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Day 5 was the most beautiful day yet. It was also the most tired we have felt. The lodge in Selah had a small breakfast in the lobby that PAC Tour made better with their oatmeal. We were one of the last people to leave again but we were pretty tired after the antics of the day before. We started with a climb onto a large Mesa that was completely covered with fruit trees. The amount of irrigation that goes on out here is amazing. Another interesting thing is that they have air cannons to scare away the birds. It sounds like someone shooting a gun off in the field. There were a couple tricky turns today that Aaron and some other riders missed. I continue to follow the route on my iPhone and it works really well. We started the 50 mile climb and got into a good groove. We passed several riders and pulled into the second rest stop with the main group. We left the stop and within 100 feet Jeanne had a flat. I fixed the flat and found 3 thorns sticking through her tire. The nice thing is that after fixing it we were able to roll back to the stop to use the floor pump. As we went up the climb is just got more and more beautiful. Trees, rivers, waterfalls and snow. Aaron and I went hard again to the summit. Again he almost broke my spirit early in the push but I held on and was able to ride away at the top. As we came over the top of the pass there was mount Rainer right in our face. It was an amazing sight to see. It is the tallest mountain in Washington and is just a huge snow covered dome. The downhill was fast and beautiful. It was about a 25 mile downhill to our hotel in Packwood Washington. It is kind of a small town with limited food options. So far we have only had ice cream to eat. Better get moving before our 8:00 bedtime.— at Cowlitz River Lodge.
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