Thursday, May 27 It's rained a little on me every day, but not like today. Wauconda Pass, though higher and greater elevation gain from the start point, was much easier than Loup Loup. Hwy 20 runs along a lush creek bed much of the way to the pass. The wild roses reminded my of home. I pulled over and lunched at a waterfall, eating goat cheese on tamari crackers, and almond butter and homemade jam (thanks Ronco and David) on sprouted bread, with hot tea from the thermos and fudge brownies I made before I left. This biking thing is alright! Oddly, there are large, expensive houses at the 4310 foot crest. Winter comes early, stays late, and snows a lot here. The downhill ride to Republic featured driving rain and headwinds, but the food coop had warm advice, the Internet cafe is $1 per hour, and I met my first long distance biker, 19 yo Joseph from Seattle, who is biking home from Richmond, Virginia. He saw me down the block and yelled, "hey, biker!" Why, I've been called a lot of things in my life, but never that. I planned to camp out at the fairgrounds, but he arranged for a bargain priced, lovely B&B a few miles out of town. Instead of huddling in my tent in the rain, wondering how to dry my shoes, I was hot-tubbing with Joseph, finding out the fine points of how to treat your feet and how to prevent chafing of your butt. He had some great advice. It's instructive to see my still-shiny gear next to what my bike will look like in two months.
Greg and Jerri run the Allot Center Natural Supplements & Massage (and B&B). They moved here 9 years ago from Issaquah. The Wall Street Journal included 3 paragraphs on Republic in their article on the cheapest land in the country. Ferry County had some of the highest average income in the state in the 70's, but now it has 16% unemployment. Lumber business dried up, and the gold mine closed. You can buy a 3 bedroom house with barn and land for under $60,000. They like it here - Issaquah was getting to dense for them even 9 years ago. Jerri is from here. If you like cougars, bears, elk and five feet of snow, this is the place for you.
Tomorrow is Sherman Pass; at 5,575 feet, it still has snow, and thunderstorms are forecast. Geez!
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