Today we went up and down our 3rd of 5 passes in 5 days, Wauconda Pass. It was also the pass with the least elevation gain, which we definitely appreciated after Sherman’s pass yesterday. It wasn’t too steep going up the pass until the end which made it a little bit difficult (I was pretty tired by then), but the downhill section was twice as much elevation as the uphill, which made the climb worth it. Unfortunately we had headwinds on the way down, but it was still a long, fun descent. The descent ended in Tonasket, which had not much other than a subway and a gas station that we were able to get food and drinks for the next 25 miles or so into Okanagon, the town we are staying in tonight.
The ride from Tonasket to Okanagon was a pretty one which featured lots of rolling hills. It got up to 104 degrees today, and the pretty hills sadly didn’t add much protection along the highway in the glaring afternoon sun. While the heat was brutal, we found a small town called Riverside with a grocery store 13 miles before Okanagon, which provided a much needed cold drink as my water was almost too hot to drink by the time we got there. The ride from Riverside to Okanagon was all downhill with the exception of one big hill at the beginning which brought sad memories back from the end of the pass earlier today. The last stop before Okanagon was a town called Omak which had much more food options than there were near our home for the night, so we got dinner for tonight, and breakfast and lunch for tomorrow there before finishing the ride.
Mr. Malinchock made the decision to stay in a hotel tonight after the long hot day, which was definitely an undisputed decision. We can all feel the La Push growing closer and closer and we hope the last five days are a great ending to an incredible trip!