Eastern Washington Rain Shadow

7/6 - Twisp (77 miles)
7/7 - Tonasket (61 miles)
7/8 - Sherman's Pass (57 miles)
7/9 - Tiger (64 miles)
7/10 - Priest River, IDAHO! (73 miles)
7/11 - Sandpoint (27 miles)

I remember reading about this notion of "rain-shadow", but not really appreciating the extent of the phenomena. Within about 15 miles of Washington Pass came the desert. Arizona type desert. Sagebrush, no trees, and extreme heat. We wished we were still climbing in the mountains. The good news was they did irrigate in places and the fruit was fantastic. The bad news was there weren't any trees for us to hide behind while trying to camp for free. We managed to hide behind some sage which made for some very fragrant sleeping. I should really look at topo map of WA, but it sure seemed to me that the mountain ranges kind of stripe eastern WA north to south. Since we were traveling east to west, each day was filled with a huge climb (3-4 hrs of riding), then a 20 minute down hill and then a nap. Such is the lifestyle of riding bicycles in the mountains... and this only the beginning :(