2015-07-29 - WA - Day 63 - Beaver Creek Campground to Ferry Creek Campground
After breakfast at the restaurant by the campground office, I rode down the hill towards Colville. I was feeling quite weak and definitely rode the slowest out of our team. I took a long break at rest stop 1 at Colville's Safeway supermarket, where I signed up for an Audible membership and got the $84 "Robert Moses: The Power Broker" audiobook with my monthly credit. (Audible charges $15 a month after the first, which is free.) I was the last to leave the stop, captivated by the book.
Between Colville and the second stop at the base of the climb up Sherman's Pass, I stopped for an ice cream break. I chatted with a man and his two grandsons, who were returning from a four-day cross country running camp. The man told me about a cross-state run with seven-men relay teams, the runners switching out every three miles. After the break, I started feeling more powerful and made it to the stop. One new coat of sunscreen later, I started up Sherman's Pass.
Between Colville and the second stop at the base of the climb up Sherman's Pass, I stopped for an ice cream break. I chatted with a man and his two grandsons, who were returning from a four-day cross country running camp. The man told me about a cross-state run with seven-men relay teams, the runners switching out every three miles. After the break, I started feeling more powerful and made it to the stop. One new coat of sunscreen later, I started up Sherman's Pass.
The climb started out pretty easy, and I stopped at CCC Camp Growden, also known as "Little America", to explore the site. Hundreds of men worked out of the camp between 1934 and 1941 to build roads, trails, camps, buildings, recreation sites, and dams, all while clearing trees and fighting forest fires. Living in wooden barracks, they each made $30 a month, of which at least $22 were sent back to their families. For their own recreation and that of future generations, the CCC men built an 80-acre swimming lake by damming Sherman Creek; unfortunately the lake silted several years ago after the construction of a nearby highway, and the decision was made to restore the creek to its natural flow. One structure still stands -- a wooden bathhouse built beside the lake. (http://scenicwa.com/blog/sherman-pass-scenic-byway-ccc-camp-growden-interpretive-site.html)
After Growden I continued up the hill, taking a few breaks along the way, numerous logging trucks passing me. I finally topped the pass, which at 5575 feet is the highest pass in the state open year-round to cars.
Back on my bike, I reached the final rest stop, last to arrive but for two, and took a short break to refill my water bottles and have a snack before riding down the fifteen miles to camp. It was 94 degrees out! I somehow missed the turn into camp and rode into town instead. Along the way, I saw a moose cross the road and wander into the woods, like a scene out of a Miyazaki film. I had a Subway sandwich before heading back. On the way back, I saw six deer on a prairie, for a total of seven today. A waxing gibbous moon shone above the campgrounds, watching over us.
After Growden I continued up the hill, taking a few breaks along the way, numerous logging trucks passing me. I finally topped the pass, which at 5575 feet is the highest pass in the state open year-round to cars.
Back on my bike, I reached the final rest stop, last to arrive but for two, and took a short break to refill my water bottles and have a snack before riding down the fifteen miles to camp. It was 94 degrees out! I somehow missed the turn into camp and rode into town instead. Along the way, I saw a moose cross the road and wander into the woods, like a scene out of a Miyazaki film. I had a Subway sandwich before heading back. On the way back, I saw six deer on a prairie, for a total of seven today. A waxing gibbous moon shone above the campgrounds, watching over us.