Brief update from Winthrop.

I've been out of wifi connectivity for a while - I guess since Enumclaw.  A bit ironic that is, because I've been trying to stay out of the rain, and usually I try to do that with wifi to pass he time...  This time, I'vve been passing much of the time just in my car, taking notes in steno books.  Oh, also, I've been starting to take audio notes more regularly on my smartphone - this gave me yet another thing to have to backup at the Winthrop library, along with my picts, and track logs from three gps devices, and .

Eventually I guess I hope to transcribe all those those detailed notes to this blog,  Um, yeah, really! Along with matching up those track logs with the picts, stiching all the panoramas, merging all the focus-stacks, ID-ing all the content, and posting that. And publishing my little e-book on my Bycyclooping the PCT.

But for now, just to broad-brush catch-up..  

I left Enumclaw  during an intensifying rainy spell, taking some wide west-east zigzags, first through the Puget Sound Urban highways, then east through Steven's Pass to Lake Chelan, then west up to Harts Pass (the northernmost road-crossing on the PCT.)  There I sat waiting for the rain (and snow to end, getting myself very cold and wet at one point by prematurely venturing out into weather that I assumed was clearing, only to get snowed on, and retreating back to my car for another day.

Finally the weather did clear and I had a pleasant photo-prolific four day hike out&back to the border.  I had planned to then leave my car at Harts Pass and bicycle down to the West Fork Methow River trail (near the town of Mazama) that meets up with the PCT, looping north back to the car, then  doing the same from Rainy Pass,(bicycling down to that trail then hiking south to my car at Rainy.   But that trail is closed, from a major slide last year.  I've talked to a number of people on the feasibility of pushing through a slide cross country, and have decided to take the easier solution, just bicycle down to Mazama, then hitch up to Rainy, hike that section of PCT in one piece. 

Then I'll then tackle the next, 120mile chunk, south of Rainy.  From Stevens Pass past Stehekin on Lake Chelan.  This may involve a long bike ride east to Lake Chelan, from both passes, or a bike ride from Rainy Pass to Winatche then a bus up to Stevens Pass (If I have the existence of such a route right - it's been a while since I researched the bus routes...

The section south of there, between Stevens Pass and Snoquaalmie pass, would be a "pure" bus ride wit ha transfer in Seattle.

South of there would be the Chinook Pass to Enumclaw bicycle ride followed by busses to Seattle then bus to Snoqualmie.  

Then to finish off Washington I'd do a bicycle loop-down to the Colombia from where I left the "middle piece" around Mt Adams & Mt Rainier, hiking back north to the car at Berry Fields at the north end of the Indian Heaven Wilderness.

So, why am I in Winthrop instead of just leaving my car at Harts Pass and having bicycled down to Mazama and Hitched up to Rainy Pass and be headed north on the PCT today?  Well, there was a threat of inclement weather tonight and I needed to resupply food and backup my camera cards, charge batteries, add maps to my BCNav app on my Android, etc.  (I already had drained my battery at one point trying to charge batteries from my car...)    Of course, I'm doing that now as I'm sitting in my car past the library close time, running my engine periodically.

OK, but now back up to Mazama. will spend the night at the bottom of the road up the pass, drive up tomorrow and hope to get my act together quickly enough to bicycle down in time to hitch not too late in the day.