Today would probably be one of the biggest days of the trip as far as climbing. Straight up to Rainy Pass, drop some, and up over Washington Pass!!

The weather forecast was not good . . .1/2-1 inch of rain and temps in the 40’s. Over 5,000 feet of climbing over 30 uphill miles followed by  a BIGGGGGGGGGG downhill.

Calm, cloudy skies when we started . . .

. . . at the first stop above Diablo Lake one could look up and see snow in every direction.

. . . we were still in the ‘flower zone’ though and things were in full bloom

. . . and a nice shoulder and sign to warn those going over the pass we were out there.

This was reassuring the gates were open. The road was Open and NO slides reported!

However . . . look out for the winds!!

, , , again water flowing everywhere!!!! Must have been a good snow year.

Nice views, the higher we climbed.

. . . with a waterfall around every corner.

Up . . . up

, , , and more and more snow.

We reached the snowline at about 4,000 feet.

after 25 miles of grinding up  . . . we reached Rainy Pass where appropriately,  it started to rain. And the temp had dropped from 51 to the low 40’s!!!

. . . you could see the snowline at the guardrails.

After five more miles up the mountain, Washington Pass appeared out of the clouds. It was raining quite nicely now and the temp was about 38 degrees.

Enough snow that the Visitor Center was still closed.

Look out for ice bergs!, The ride down was worse than going up. Riding up at 4 miles an hour was difficult but kept one warm. Dropping over the pass and immediately going down at 30+mph meant bone chilin temps. So on went the rain pants, rain coat and windproof gloves. Not enough though and it was a very cold descent, through rain and sleet, until I dropped about 2,000 feet and reached warmer temps.

There was still 15 miles left until Winthrop but at least it was flat. Looks like they have a few deer problems in the area.

Nice play on words.

It was a tough day for everyone and the last riders arrived about 7:30pm. Lots of stories to share. We are staying at a RV trailer park and rented a house on the grounds for showering and cooking . . . and it’s a lay over day. Yippee! (most were sleeping by 8:30pm!!!!)