I was up around 4 a.m. for a departure at sunrise to ride from Okanogan to Winthrop, WA (pop. 394), which required me to climb the Loup Loup Pass. This was my third of four major passes along Hwy 20. It was about 65 degrees when I left, which was great, but by the time I got to Winthrop it was in the mid-nineties. Thankfully, however, I got to the top of the Loup Loup by 10:15 a.m., when temperatures were only in the low eighties.

I had a few relatively flat miles early in my ride before I needed to start the steady grind up the mountain.

Washington State is known for its apples. About seven miles out of Okanogan, I passed an apple orchard and noticed a sign helpfully informing us that these were Gala apples.

Not long after, I passed this historical marker reminding us that cattle and sheep get along better than cattlemen and sheepmen.

It was nice to see this sign reminding drivers to be on the lookout for bikes. The shoulders on the road up to the pass were sometimes fairly wide and smooth, and in other stretches narrow, non-existent, or in very rough shape.

There were also a few stretches with warnings about rocks.

Here was a section of the road with a great shoulder, which was fortunate because there was a steep embankment on the other side of it.

Here is my bike posing in front of the Loup Loup Pass sign once I reached the top.

Shortly after reached the pass, Virginie rode up behind me. She is 28 and a competitive cyclist and is traveling cross country with two friends to Anacortes, WA on the Adventure Cycling Northern Tier route I am on. Virginie joined her traveling companions in Fargo, N.D. It turned out she will be starting law school at the University of Michigan in the fall and so of course we had lots to talk about! She attended Middlebury College. Her parents are from France and Romania, and she is fluent in both French and Romanian. She hopes to continue to pursue competitive cycling while she is in law school if possible.

Virginie’s friends are more recreational riders, and it was 20-30 minutes before they rode up. Like me, the three of them had started out shortly after dawn in order to avoid the high heat later in the day. They were camping in Omak last night and didn’t get a very good night’s sleep because the sprinkler system in the RV park they were in started watering their campsite at 11 p.m., requiring them to get up and move their tents.

The trip down the Loup Loup Pass was steep, I think a bit steeper than the climb up.

Winthrop is located in the Methow Valley. This sign warning drivers about the extent of deer activity in the area was posted near the top of the Loup Loup.

The Fire Danger signs I saw posted when I was in Montana all referred to a “moderate” fire hazard. It is quite dry here, and there have been wildfires in the area. The fire danger is rated as very high.

Shortly after crossing the pass, I saw this evidence of past forest fires.

I passed through Twisp, WA (pop. 919), about 12 miles from Winthrop, around noon. It was pretty warm by then and I stopped there to cool off and meet Trudi for an iced coffee and cookie to celebrate the trip over another pass. Here is a view of the countryside to the west. You can still see a small amount of snow at the tops of some of the taller mountain peaks, but I predict it won’t be there long given the hot weather we’ve been having.

Tomorrow will be a day to rest and finalize plans for stops and lodging over the next few days as I head for the final major ascent on my route–Washington Pass. As you can see on the following elevation map, there will be one significant stretch uphill to reach it as well as a few additional climbs I’ll need to make on the way down.