| Initially I was blind sided by Alpine daisies and Digitalis | | | | watch the road, too. Bicycling is a springtime fancy that |
| (foxglove) passing themselves off as wildflowers, | | | | brings hoards of them into the mountains. They do |
| much less the other fabulous scenery on the North | | | | what they do for more than exercise and health. |
| Cascades Highway, and then they showed up again. I | | | | Funding good causes comes into play.Covered with |
| turned the tables on them though and made a pass. I | | | | Douglas fir, many of the surrounding peaks, such as |
| don't commonly make passes at bikers, but in this | | | | Liberty Bell Mountain, Ruby Mountain, and Early Winters |
| case, it was a must. I went around them. Bikers. The | | | | Spires tower in the high 7,000 elevation range. My first |
| non-motorized kind.I hit the brake often for resting | | | | time in northwestern Washington and writings stating |
| bicyclers and continued searching, as I drove, for the | | | | European images came to light. It is truly awesome. |
| perfect shot of wildflowers. My "kill two birds with one | | | | Bicyclists benefit from unobstructed views and find |
| stone" mentality needed Ross Lake as a backdrop.I | | | | safety quickly even from wild drivers like myself.The |
| ducked out of traffic last spring when I got off the | | | | humid side of Washington was about to end when Dry |
| ferry and dipped onto South Chuckanut Drive. For | | | | Falls appeared. The eastern leg of northern |
| approximately twenty-five miles I was in another world | | | | Washington is dry, flat, agricultural land stirred up by |
| with narrow, winding roads under a canopy of trees | | | | high winds that creates "dust devils". They are |
| and there I wanted to stay. I passed under Highway 5 | | | | ultra-mini tornadoes that whip the land into some sort |
| near exit 231, hung a right onto Burlington Boulevard | | | | of shape. The foreboding look of three or more can |
| and left on Avon Avenue (Highway 20), headed east, | | | | be seen at any given time throwing a fit on the horizon |
| back to Colorado. No traffic, feeling a bit lost even with | | | | blending yellow, brown dust with cerulean blue |
| a map, another sixty miles and I slowed down even | | | | sky.According to Washington State Parks, Dry Falls is |
| more. I was in the Cascades.My mind filled with a flash | | | | one of North America's geological wonders. Dry Falls is |
| of Concretia from the Flintstones movie along the way, | | | | a cliff over three miles long and 400 foot high and was |
| when I passed through the town of Concrete. There is | | | | once ten times larger than Niagara. The Colombia |
| not much to it but history, folklore and a garish cement | | | | River used to rush through here.On one free-fall, in |
| stack with bold lettering no one can miss. Concrete sits | | | | neutral down a steep, winding grade on the North |
| below Baker Dam and the base of Lake Shannon. | | | | Cascades Highway, there they were. And again, when |
| The bikers were beginning to add up as I passed more | | | | I rounded a corner at Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park, |
| and drove another twenty-six miles, through | | | | and once again before I crossed into Idaho. Still headed |
| Marblemount, climbing, climbing. Gorge Dam and its long, | | | | eastbound on Highway 20 just leaving Coulee City |
| narrow Gorge Lake, then Diablo Dam created more | | | | headed to Spokane, on the flat, dry plains, faces of the |
| than fifty-years ago, and Diablo Lake, and further on | | | | bikers were becoming recognizable. I filled up every |
| and above, Ross Lake, all a sparkle of deep blue.A | | | | two hundred miles or so from Washington to Colorado |
| labor of love goes into building our roadways so | | | | and began to think my speedometer was broken |
| travelers like me can see the grandeur of our country. | | | | because the same bikers were everywhere I was. |
| North Cascades Highway was completed in1972 after | | | | Were they following me? My curiosity was piqued, |
| twelve years. Down one particularly steep grade | | | | because I just couldn't shake them all the way through |
| around a switchback the view of Ross Lake takes | | | | Washington.I began to hallucinate seeing bikers in |
| your breath away. It spans into Canada for a mile and | | | | Montana, thinking, they were still following me. So, here |
| a half. Access is only available on the U.S. side.Six | | | | it was ten o'clock at night, I pulled off at a state |
| passes on and around this route reach elevations | | | | campground, plopped ten dollars in an envelope, |
| between 4,000 to 5,500 feet. Sherman Pass is the | | | | pitched my tent, and dreamed of bikers.This link covers |
| highest, followed by North Cascade, Loup Loup, | | | | a bike tour that lasted 71 days and 4,224 miles starting |
| Wauconda, Rainy, and Washington. Passes are | | | | at Anacortes, Washington and ending in Bar Harbor, |
| monitored for weather changes, but expect Loup Loup | | | | Maine. |
| Pass to remain open year round. Like Ross Lake, Loup | | | | account of one of the bikers who took the |
| Loup Pass goes into Canada. From Marblemount to | | | | Washington route. |
| the end of the Cascades on this highway fifty-six | | | | in biking across the entire United States contact: |
| more miles awaited as I continued to dodge bikers.I | | | | |
| recommend springtime travel, more tourists and | | | | State only: |
| travelers flock here in the summer. Mid-April through | | | | |
| late June is the time to reduce distractions, catch | | | | to Mt. St. Helens? |
| craggy peaks, and glimpses of passing wildflowers, but | | | | |