Day 28 • Penticton, BC to Mount Vernon, WA • 281 mi

The less said about the first half of today, the better. We followed 97 down into the rain shadow of the Cascades, and temperatures again were pushing 100°F. I really regret sending my summer gloves home, all those weeks ago.

Once we got on WA-20, things got a lot better.

Leading up and over the Cascade Mountains, 20 starts off as a lovely mountain road.

It then crosses North Cascades National Park, where things get all sorts of dramatic.

The road itself is gorgeous, twisty and fast in all the right ways.

But the sign saying "Extreme Crosswinds Next 17 mi" wasn't kidding.

The KLR isn't so good in crosswinds. But I didn't drop it, even though it came close once or twice.

After NCNP, we had another hour into Mount Vernon.

Directly west in late afternoon is a great idea.

Total mileage: 281 mi
Trip mileage: 5,063 mi