Day 1: Winthrop to Disautel

~5000ft climbing
59.5 miles
5:56 time

Today was a challenging first day for our tour. We left Winthrop a bit late (11:30a?) with Larry's friend Chris headed into Twisp for a required stop at Cinnamon Twisp. We quickly started up Loup Loup Pass for the first climb of our journey. Very low traffic on this section of SR20, and the climb went quickly. There is a creek that runs just off of the road for most of the climb, so water was in easy supply. At the top Chris headed back to Winthrop, and we had an amazing descent that took us most of the way into Okanogan. I think that this was even better than the descent off of Washington Pass that we made two years ago. Larry had a flat halfway down that was caused by a Mr Tuffy tire liner.

Stopped for food in Omak (by now it was 5pm) at a decent natural food store. Nice to have some sweet, organic apples. Palak Paneer and rice cakes for dinner.

Out of Omak we headed up to Disautel pass. Parts are much steeper then Loup Loup, and it became obvious that we wouldn't make it to Coyote Creek Campground before dark. Our hope was to find something in Disuatel Town, but it turned out to be a tiny village. We went up the road a bit and dirt bagged it in the woods along the road.

The scenery here is great. It alters between forest and desert scrubland, all of which is beautiful. Water has been a problem though -- streams are far and few between. I'm glad that I brought extra water bottles. Traffic is not a problem though, and the ride has been nicely quiet. Roads are good too.

So another trip began with wonderful cycling and picking routes that were just slightly too long... Tonight we should be able to make Gifford.