23 Jun: Mount Baker, WA

About 50 miles inland from Bellingham lies Mount Baker. Here is its background from a welcome sign. Of course the ski season and resort was closed for the summer.

Hardly anyone on the road, mostly cloudy, but not quite rainy.

The sun and light played peek a boo with the clouds all day. On my drive home it actually looked like it was going to clear with blue sky and warm sun. Not more than 20 minutes later, I noticed a black cloud that was hanging suspiciously in my path. Long octopus tentacles hanging toward the earth. As I got closer, the swirling winds began to move the motorcycle left and right on the road. I noticed above the tree line that leaves from the hardwoods were swirling, there were some branches down on the highway making a one lane out of two, and then it burst loose.

After about a minute I stopped the bike along a driveway, unable to see anything, hail and rain coming down in buckets.
I noticed a driveway to my right and an unused carport up the drive. I spent the next 30 minutes under the carport in a soggy wait for the storm to pass. The owners of the property weren't home for me to thank, but I was indeed thankful.

 Once I began again, my heated grips on the bike warmed me up through my wet summer gloves. Warm hands really make a difference in your whole body circulation.