Day 38: Touring Lake Chelan

August 6, 2007

I got up at 7:30 after the sunshine made it too hot in the tent. I had a leisurely breakfast, then packed up and rode around town looking for a motel. I found a room at one of the cheaper motels. The Midtowner motel, $89 plus tax for a double room. The room wasn't ready yet so I stored my panniers in their lobby and took off for a ride. I rode through town and continued along the south shore of the lake for 13 miles. My turnaround point was 2 miles past Lake Chelan State Park. I made several stops along the way to swim, eat, and enjoy the scenery.

Lake Chelan has a lot of new upscale housing development. Also several vineyards.

Lake Chelan is a popular resort for people who live in Washington and B.C. It's much warmer and sunnier than Seattle and Vancouver. The glacial lake is about 1 mile wide and 60 miles long, snaking from desert hills to forested canyons in the North Cascades. Day-long boat tours are popular.

Lake Chelan is a long narrow glacial lake, about 1 mile wide and 60 miles long.

The opposite end of Lake Chelan is deep in the North Cascades.

Back in town I got the motel room at 3:30PM. I showered and shaved and waited for my wife to arrive at 5:30PM after driving 510 miles. She was not in a good mood. In retrospect, I should have biked to Wenatchee and rented a car to drive home. We ate dinner at a nice restaurant and went to bed at 10PM. It was nice to have air conditioning.

My broken bike frame. No longer safe for high speed mountain descents.

The tour ended in a disappointing way. This is the first time I've ended a tour prematurely. I was planning to bike another 5 days to near Portland. And I was really starting to enjoy myself now that the mosquitoes are no longer a problem.

On the drive home the following day we saw four touring cyclists on Highway 126 between Redmond and Springfield Oregon on the Transamerica bike route.

Distance: 48 km / 30 mi

Climbing: 180 m / 500 ft

Today's ride: 48 km (30 miles)
Total: 3,086 km (1,916 miles)

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