Pend D'Oreille, WA

Oh my gosh… Today was quite a day. It started off with Parker needing to change both of his tires. Everyone left around 8:15, except Parker, Dad, and Biddle (who were changing Parker’s tires). We figured they would catch up with us in no time. After having had a nice paceline going for about eight miles, we realized that we had forgotten to turn off of route twenty onto Old Kettle Farm Road. Having climbed about a mile, not really wanting to turn back, and knowing that the two roads came back together halfway up the pass we were climbing, the group pushed on up the mountain on route twenty. Fifteen miles later, we were almost to the top of Sherman Pass and there was still no sight of Parker, Biddle, or my dad. They had taken the correct route that turned, surprisingly, into a dirt road. After separating from them, my dad continued to take the correct route that lead him back to route twenty. However, Parker and Biddle made their way through a single-track trail including fallen trees and bushwhacking. As my dad said, “it was a great mountain bike trail!”

Insert from Parker:
Just to start off, this day was epic. Let’s start at the beginning. We began our day going on the normal road we were supposed to be on. Suddenly, the road turned into gravel, but we knew that the road was supposed to change over. We continued to follow the map until we took a left onto a dirt path. This road had been created in the depths of hell, but then the Devil had even thought that it would be too cruel for humans to traverse so he decided to put it on a remote mountain in the middle of nowhere in Washington State that we later saw had been cordoned off from the public by barb wire and signs that said “No Trespassing”. Anyways, Biddle and I rode it out to the top of the 9% grade mountain, and then missed a simple turn that would have spat us three miles from the top of Sherman Pass. But we decided to keep going through the overgrown dirt road, climbing over fallen trees, jumping over barbed wire fences, and just destroying our bikes in general. Then the path stopped, just like that. After bushwhacking to get to the road for a while, we realized our efforts were futile. And then the thunder started. Too worried about the rain to go hunting for the trail, we turned around, and biked down the mountain. This turned us out just where we had started an hour earlier. So we then had to bike the extra 10 miles up to the top of the pass, and then through the rain to get down to Colville.

Insert from Ellie:
So as you can see, Parker and Dad had quite an adventure. But we did too! When Ellen and I were almost to the top of Sherman Pass, it began to hail. At first it was sparse and the hail was small, but it quickly grew into a fully-fledged hailstorm, with cranberry-sized rocks of ice pelting our bare skin. Ellen and I dove into the woods, trying to find cover under the trees. The problem is, due to a forest fire not too long ago; most of the trees didn’t have any leaves. So there we were, huddled under the bare limbs of a very large tree, snuggling together for warmth. After about ten minutes of waiting for the storm to stop, Ellen and I decided to sprint it up to the top. We went SO HARD (I was exhausted by the time we got to the pass) for about a mile, and then pulled into the parking lot, stashed our bikes, and dove into the back of the Tahoe that’s pulling our van. There we found the rest of our group (except Parker, Dad, and Mark, but you know about that). All seven of us squished into the back of the car, shut the doors, and waited out the storm. Luckily we had food and towels, so we were warm and well fed. After an hour of storming, the hail died down and it was only raining. The hail had lowered the temperature outside to about 40 degrees, so we all bundled up in all of the layers we could find and made our way down the mountain. This was one of the most miserable experiences of my life. We were all freezing, the road was cold and icy, and my whole body ached with cold.
After a while, it warmed up and we began to shed layers. We then made our way to lunch, where we finally found Dad and Parker, and then finished up the day with 25 miles into camp. I can tell you, we were all very grateful for a warm meal and a comfy bed at the end of that long, cold day.





Excuse us for getting these lasts post up so late, but we had been out in the Boonies of Washington and haven’t had access to the internet for a few days. We’re not sure how much internet we will have in the future, but we will keep trying to get it up as often as possible!

Posted by Ellen