Written by robert on January 13th, 2018
NFE with Mt. Rainier in the distance
New Years Eve in Seattle was clear and cool and as I had returned just the day before from a week of visiting family I was itching for a ride. With the limited sunlight and not being able to start until after lunch time I knew I had to do something short and sweet. A loop over the new trail over the new 520 Bridge and back on the “classic” I-90 trail was just the thing.
Volunteer Park Conservatory
I’d had lunch in Capitol Hill and then worked my way up to Volunteer Park. A sunny Sunday is always a recipe for Seattle-ites getting out and there were plenty of people in the Park. Including the SCA engaging in some swordplay. From the park I worked my way to the Lake Washington Loop which now has an offshoot onto the 520 trail.
Looking east alongside the bridge toward the Cascade Mountains
On this clear winter day the Olympic Mountains were prominent to the West and the Cascade’s standing tall to the West. My beloved Mt. Baker was standing guard over the north end of Lake Washington and the always magnificent Mt. Rainier dominating the south end of the lake. Views like this is why I love the PNW so much.
Mount Baker across Lake Washington
The new trail is really excellent and shows you want updated standards and regulations will bring. About twice as wide as the I-90 Trail, it easily accommodated both pedestrians and bicyclers heading both directions. There are nice pullouts with benches to allow you to soak in the views to the north. At the east end once you climb up off the floating segment is a nice new overlook mini-park.
New Eastside overlook over 520 Bridge
From the trail I made my way through Medina to old Bellevue and then hooked back on the Lake Washington Loop to the I-90 trail. All familiar territory though I don’t get out to the Eastside like I once did. I stopped in Medina at the waterfront park near the city hall to take in the fantastic view of Mount Rainier.
Mount Rainier from Medina
By the time I reached Mercer Island and was crossing the last stretch of bridge the sun was behind Beacon Hill and Mt. Rainier had the backlit carved appearance that was even more stunning. Too bad my camera was packed away at that point! But I wanted to get home before dark anyway so I pressed on making it in deep gloaming. A really nice quick loop that adds a middle option to the previous North and South Lake Washington Loops. It’s about 23 miles total from Beacon Hill in the route I took, which on this day was just right.
Check out my NYE 2017 photo album on Flickr.
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Tags: 2017, 520 Bridge, 520 Trail, Cascade Mountains, I-90 Trail, Medina, Mercer Island, Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, National Forest Explorer, New Years Eve, NFE, NYE, Olympic Mountaints, Rides, Volunteer Park
Written by robert on October 18th, 2017
The last day of this all too short tour was another perfect summer day. Blue skies, streak with thin white clouds, the temperatures warm but not too hot. It was going to be a pretty short day, so there wasn’t much of a need to rush. However I wanted to be in Bremerton for lunch so while I didn’t rush I didn’t linger too long either. My companion in the hiker-biker site hadn’t caused any trouble and we only exchanged pleasantries before he rode off for the day. He had told the ranger yesterday that he’d pay for another night after returning from town today. I never asked but I can’t deny some curiosity as to what this guys story was.
I’ve certainly noted in these page how much I enjoy riding on Hwy 106, especially on a weekday morning when there is little traffic. Well today was one of those ideal days on this canal side highway. Beautiful views of Hood Canal, the Tahuya hills across the water and in the distance the Olympic Mountains. The blue sky was streaked with thin white clouds. Things were still, there wasn’t much wind and the canal was calm, allowing for the reflections to have a high degree of fidelity to the original. Which is the original anyway?
Highway 106 ends at Belfair, of which there is nothing to write home about. However the Old Belfair Hwy, is a nice route rolling gently through farmland and woodland all the way to Bremerton. I was on track to get to the city by 12:30 or so, so it was able to really enjoy this ride. Old Belfair turns into West Belfair Valley road at a certain point and then there is along descent where it is near highway 3, which is the direct route between Belfair and Bremmerton. I’ve ridden 3 as well and while there is a huge shoulder and it’s relatively flat, it is just punishing with all the traffic. West Belfair valley is much more preferable and while I oft hit 3 for the final segment into Bremerton this time I took the Adventure Cycling route which has a punishing climb up the valley walls and into hills west of Bremerton. From there you descend into town just past the Navy Shipyard turnoff. I arrived in town a bit before 1pm stopped for lunch and then rode that last hill into downtown Bremerton and the ferry terminal. I caught the 1:45 ferry to Seattle.
This crossing was less eventful then the one that began this trip. I mostly stayed inside and journaled, but as many times as I’ve been on the ferries I have to go outside and take in the views. It remained a lovely day with just enough clouds to keep things interesting. It was the end of my trip and it felt to me like it was just getting started. I’d like to spend more time in Olympic National Park, but riding the forest roads and hiking the many trails. This trip was a good survey of at least one part of the park. I’ve ridden all around the peninsula on several occasions and I have a good sense of the ride out to all corners. It is past time that I begin to make forays into the interior.
Photos from this day: Olympic Mountain Dreams day 5
All photos from this tour: Olympic Mountain Dreams
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Tags: Dreams, Ferries, hood canal, Mountain Dreams, Mountains Mountain Dreaming, Olympic Mountain, Olympic Mountain Dreams, Olympic Mountains, Olympic National Park, Puget Sound, wa, Washington State, Washington State Ferries
Written by robert on October 13th, 2017
It was a lovely morning and tempting to spend another day in the Olympic’s, but it is a fairly long and rough road home. I didn’t want to just repeat the route I took here, so my return trip was going to go south and east to Bremerton and the ferry to Seattle. Thus I’ll have done a nice Hood Canal Loop in the course of this short tour. Since I didn’t have too far to ride on this day I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and time by the Dosewallips before I set out.
When I rode up to the campground I was chasing daylight so I didn’t linger. Well on my trip out I took the opportunity to checkout the several waterfalls, explore the Elkhorn campground, take little side trails and of course capture plenty of images. The trail being mostly downhill as well as not trying to push through as quickly as I could meant it wasn’t nearly as exhausting as the trip in had been.
There were numerous other hikers returning on this day, it being the end of the weekend and all. But also as I got closer to the trailhead I encountered numerous mountain bikers just out to ride the on the old road. They still had to get past the first two (and in some cases third) major washouts but I suppose pushing a mountain bike when you only have a daypack isn’t nearly so hard. But as a there-and-back route it didn’t strike me as that exciting of a mountain bike route. Beautiful scenery of course, but not very technical.
There were two little waterfalls just off the trail that were well worth parking the bicycle and tramping off to see. This one, with it’s two free falling sections cascading down moss covered rocks was especially lovely. There is a hike off of the road to Lake Constance that is two miles in length but gains 3300 feet! It is mostly a scramble up a riverbed and I image it is like the terrain below this waterfall. But once you get up there, there is a hike in campground with only six sites. Would love to get up there sometime for an even more secluded Olympics experience. A lot more to do up here; I will be back
The other campground along the road, Elkhorn, features numerous sites on the river, but also a set of sites in the woods. It seemed even more overgrown than Dosewallips Campground, perhaps it is less visited as it is pretty close in. Just past it is the other end of the major washout. I walked down to the end of that and found that there is basically a short drop-off that one could scramble up with the help of a fixed rope, but it would have been impossible to get the loaded touring bicycle up. Glad I hadn’t tried that route. I backtracked and once again took the steep switchbacks above the washout.
Most of the way down the other side of the washout I took another little side trail that give you a good overview of the washout. You can see from the above picture that basically the whole riverside just sloughed off. No sign that a road had ever been there. From this point on it was an easy ride back to the trailhead, which of course was the first washout but wasn’t nearly so hard to bypass.
This day had dawned cool and overcast, but it had pretty well cleared up. But clouds and mists kept pouring over the hills and like the day before I was sure that it would cloud up again toward evening. But as I rode out of the National Forest on Dosewallips River Road it became increasingly clear. By the time I reached Brinnon and returned to Highway 101 it was blue skies with big pillow like white clouds.
It was near lunchtime now and I pulled of at Dosewallips State Park and in the day use area had lunch. The park was right at the end of the Dosewallips River where it flowed into Hood Canal. The wind had picked up blowing the big clouds around. My route on 101 would wend along Hood Canal, always going up and down, with small little tourist areas in the rare flat spots. It being the end of the weekend and all these spots were jammed with people trying to get in a last bit of recreation on their way home. There was a line out the door at the Hoodsport Coffee Company and I’ve never seen so many people at the Union General Store. Both times I would have stopped at those places for a break, but just too long of lines.
I was going to camp at Twanoh State Park, which has a very limited Hiker/Biker area but I figured Sunday evening wouldn’t be too bad. There was a stiff wind heading East on SR106 and I was feeling the end of the day. When I got to Twaoh there was tent in the h/b area but no sign of it’s occupant. I’ve shared the space before so I went into the campground proper to register. They thought it was “full” but checked their records and found that no-one was registered for tonight. This was good as the main campground was full. I mentioned there was the tent there and they sent a couple of junior rangers down to check it out. When we got their I began to setup and they investigated the tent. They kind of ripped it open and reported not much inside. They said it looked abandoned and headed out.
I finished setting up and had begun to cook dinner when the tent’s occupant arrived on a folding bicycle. He said “hi” and sat down to eat some take out food. A bit later he checked out the tent and asked me if I’d seen anybody messing with it. I mentioned the rangers had been looking in it. He said “Well they basically destroyed it!”. He had a beer and then set out. I ate dinner and washed up and went out to watch the sunset over Hood Canal. I heard raised voices from camp and the ranger was there trying to talk with the guy. He accused them of destroying his tent and got pretty shirty. There was some words from the ranger, basically noting that he wasn’t actually paid up and shouldn’t be there and such and eventually he left. I was sitting in my tent a bit later when he retuned and squatting down at my tent entrance asked me to verify the guys story. I confirmed that the junior rangers had inspected the tent but I didn’t see them rip into it or anything. He asked if I felt safe with the guy there. I said he seemed okay and I didn’t mind that he was there. The ranger went and gave the guy some duct tape so he could do some field repairs and then left. The evening ended uneventfully. The guy repaired his tent the best he could and retired as did I.
Photos from this day: Olympic Mountain Dreams day 4
All photos from this tour: Olympic Mountain Dreams
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Tags: Dreams, Ferries, hood canal, Mountain Dreams, Mountains Mountain Dreaming, Olympic Mountain, Olympic Mountain Dreams, Olympic Mountains, Olympic National Park, Puget Sound, Twanoh State Park, wa, Washington State, Washington State Ferries
Written by robert on September 1st, 2017
patches of moonlight
wavering through branches —
watering an ancient tree
I awoke a few times through night to an exultation of stars peeking through the canopy and very late a thin moon made it over the valley walls. After a my nights sleep with the ever present white noise of the river, I woke to a grey morning with mist streaming down the valley walls. Over the course of a morning spent in contemplation down by the river and making breakfast in camp, the mist burned off to mostly clear blue skies. While I was breaking my fast a volunteer ranger came by and gave me the skinny on day hikes in the area. He also let me know that most of those washouts I had to clamber over one the way here were from this year. It had been the rainiest winter on record in Washington State and it brought down a lot of rocks.
I lingered in camp until after lunch and then hoisting my daypack I set out to checkout the local trails. Past the campground is the old ranger station and then past that begins the trails. There is a the remnants of an old nature trail which does the traditional loop, with a branch off of it into the broader trail network.
The trail heads off up the river valley to the Dose Forks campground. This is a true backpackers campground, a few miles from the Dosewallips Campground, which was the furthest in you could have driven back before the washouts. There were a few people camping at Dose Forks though I didn’t seen any of them there. I was continuing up to what the ranger had described as the High Bridge at the West and North Forks of the Dosewallips.
Between the two campgrounds I was up the valley walls a ways and primarily hiking in the woods. There were numerous creeks to cross — Station Creek, Pass Creek and named trickles — but I was far enough away from the Dosewallips that it was only a very distant rushing sound.
At Dose Forks Campground I was back right on the river and had to cross it to continue on the the High Bridge. The character of the hike there was subtly different. It was more rocky and I was clearly on a sort of spit of land between the two forks of the river. There were a couple more little stream crossings which the trail often descended to cross and then had to climb back out.
This part of the Olympic National Park, cut off from the car campgrounds, seems to be slowly returning to nature. Rangers have to hike anything in and the old car campgrounds are slowly deteriorating. Nobody is going be be packing in a replacement picnic table! Out here though it is the trail crews that keep falling logs off the trails, bridges from collapsing and the trails generally clear. Past the high bridge there are trails deep into the Olympics and it hooks up to the cross park — and state! — Pacific NW Trail.
There was sign of these trail keepers all through these hikes, cut logs, repaired bridges and general trail clearing. This corner of the park feels pretty abandoned. I’m sure it was never was the draw that the Hoh, Hurricane Ridge, Lake Quinault etc have been, but with no car camping now, it feels pretty remote. The High Bridge is well named, a solid wood bridge on a rocky promontory crossing the West Fork of the Dosewallips. Looking east you can just see where the North Fork cascades in and merges with the West Fork.
I spent some time on the bridge and around the branching trails just past it. I rested, ate a sandwich and just existed. A wind had picked up and there were ragged trails of cloud reaching into the piercing blue sky. I just sat and listened for a spell until finally I retraced my steps back to camp.
the tiger swallowtail
returns again and again
dancing over flowing water
 
Photos from this day: Olympic Mountain Dreams day 3
All photos from this tour: Olympic Mountain Dreams
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Tags: dayhikes, Dosewallips, Dreams, hiking, Mountain Dreams, Mountains Mountain Dreaming, Olympic Mountain, Olympic Mountain Dreams, Olympic Mountains, Olympic National Park, Port Townsend, wa, Washington, Washington State, Washington State Ferries
Written by robert on August 30th, 2017
NFE in Olympic National Forest
out of the dense green canopy
the sound of a lively stream
I awoke to a sunny and clear day in the woods outside of Port Townsend. On this day I planned to ride all the way to Dosewallips Campground in Olympic National Park but I also wanted to spend a little bit of time in Port Townsend. So I quickly packed up and rode down the Olympic Discovery Trail, through the marina and into downtown to my favorite PT coffee house: Better Living Through Coffee. There I enjoyed sumatra pour-over and broke my fast. I had a few more errands I wanted to take care of and so I ended up staying in PT through lunch. It was nearly 1pm by the time I finally rode out of town.
Clearly a pirate ship here in dry dock
I had about fifty miles to do this day, but this included a pretty long climb into the State Park and about 16 miles on trails, so I felt I was leaving pretty late. It was also all backtracking for the first 15 miles (and then on pretty familiar roads) so I mostly just pedaled through it. I couldn’t resist a quick stop at Finn River Cidery once I was back on Center Rd. I’ve ridden past them many a time but I’ve always been pushing through to PT and never stopped. I figured on this day, with long summer nights and no riding planned for the next day, though I could spare the time.
The view from Finn River looking down Beaver Valley
I’m glad I stopped — good cider and a lovely locale with long views up Beaver Valley. But after leaving I knew I had it maintain a steady pace to get where I was going by nightfall. The wind was with me as I rode down Beaver Valley and through the hillier section the lies beyond the intersection with 105. There is a good climb up into hills above Quilcene followed by a long descent to the intersection with Hwy 101. I stopped in Quilcene at the market there where I bought a Blackberry Ice Cream cone where they must have put near a pint of ice cream on it.
NFE in Quilcene
The next stage was a stretch on Hwy 101 from Quilcene to Brinnon. This includes crossing Walker Pass, which at 741′ barely qualifies as a pass climb, but it is a gap between Mount Walker and you do climb up for most of the five miles between it and Quilcene. Once you descend there is a stretch along the coast a few ups and downs and then you come onto Brinnon. Right before you cross the Doeswallips River is the turnoff to Dosewallips River Road, which begins my journey into the National Park.
Dosewallips River Valley
It was stretching into late evening now and I was hoping that I could make this last 16 or so miles in relatively short order. At first the road was paved and it climbed steeply nearly immediately. I was following the Dosewallips River, which was pretty active with sections of rapids, but also these beautiful coves and pools. There were houses and then farms and what kind of appeared to be a cult compound before the paved road ended and became gravel. I was in the National Forest now and after a mile or two the road ended at the washout. There were a number of cars parked here for those hiking in to the campground, day hikers and dog walkers.
Dosewallips River road after a car has passed
I walked the bicycle through this first washout and then it was just like the gravel road had continued on. The trees were a little closer and the road was less washboarded and of course there were no cars. So pretty nice. Then I came to the second washout. This one was as if an entire hillside had washed down into the Dosewallips River. There was a goat path on it, clinging to loose rock on the hillside and also a path that steeply wound above it. I park my bicycle and explored along the hillside route first. That clearly became impossible to push bicycle through so I returned and checked out the path above. It had a series of switchbacks and was pretty steep but seemed passable. So I pushed my bicycle up which I have to say was pretty difficult. At the top it was like I was on a hiking trail for a spell until it descended in a similarly steep set of switchbacks. Then I was back on the gravel road.
Dosewallips Trail
Past the second washout the trail narrow and was a lot more overgrown. This was really great riding, as it was fairly flat, empty and yet deep in the woods near a rushing river. There were several more rocky washouts, but these were small and I just had to dismount and pick my way over them. But I was pretty tired and hungry now and ready to reach the campground. When I came to the Elkhorn Campground, the first of two, I was really tempted to stop. I gone a long way, it was right on the river and looked nice. But since I planned to spend the next day exploring the area I knew that the Dosewallips Campground would be better and it was my destination after all. So I pressed on.
Dosewallips Falls
The trail immediately began to climb at this point and was much closer to single track. Apart from the multiple washouts and a couple of bridge crossings, it pretty much was uphill the rest of the way. I could ride most of this, but I was pretty hard work. There were numerous washouts, again usually of the big rocky types. I passed a couple of hikers during this stretch, one couple commented they had passed me riding on the road a ways back. “I managed to catch up!”, I quipped. The highlight of this stretch was Doswallips Falls, which was a rock falls with a short free fall section. The road alongside was super steep and there was an old sign informing vehicles that they shouldn’t stop on this section. Apart from all the washouts it was pretty hard to imagine cars ever driving this road. I had to push the bicycle up this section and I was pretty close to bonking. It was after 8pm and I was tired and hungry. Happily it wasn’t too much further from the top of the falls and it was a flatter stretch with only a couple more washouts.
Sun sets behind the valley walls
Finally I arrived at the campground which probably half a dozen of the sites — all along the river — were occupied. I pretty quickly settled into the last really viable site at the north edge of the park. The river was an all encompassing presence here and looking up above the trees, the high valley walls were golden with the magic hour light. I filtered water, cooked dinner and setup. As I was about done for the day one of the hikers I passed on my way in stopped by and told me he had forgotten a key part of his water filter. I was using my new gravity filter that I bought after my stint on the Sierra-Cascades where I found I needed to filter a lot of water so I was able to filter a gallon or so of water for him in short order. It was fully dark now, so after he departed water bags in head I retired to the tent and a well earned nights sleep.
Photos from this day: Olympic Mountain Dreams day 2
All photos from this tour: Olympic Mountain Dreams
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Tags: Bainbridge Island, Dreams, Ferries, hood canal, Mountain Dreams, Mountains Mountain Dreaming, Olympic Mountain, Olympic Mountain Dreams, Olympic Mountains, Olympic National Park, Port Townsend, Puget Sound, wa, Washington State, Washington State Ferries
Written by robert on August 27th, 2017
NFE on the Stoop: Ready to Ride
a blue dragonfly
flies backwards down the path
watching
When a retreat that I was going to take part in fell through I suddenly found myself with five free days in mid July. Within a couple of days I worked out a trip I wanted to take that would maximally use those days and take me to a place I hadn’t been to before. I had found out that a road had washed out on the eastern side of Olympic National Park cutting off two campgrounds, but that you take your bicycle on the old road. This was technically within a days ride, but would, I thought, be a pretty long hard day. I planned to ride to Dosewallips State Park, on hwy 101 which is around 20 miles from Dosewallips Campground, in the Olympic National Park.
Ferry to Bainbridge Island coming in
My touring setup is pretty much set in stone these days, all kept in one bag in a closet. I can pull it out and be pretty much ready to tour within a couple of hours. Buying and packing some food and selecting appropriate clothing is about the only variables not preset. Of course I do have several options depending on length or type of tour and for this one, where I’d be camping and then day hiking in the woods, I adjusted things accordingly. I swapped out my Rando bag for my basket and put on my old Baggins Hobo bag for the rear facing pockets. This gave me enough space for the supplies needed for time in the woods.
In which we leave the city behind
I made it to the ferry terminal by 10am which is pretty good time for the first day of one of my tours. But I had just missed a boat and when the next one came in there was a crew change and the hauling off of a dead motorcycle. When we finally departed it was about a quarter to eleven. I was in the cafe buying a coffee when the woman next to me in line asked: “Is this the bar?” It’s happy hour somewhere… At one point during the crossing the boat slowed and the engines stopped. There was an announcement over the PA for a crew member to come to ‘Fan Room 2’. Was this going to one of those trips?
Crossing the Puget Sound
As I made the crossing I contemplated my preparations and realized I had neglected to bring my headlamp. That a bit of food I still needed sent me to the little town of Winslow on Bainbridge Island where I also was able to get lunch. I found my forgotten supplies and proceeded to ride across the Island a bit after noon. Now his route is one I’ve done several times: Bainbridge to the mainland via Hood Canal. There are several options and several highways but of course the goal is to stay on backroads. However right after crossing Agate Pass off of Bainbridge I failed to take a turn and thinking Google Maps had just put me on a different crossing of the Kitsap Peninsula I continued on the hwy. As I came up on Pouslbo I knew I was off route but I also knew this busy road would get me where I was going. I peeked at Maps on my phone and found an alternative backroad option that I didn’t have to backtrack to. This road, Big Valley Road, turned out to be just top drawer country riding. Much flatter then the normal cross Kitsap route I’ve taken, but equally low traffic and scenic. Nice.
Waiting on the Hood Canal Drawbridge
Big Valley Road intersected with Hwy 3 at Four Corners and from there it wasn’t too much further to Hood Canal Bridge. As I climbed up the last hill before I’d descend to the bridge, cars were backed up — the bridge must be open. I was able to easily wend my way down to the bridge and along the nice shoulder all the way to the barriers. The drawbridge was indeed up, but for no discernible reason. There are long views both north and south of the bridge and there was no sign of any boats. Even when submarines come through here — which is often — there are jamming boats along with them. So perhaps just some sort of test or safety check.
Dark clouds down south
There was a stiff wind blowing south, which happily was the direction I was going. But things were dark and forbidding that way whereas the wind was blowing the clouds away from the north. Once the bridge finally opened I continued west, mainly on Hwy 104 but taking side roads when I could. Once you climb up from Hood Canal to the north is Beaver Valley which I’ve ridden many time to and fro Port Townsend. All the sudden I felt a pang of desire to go to Port Townsend. It was almost cold now under dark clouds and there was even the slightest of sprinkles. As I crossed Center Road which goes north up Beaver Valley to Chimicum and then PT and South to Quilcene where it intersects with Hwy 101 I saw a handprinted mural that read 24 miles to Brinnon. Brinnon was just outside of Doswallips State Park, my destination. PT on the other hand was 14 miles to the north up Beaver Valley. To the south was Walker Pass (not an epic pass, but a couple mile climb) and dark menacing clouds. To the north it was blue skies, easy valley riding and PT with restaurants and pubs. I went north.
Mount Rainier looms beyond Marrowstone Island
There are three roads that run down Beaver Valley: one on the west wall, one down the center and one at the foot of the east wall. I was on the middle way, Center Rd. which is the easiest of the three (the west wall is the hilliest fwiw) and the valley protected me from that northerly wind. So I made good time to Chimicum and then to Fort Townsend State Park. This park sits about 5 miles south from PT proper and it is a favorite of mine to camp at. 
The Hiker/Biker site is a bit away from the rest of the campground and is basically a clearing in the woods. Of the half-dozen plus times I’ve camped there only once has there been another touron there. Once! It is about a mile from the Olympic Discovery Trail so you can easily ride into PT which after setting up I did. I had dinner at a very busy (and just okay) Thai joint and then retired to the Pourhouse for an after dinner pint.
As I rode back to the campground, the sun had set and a light purple glow lit up the Cascade mountains far to the east. A truly lovely evening. It was dark in my wooded campsite when I arrived, but I only had to lock up my bicycle and retire to my tent for the evening. I was happy to be here.
Photos from this day: Olympic Mountain Dreams day 1
All photos from this tour: Olympic Mountain Dreams
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Tags: Bainbridge Island, Ferries, hood canal, Mountain Dreaming, Mountain Dreams, Olympic Mountain Dreams, Olympic Mountains, Port Townsend, Puget Sound, wa, Washington State, Washington State Ferries
Written by robert on July 13th, 2017
After myriad technical issues, the blog has finally returned. Just as I’m about to set out for five days of bicycle camping. I’ll be a ways into Olympic National Forest at an old closed campground. Sure to be free from cellphone-telephones and the like. What a relief! So reports of the trip will have to wait upon my return. Check back late last week for the news. In the meantime, checkout out some new(-ish) photos on Flickr. If I manage any updates from the road, it’ll be uploading some photos there.
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Tags: Bicycle Camping, Blog, Status, Tour 2017, Update
Written by robert on March 13th, 2017
A typical stretch of Spring Populaire 2017
This was the third Populaire I’ve done with the Seattle International Randonneurs and the third one where it rained. This was the rainiest of the bunch though. The ride started 9am at Woodland Park in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. It started drizzling a few minutes before the start and was a good steady rain by the time we reached the Burke-Gillman Trail (BGT) heading toward Golden Gardens State Park. By around mile 15 my cue sheet had completely disintegrated. By mile 21 my bicycle computer konked out. I pretty much relied on the fact that the route was mostly a there and back to Redmond on the BGT and trying to stick with a group of riders.
Pre-ride announcements
The downside of that though was that most of the ride was on rail trails. We rode a stretch of the BGT to Golden Gardens, did the climb up to Loyal Heights, cut across to the Interurban which we rode north to the BGT Connecter. The Connecter – which is a newly “signed route” – was one of the routes I’d worked out back when I lived on the eastside. It features a long descent down to Lake Washington in Lake Forest Park. A soaking wet descent on this day. Then it was pretty much the trail to the Redmond Whole Food Plaza which was a control and place for food/coffee/drying out. I changed my socks there and grabbed some produce bags to try to keep them dry for the ride back. I also downloaded the route to my phone, but it being so wet I wasn’t sure I could really rely on the phone. But since it was 11 miles back on the BGT I knew I was set for a while.
Randos disappearing ahead on the BGT
It was a slog back on the BGT, though there was a good 20 minutes without rain. The fresh pair of socks in their shopping bags did a good job keeping my feet dry. I was alone most of the time, once passed by about 8 randos who’s pace was definitely outstripping mine. The next group that overtook me, I made a point of sticking with and was able to take advantage of their surviving cue sheets and GPS to get to the finish. This last bit climbed up into Ravenna, made it’s way under I-5 and then the final climb to Phinny Ridge. As always the ride ended at Zeek’s Pizza where I had my usual Veggie Thai pizza and a couple of pints.
Pumpkin Orange XO-1 at the finish.
The rain had stopped when I left but a brutal wind out of the south (the direction home of course) had picked up. So I rode to UW and took the Light Rail to Beacon Hill. So good times all in all. Character was built.
Spring Populaire 2017 Route on RideWithGPS
My Photos here: SIR 2017 Spring Populaire
Ride info here: Spring Populaire
Map here: Ride with GPS map
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Tags: BGT, Interurban, March, Populaire, Rain, Rando, Randoneuring, Redmond, Seattle, Seattle International Randoneurs, SIR, Spring Populaire, Spring Rides
Written by robert on January 29th, 2017
NFE at Salmon la Sac
Day 3 dawned clear, cool and sunny. It was wonderful being in the midst of the mountains along the talkative Cle Elum River. I made breakfast and packed up and then enjoyed a second cup of coffee sitting on a rock in the river. The plan today was to ride a trail to Cooper Lake which wasn’t many miles away. There I would setup camp for a few days and hike around the area and spend time in the mountains.
Looking north on the Cle Elum River
In no particular rush I meandered up the Salmon La Sac road along the Cle Elum River. Stopping frequently to take pictures, checkout trailheads and to monitor the river. Stopping at the bridge pictured above looking down into the river I spotted bright red spawning salmon! Truly a glorious time in the mountains. A bit further up the road was the Salmon La Sac Campground, which was a quite large and quite empty campground.
Little Salmon La Sac River
From the campground there was a short stretch on a dirt forest road before I reached the Salmon La Sac trailhead. I stopped for lunch at this point during which time a barefoot woman in a bikini walked out of the trailhead. Seemed a little casual for hiking into the mountains. However after a short stretch on the trail along the Cooper River, there was a wide bend in the river that created a deep turquoise swimming hole where there was a number of college kids sunbathing, Mystery Solved.
Swimming hole on the Cooper River
The trail along the Cooper River to Cooper Lake was billed as a “mountain bike” trail, but it clear was a horse trail that had been opened up to mountain bikes. I assume that very technical riders with a fully suspended mountain bike and no load could navigate this trail, but it was not rideable on a fully loaded touring bicycle. Rocks, roots, short super steep sections, torn up trail and so on made for a surface that I pushed the bicycle on more than rode. After some time of this I decided that several more miles of this wouldn’t be a good time.
Nice easy stretch of the horse and Mountain Bike Trail to Cooper Lake
Luckily there was an alternative route to the Owhi Campground on Cooper Lake. There was a forest road that took you to the south side of the lake and then you could hike around the lake to the north side where the campground is. I decided to take this, most likely less scenic, but certainly easy to negotiate route. So I rode back to Salmon La Sac Campground and then Road heading toward that bridge where I was looking at spawning salmon just few hours earlier.
Killer Pothole on Salmon La Sac Road
Rounding a corner on the road, gaze on the river or mountains, I glance at the road and spot the above pothole moments before my front wheel entered it. I tried to ride around it, but was two late and I dropped into it and nearly immediately slammed into the far edge. I popped out, wobbling and miraculously didn’t fall. My tire had popped of course and the wheel was way out of true. I figured I’d popped a few spokes. I pulled over and noticed how mangled the wheel was. Taking it off at a picnic table I discovered that I had completely bent the rim at the edge and this wasn’t roadside serviceable.
Destroyed front wheel
There was a woman walking on the road right when I hit the pothole and she came over to see if I needed any help. As I pulled off the wheel and inspected the damage I allowed as I did. Her husband was off riding trails on a trials bike (something I was completely unaware of) and she said that after he came back they would haul me into Rosyln which had a bicycle shop. If it was unfixable she offered to take me back to Seattle when the left the next day. Really generous and friendly I gladly accepted her offer. As we waited, we walked down to the Little Salmon La Sac River which was shallow and rocky at this point.
Last view of the Little Salmon la Sac River
This would turn out to be my last encounter with the rivers and mountains in the Winatchee-Okanogon National Forest. Back from the trails, Julie’s husband made some attempts to pound out the dent (but just look at how severe it is) and failing that we loaded my bicycle into their van and drove into Roslyn. They walked around the town while I took it into the NW Bicycle Improvement bicycle shop. Nice helpful guy there but as I suspected they didn’t have a viable replacement rim in stock. So I was prepared to return to the campground and stay overnight and return with Julie and her husband tomorrow. But while I was in the shop they talked it out and decided to just haul me back right away, cutting short their weekend camping. That was super generous and of course while I said I’d be happy to return the next day, I gladly accepted. So back into the van with the bicycle and now it was a reverse trip down I-90 back home. I had them drop me off near the Bellevue Transit Center where I was able to take a bus home.
So this is the first tour I’ve been on that got cut short due to mechanical issues. I’ve had many mechanicals on tour and have fixed most of them in situ, for at least long enough where I could get professional help. But this was unfixable by anyone on the road. While I was lucky with there being people willing to help immediately on had I have to say at no point was I worried or scared. To me handling the unexpected is part of what you are training for in each tour. Just up the road from the accident was the camp host for one of the campgrounds and I knew I could get a ride into Roslyn from them. From Roslyn I could either wait out a replacement wheel, or work out a bus back to Seattle. So while there definitely would be some much less fun effort involved I never felt that I was stuck. Too me the biggest downer was that my mountain camping was cut short right at the point I was really interested it: hiking in the Alpine lake regions. Well I know for sure that I will be back!
Photos taken today: Tourus Interruptus Day 3
Complete Tour photoset: Tourus Interruptus
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Tags: Alpine Lakes, Cle Elum Lake, Cle Elum River, Cooper River, Enchantments, End of Summer Mountain Tour, I90, Northern Exposure, Roslyn, Salmon La Sac, Tourus Interruptus
Written by robert on January 23rd, 2017
NFE at Keechelus Lake
I awoke to a clear, cool morning in the midst of the Cascade Mountains. After making breakfast and breaking down camp I discovered that the outhouse at the Cold Creek Campground was locked. This didn’t bode well. I wasn’t too far from the Hyak Trailhead so I rode back up there to use the facilities. While there my rear tire went flat. This was not a great shock as the rear tire was quite worn with at least one hole in it which had led to this flat. I patched the tube, booted the tire and ended up having lunch at Hyak. So it was after noon before I was back on the trail heading east.
Second tunnel on the IHT
Just past Snoqualmie Pass you are in the midst of the Cascades on a high plateau surrounded by mountains. There are a number of reservoirs up here which feed Seattle and other Western Washington cities. So for several miles the trail winds around Keechelus Lake and is quite level. The east side of the mountains is dryer, but up this high, it isn’t a drastic change. The underbrush thins out, things are less green, there are more pines than firs and so on. As one travels further and further east the flora changes a lot more dramatically. The valley opens up and there are dry, brown grassland, sparse stands of pines and much less shrubbery. In contrast to the tans, browns and yellows is the deep blue of Lake Easton, the turquoise of the Yakima River and as I left the trail, the rocky green Cle Elum River.
A dog playing in the Cle Elum River
I left the trail and headed north toward the small town of Roslyn. Best known as the setting of Cicely, Alaska in the TV show Northern Exposure, the town has had a recent resurgence as a hub for mountain recreation. Getting there by bicycle was pretty straightforward though there was a nice stiff climb up the valley wall. These are all roads that aren’t designed to accommodate bicycles but generally there were good shoulders. Due to my late start I arrived in town around dinnertime and finding the Roslyn Brewery closed I settled on The Brick Saloon. It was taco night at The Brick, which I didn’t indulge I did partake of a Roslyn Brewery Pale Lager which sure helped wash away forty kilometers of trail dust.
The Brick, in Roslyn, WA
The sun was low in the sky once I left Roslyn and rode out to Cle Elum Lake. There are campground all around the northern end of the lake (the boundary of the Alpine Lakes wilderness) and I basically planned to just ride until it was near dark. The road along the lake was all ups and downs and until I entered the Wenatchee National Forest it was pretty dense with upscale “cabins”. It was pretty deep gloaming by the time I reached Red Mountain Campground and it was a few more miles to the next ‘ground, so I deemed it prudent to stop for the night.
Dry end of Cle Elum Lake
There was only one other group of campers on a Tuesday night in Mid-September. A group of college age kids they were definitely having a good time. I camped as far away from them as the ‘ground allowed and only heard the occasional exuberant shout. But it cools right down once the sun is gone and soon enough all of us were in our respective domiciles.
Photos taken today: Tourus Interruptus Day 2
Complete Tour photoset: Tourus Interruptus
Posted in Tourus Interruptus | No Responses »
Tags: Alpine Lakes, Cle Elum Lake, Enchantments, End of Summer Mountain Tour, Iron Horse State Park, Iron Horse Trail, Northern Exposure, Roslyn, Tourus Interruptus
A record of my wanderings, be they by bicycle, camera, foot, or just daydreams.