able to see it yesterday, although we were much closer then.  The ride was great.  Almost all flat and even a tailwind for part of the way.  

We sat down to figure out tomorrow and discovered a much simpler way to get where we are going using a different Adventure Cycling route, they make the maps we are using, which will take us back to our route, which is the Sierra Cascades route.  It should work slick and I will get to ride some of the Lewis and Clark route which will be fun.  The L & C route follows the route they took in 1803-1805 to find a water route to the Pacific.  It is an amazing story and the bike route commemorates it.

So, started at breakfast, before we really knew what our day would be, saying this is going to be a good day.  Turns out it has been, though not the day we expected.