I did the pass! Technically there are two passes - Rainy and Washington - that Highway 20 goes over just east of North Cascades National Park. These were the first big climbs of the trip, so I was nervous about them. It was very exhausting. I ended up taking breaks about every thirty minutes, but that was the main focus of my day. I repeated mantras and pushed myself to continue to pedal forward. I felt so accomplished when I reached the top of the second pass. Then it was mostly downhill for the rest of the day. The descent was quite fun: to just let the bike go, hit the brakes every once in a while and experience a bit of speed. The miles covered stacked up so much more quickly than on the way up!
There are a lot of beautiful views of craggy, snow-capped mountains. It was an overcast, occasionally rainy day (which was great for staying cool on the ascent). Consequently, the mountains were often shrouded in clouds, which made them seem more mysterious and elusive.
The traffic wasn’t too bad it could be a little nerve-wracking at times. Most people are fairly responsible/conscientious, but you’re just so vulnerable out there on a bike. There was an event where another biker passed me and then when he was up ahead of me, I saw a pickup truck “coal roll” him by spewing black smoke as they passed. So that was a moment that made me embarrassed to be of the same species as the person driving that truck. But once the smoke cleared, the mountains were quite stunning once again.
