My secret? Indian Blanket.

It seems I’ll be the first to break this story; get hyped.

So we’re staying in Rockport, WA at a campsite just outside the North Cascades National Park. Last night we stayed in a National Forest campsite just outside the opening of the park. And it rained. All night.

So this morning I woke up to the rain, but I was in okay spirits because I worked out in my mind that today was pretty much the last day I seriously had to commit to riding. It was the mountain pass double-whammy. Two passes: Washington and Rainy, 5500 and 4700 respectively. But after the passes were done, we would make it out of the mountains. And I was emotionally over the mountains (no pun intended) five days ago.

So we had breakfast and did our thing in order to get out by 8. During this whole process, I was wearing Indian Blanket (the affectionate term for my giant sweatshirt I got off the Rez in N. Dakota). When it came time to bike, I was just too lazy to take off the Blanket. I didn’t feel like getting cold and didn’t want to climb into the trailer to load it in my bag.

Jessie however got her first flat of the trip in trying to pump her tire and still didn’t know how to change one, so I stayed behind to wait. We were pretty much the last to leave. So we started the climb up Washington. I took off Indian Blanket about 4 miles in, annoyed that I had to tote around the giant sweatshirt in my already cramped camelbak (I’m sorry for this sacrilege, O Honored One). So I’m jonesin’ up this pass and make it to the top, where I decide to take out IB and put it on underneath my windbreaker. So I went down and up this little camel hump to the next pass, 5 miles down the road.

So I’m cold, but I wasn’t as cold as I was on Logan. My extremities felt the same (i.e. no feeling whatsoever), but the difference was my core; my core temperature was not in trouble. So I make it to Rainy Pass where I find 5 bikes on the side of the road and a giant trailer next to it. This woman comes out and says, “Your friends are in here.”

Upon entering the RV, I see Ian, Shawn, Anson, Isaiah, and Bobby huddled and shivering. None of them are wearing more than Under Armour and a rain slicker. Isaiah literally looked like death warmed over, and it’s no wonder: all he was wearing over his jersey was his paper-thin Darthmouth rain slicker. And we joke about Isaiah being a fatty, but he probably has the least amount of insulation on him.

So I stopped for about three minutes and began to continue down the pass to lunch. At this point, I was pretty much in the lead. I had passed most on the climb and others who had stopped due to the cold.

When I reached lunch about 9 miles down Rainy pass, I was met by people I had seen on the top. Apparently some people got rides down to the van so they could warm up before re-ascending the pass to come down. Dan was just about to pull the van out to go back up the pass; I decided to stay with the trailer. So there I stayed with Sharon and Shawn. We climbed in the back of the trailer (on top of everyone’s bags), brought some PB&J, and hunkered down by pulling people’s sleeping bags out. It was raining (it was pretty much a constant drizzle all morning. Shawn seemed fine, Sharon was not in good shape though. I stayed for about 20 min. when Erik pulled up after riding down the pass. The rain had mostly cleared and I had all I needed to keep warm: Indian Blanket.

So down the pass I continued. Everything warmed and the sun even made an appearance. I took my time, hoping people would catch up. The park was beautiful and I took some gorgeous photos of the clouds through the mountains and the famous Diabolo Lake, which is bright aquamarine.

When I got to mile 74 (of an 84-mile day), I stopped for a meal at a diner. No one cam by. Then I stopped for cappucino several miles later. Nadda.

You see, part of my hesitance to go to the campsite was because one person was unaccounted for during my ride: Brendan Newman. I was not about to show up to the campsite with no van or fellow company to share the Brendan Burden.

But, knowing that Anson’s family would be waiting, I decided to buck down and make it in. I also wanted the satisfaction of being one of the first ones there.

Show up I did and what a RECEPTION! Anson’s grandmother Mary Ellen, uncle Billy, cousin Billy and family friend Susan were all there waiting with a fire and snacks. And Brendan was nowhere to be found. Shazaam.

So along with Dae and Reed (who had arrived before me), we chatted and related what had gone on during the day. It wasn’t until about an hour later that the next people began to arrive. Not everyone was in until 8 this evening.

What happened? Well, in between the two passes was a bathroom, where many people fled to get warm. Dan eventually came with the van in which people piled and warmed up before continuing down the pass. This took about 1.5 hours. Then there was a fiasco with the sweeps, Kristen and Maki, who couldn’t be found (they had hitched a ride to the bottom of the pass).

Meanwhile, Sharon went into mild shock from the cold at lunch as soon as she came out of the trailer to pee. Thankfully, we had the people and resources to help her out and she’s fine now. Everyone wound up riding their bikes through the majority of the day (few hitched rides down the pass, absolutely the right thing to do).

Quite an adventure-filled day. But fortunately we were greeted with open arms and much good food from Anson’s family. Big shout-out to Mary Ellen, Anson’s grandmother. I’m so glad you enjoy the blog; it was so nice meeting you and getting to talk to you. (Sidenote: She knew me even before I introduced myself and knew in intimate detail the content from my posts)
And for another chapter in the Brendan debauchery scheme: I taken a carton of Newman’s Own lemonade and scratched out the “Own” and written “AN ASS” and “LAME.” Now it reads: “Newman’s an ass.” And “Newman’s Lame.” Then I did some detail work on Paul Newman’s face (which bears a striking resemblance to Brendan) by adding an eyebrow ring. Who knows if he’ll see it, but I’ll be sure to offer him some lemonade at breakfast tomorrow.

Yay for the last night of camping!