Day 49: West Cascade Scenic Highway

August 9, 2014 Day 49

72.45 miles 

6:22:41 ride time

Good morning from Sisi Creek, on West Cascade Scenic Highway!

I realize I say this about every place I've biked in so far, but the scenery is incredible. All day I have been riding through US Forest lands, so there is no development anywhere. The roads are smooth, which makes for excellent biking. I want to bring my racing bike out here and zip around sometime... anyone want to come with? Oh and the camping is free. I suspect some people live out here. 

The tree canopy extends over the road, so it's always shaded.

And these riding conditions make me like this.

This perfect bike riding road ended at a little town called Detroit, and then I had to ride on a busier highway. From there it was 30 miles of mostly uphill. The last 6 miles were a substantial uphill to Santian Pass. I noticed bicycle tire tracks. Hopefully I'll meet someone heading south.

What's Wrong With This Picture? (Answer at bottom)

After making the pass, my legs were rubbery.  A picnic under the setting sun at Suttle Lake ended the day perfectly.

I got back on the bike, and my legs went from feeling rubbery to feeling wooden. 

I ended up in the Jefferson Wilderness on a chunk of forest carpeted with pine needles and cones. What fun!

This is the first blog entry I typed up outdoors. It feels very odd to be cowboy camping in the wilderness with a computer open. Oh how I long for simpler times. 

***What is wrong with the picture? Answer: The picture shows me northbound entering Liam county when I should be southbound leaving Liam county. Turns out the highway people were lazy with their signs and only put a summit sign in one direction. This was an impossible question to answer.