Day 6

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DAY 6:




After leaving the log cabin we gassed up & continued on the Cascade Loop which a spectacular sealed road climbing to 1800m before dropping back down to Twisp. on this part of the ride we experienced cold rain at the top and as we descended the warmer temperatures - the spectacular scenery & great road made up for the patches of cold. Traditional brunch of biscuits & gravy, coffee & very friendly service in Twisp saw us fed & watered & shortly onto the start of the Washington Back Country Adventure Trail. This is a fantastic track which we had downloaded the GPX files for before leaving NZ. The trail wound up up & up with a variety of surfaces, some sandy some hard some rocky & in some parts with branches across the tracks that we managed to headbutt our way through. -so that's what helmets are for. We were in among the blackened trees from last year's forest fires. We all arrived at the top hot and sweaty & peeled off a few layers including waterproof liners which later proved to be a mistake. Descending on this fantastic trail with spectacular views, some challenging riding & hardly an opportunity to catch our breath, we arrived in the average sized town of Chelan after around 75kms.

Circling the lake we then joined the next part of the trail. Again climbing through burnt forest we climbed again to around 1800m. Heavy rain followed by hail kept us on our toes as we then descended towards our destination of Cashmore. 20 miles out and back on seal we encountered a severe thunderstorm with lightening & torrential rain.(waterproof liners neatly stowed in our gear) Cutting the day short (by now 6.30pm) we splashed into the tourist town of Leavenworth checking (dripping) into the first motel we saw. Walking into town after a hot shower we found a busy Bavarian replica town full of tourists. Every building was a Bavarian replica & the German restaurant we had a meal in even had the staff in National Costume with a Leiderhausen clad piano accordionist entertaining (deafening) the guests. A walk around the town after dinner emphasised the interesting or stultifying atmosphere, depending on your viewpoint. Back to the motel to dry out all our gear.

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Comments

[Vicki]

the hills come alive with the sounds of motorbikes
All sounds interesting so far and great photos. Enjoying reading the blogs so keep them coming. Travel safely x

[Richard]

Your trip so far
Sounds like fun as usual.