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I needed to remind myself this morning that I should not stop getting out even if there is a 40% chance rain in the forecast. When I started from home this week, there was a slight and annoying drizzle, but I decided to ignore it and give it a try. It turned out to be great for most of the ride today.

I found about Cayuse pass and Chinook pass along route 410 a couple of days ago as I was searching the list of mountain passes in the state of Washington. Since I moved here a couple of months ago, I already tried Steven’s Pass, and Blewett Pass. I wanted to get some more miles before the STP next weekend.

Here is the ride profile from Cyclogz.

I started this ride about a mile before the Federation State Park along route 410. This is approximately 13 miles after leaving Enumclaw, WA. When I started riding, there was a slight drizzle, but it faded away in a few miles. From here I rode along 410 all the way up to the intersection of routes 123 and 410. Cayuse Pass is at this intersection, at approximately 4700ft. I then took a left and continued along 410 till the Chinook Pass, at approximately 5400ft.

From the Federation State Park till about mile 21, the climb was very gradual - mostly under 4%. After crossing the Mt Rainier National Park, the climb got a bit steeper - ranging from 6-8%. Along the way, the views of Mt Rainer were fantastic.

The weather patterns along the route were very interesting. Up until 27 miles, it was cloudy to partially sunny. From then onwards it became very very foggy with poor visibility. I could barely see 50-100 ft ahead of me, and my green vest kept me visible. From there, the fog continued all the way to the Chinook Pass, with a couple of Sun breaks in the middle. For the last 3 miles, the fog was so intense that I did not have a sense of direction or the switchbacks that I did climb. The slow levels along the road also increased. There was enough snow to put on snowshoes on the side trails.

The decent was great, and I could manage a modest 35mph for the first few miles. The descent tapered off after about mile 42. From there I had to start pedaling again. For about 10 miles during the descent, I got caught up in rain again, this time it was more intense.

Route 410 has wide-enough shoulder for biking. As far as water/food stops are concerned, Green River was the last place to buy things. There was a grocery store and a few coffee places in Green River. After that there were no stores along the way. There were a couple of resorts, which may have stores to buy water and energy food.