Rainbows and White Fang

A beautiful falls near the road

My home for the night

Ominous but breathtaking

A rainbow leading to a pot of gold

Early morning clearing as I left the campground

There’s nothing worse than going into your tent with clear skies at night only to be awakened by rain pattering on your tent in the early morning. Putting away a wet tent is never good, however, tonight we’re camping again and the weather is now ideal for drying things out. More than our tents got wet today. Because of the morning rain, most of us got soaked at one point or another. Rain jackets work well but a some point you begin to get damp from sweating or the seams begin to leak. My shoes were also saturated. I really didn’t mind the rain at times. As I made my way over some of the gorges there appeared beautiful rainbows. The low hanging clouds made the mountain peaks seem much higher and ominous looking. Our first 25 miles seemed to fly by because of the breathtaking scenery. At mile 25 we turned south to Seattle and the road became pretty ordinary. It could have been any road in Pennsylvania that ran alongside a creek. I did have two very large white dogs that resemble wolves come after me. One was very aggressive and I thought for sure it would grab my calf. Luckily I was not knocked down and sped away as fast as I could. Two other riders had the same experience. The dogs may have just been bike chasers. I usually don’t have problems but the size of these dogs was intimidating. I’ve just pitched my tent in the logging town of Darrington. We’re staying in a church but many of us have elected to sleep outside with a great view of the towering mountain near the town center. I sure hope it doesn’t rain.