Today we might have gone a bit further but at about 4pm we arrived in Winthrop and the clouds gathered, so we took shelter from the rain at the Pine Near RV Park rather than get to Mazama, another 14 miles (or the bike only camping in another 8 miles). The sight of a kettle and microwave was a big incentive to stay here - we've floated our minds in tea to good effect and our caffeine levels are well recovered. We've also drunk a local brown ale (Big Valley Brown - brewed in the Methow Valley, which is where we are) reminiscent of Newcastle Brown, not quite so sweet but a decent beer. Today we were a bit slow getting going and we weren't on the road until 9.45am. Then we pushed quickly along to Okanogan, ate cake to fuel ourselves for an ascent, and did a long climb, of very varying steepness, up the Loup Loup Pass. The word 'Loup' made me think of wolves, etc (le loup - French for the wolf), so bear spray was to hand... The climb is not one of those climbs where you spin your legs at a constant speed and two or so hours later you find yourself at the top - the gradient changes a lot and has a bit of downhill chucked in too. It was approximately 3000' of ascent then 2000' of descent so we are well set up for tomorrow's ascent of the Washington Pass. The descent had better views than the ascent - views of upcoming mountain ranges in the North Cascades. Some bigger mountains in the distance. Noticed some burnt bits on the descent - forest fires are still possible in spite of the recent rain, in fact a cyclist here in our campground tonight said he could see some smoke rising from small fires from the road we're doing tomorrow and there was a smokeyness to the air at times. Tonight's rain may have helped dowse anything down. It is better, I'm sure, than earlier this summer when one transamer we met said temperatures were near 40 centigrade, visibility modest and it was a bit smokey - this was about the time of the Jasper fire a bit north of here over the border in Canada. Well tomorrow is going to be nearer 20 centigrade at max. After the descent we took the quieter side of the valley from Twisp to Winthrop - neat fruit farms, some rare breed sheep too, picturesque and well kept countryside.
We've met two Canadians, also camping here, doing a route, of about a thousand miles, with some gravel, around the Pacific Northwest - Danielle and Richard. They came over the Washington Pass, from Diablo Lake, today. Their route has included British Columbia and Washington - they are from Victoria, BC, which they say we'll be able to see across the water when we reach the islands in Puget Sound. We also met another older Canadian who discussed the politics of the UK, Canada and the USA He didn't have much time for Trudeau (Canadian PM, who I'd thought was a decent PM, but I am no expert) - apparently he was rude about Trump... Is that a negative though? He didn't know Sunak had been ejected from power in the UK. Sir Kier Starmer is still in his honeymoon period so we'd got nothing to say yet as to how he's doing, it's a very tough assignment, probably impossible. This is a great campsite - for around $30 we get comfy grass, excellent showers and toilets, and access to a kettle and microwave. This puts it up there with the best. Who needs KOA (there's one nearby) when you can have all this for $30? We are here. The pictures are of the Loup Loup Pass summit and, lower down, of Guy being pestered for food by a cute large eared deer. It heard the crinkling of his plastic bag and, just like a dog, took that as a sign of food. He held firm - deer are not (yet, anyway) pets. It is great to see them full of life when we see so many of the likeable creatures dead from traffic collisions at the side of the road.