Day 89, August 17^th, Lone Fir Campground (on the Washington Pass) to Newhalem, WA.  We broke camp about 6am, I ate some Pop Tarts, and we headed up the road toward Washington Pass.  The morning was still and cool and as we rode up the hill the view of the big mountains was absolutely stunning.  We stopped a lot for pictures which made the ride a series of short stretches and not hard.  There was a sharp switch back at about 5 miles which had a steeper grade but short.  After another mile we made the summit of Washington Pass at 5,477 feet.  We had about a 4 mile steep downhill and then a short easy up to Rainy Pass at 4,855 feet.  Two passes in one day!  After Rainy Pass, it was downhill for almost 24 miles.  The vistas just kept coming and after a while I stopped trying to take pictures.  There were many peaks with snow or mini-glaciers all at about 10,000 feet.  We ended at the beginning of the Skagit River valley which was damed in the early 1900s to provide electricity to Seattle.  We crossed the lake and rode down a the very narrow river gorge to the town of Newhalem.  The gorge had no water at this time of year because all water is diverted to a pipe to feed the Generating Station in Newhalem.  Newhalem was created along with the town of Diablo as worker camps and then evolved into company towns that continue today for Seattle City Lights workers in the area.  We were starving when we got to Newhalem and got some lunch at the Company Store.  It was already 2:30 and like the rest of the USA, the Northwest is experiencing heat.  It was supposed to be in the 70s but was probably close to 95.  Although I wanted to push on and get to the finish earlier, the heat and the wind in my face convinced me to stay with Tom and Paula.  We found another National Park Service campground and settled in.  Paula had purchased a couple of beers and that made the campground option sooooo much better.  Tom and I went to the Skagit River which was running very fast and washed off the sweat.  We hung out for an hour or two and it was time for sleep.  Mileage for the day was 51.11.

Diablo Lake and Dam