It was cold when we left the motel around 7:30 am.  As we were riding along the bike path, two river otters skittered across the train in front of us.  As we were leaving  Selah,  Paul got a flat on his front tire.  After a quick change we were again on our way headed towards Ellensburg via the Ellensburg Canyon Road.  Not a lot of traffic, but several long up hills with some wonderful descents.  Lunch was at Subway on the north side of Ellensburg.  We were back on Highway 97 that would be our road for the next 2 days.  Sixteen miles northwest of Ellensburg we began the long climb up Blewett Pass.  We were planning on camping at one of  the  two Forest Service Campground on the south side of the summit.  However, the campgrounds were closed and we were forced to continue up the pass, over the summit and down the north side some 20 additional miles to Blue Shastin RV park. Traffic was quite heavy going up the pass as it was a Friday afternoon and the weather was warm. We set up camp, showered, ate dinner and went to bed early.  We were about a 1/3 of a day ahead due to riding over the pass today instead of tomorrow.  Wind picked up in the evening along with some clouds rolling in.

Day 10  Blue Shastin to Alta Lake State Park.

Up early to eat, break camp and get on the road.  As we were loading up it began to sprinkle.  As we exited the campground the rain picked up so we stopped and put on our rain gear and then we started down the road towards the junction.  Paul took off followed by John and Glenn with Bill and Tom bringing up the rear about ¼ mile behind.  About 2 miles from the junction of Hwy 2 and 97 a vehicle swerved to it right and sideswiped John’s bike hitting the mirror before he weaved back into his lane.  John was doing 25 mph about 2-3 feet right of the fog line. The only damage from the event was nerves as John managed to keep the bicycle upright and continue down the road.  At the Junction of Hwy 2 and 97 the group rejoined and John Called 911 to report the incident.  To make a long story short, the rest of the morning was dealing with State Patrol, filling out accident reports and getting pictures taken for use in court.  The State Patrol arrested the fellow and booked him into jail for DWI, Driving with a suspended license and hit-run.  (Note:  He was later convicted on all three counts as John went to Wenatchee to testify at his trial).  He blew a .189 half an hour after his encounter with John and .169 an hour an half after the event.  The rest of the say was spent riding up the east side of the Columbia River with a wonderful tail wind pushing us along at 20-25 mph.  At Pateros we turned away from the Columbia and climbed 1 mile at 11% to Alta Lake State Park.   As we were eating dinner two bald eagles soared over the lake. 

Woke up to below freezing temperatures.  Almost as soon as we turned on to the highway the road began to go up at 2-3% for the first 5 miles, then it promptly increased to 5-7 % for the next 7 miles.  Then the grade increased to 7-9% for 4.5 miles where we encountered the switchback and the grade jumped to 10-11 % for 1.5 miles.  A quater mile or so from the summit the grade decreased to 5-7 % giveing us the impression of being much flatter.  The top of  Washington Pass has an elevation of 5477 feet.  Because Glenn is a faster climber, he decided to stay behind in Mazama and left about 1 hour after us.  Paul reached the summit first, waited a bit for the rest of us and then proceeded on to Rainy Pass about 5 miles up the road.  Bill was the second to reach the summit and waited for John who arrived shortly after Bill about 10:15 am.  The two waited at the top of Washington Pass for Glenn who arrived about 11 am.  We took the customary summit picture and then proceeded on towards Rainy Pass and Paul.  Upon leaving the summit, there is a great downhill of 3.5 miles at 6-7 % where John registered 43 mph.  A short climb up to the top of Rainy Pass where we found Paul waiting for us.  After a quick lunch at the campground we began a wonderful decent down to Rockport.  Two hours later we were 40+ miles further down the road.  We regrouped in Newhalem stopping for a qick snack before we continued on to the County Park  in Rockport  on the Skagit River.  Several of us had dinner at the tavern across the street and watched part of a football game.  Our campsite was adjacent to the river and smelled of rotting salmon. The salmon were running and we could hear them jumping all night.

Distance:  84.87 Miles

Climb       4510  feet

Descent    6327  feet

Ride Time:  7 hours 18 min

Average Speed  11.6 mph

Max Speed:  43 mph