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…
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…
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…
In 2016 I undertook three tours, the last of which end abruptly. This is the tale of that tour. My plan was to take the bus up to North Bend and then ride to the Iron Horse Trail which I would then take nearly to Cle Elum. From there I’d ride to Roslyn, Cle Elum Lake and then to a campground on the very edge of the Alpine Lakes region. There I would camp for several…
Coastal Contemplations index In June 2016 I spent two weeks touring on the Pacific Coast. A leisurely tour, the emphasize was on the scenery, the environments and contemplation. As usual I blogged the tour here as it went on the links of which I have collected here. Additionally I took over a thousand photos on this tour and a selection of these from each day have been uploaded to Flickr. Links to each days photos…
in beads of dew one by one my home village -Issa all things must pass I made one last stop in The Whit at the New Day Bakery – which was great – before I made my way to the Amtrak Station. This being the beginning of the Amtrak Cascades route the train was ready and waiting for me. I pulled off my bicycle bags and helped the porter left it into the baggage car. I found…
in summer cool ambling down my road to hell -Issa a step east On this day I would leave 101 for the first time since joining it in SW Washington. I was riding to Eugene which was a fair piece and since I desired to spend some time in the city I left early. It was partially blue skids when I left camp but it clouded up as I made my way north (still on 101 for…
dancing butterflies— my journey forgotten for a while -Issa the butterfly flies anyway Umpqua Lighthouse State Park was the southern most extent of my journeys. In fact I had gone beyond the road where I needed to start heading east. So this day requires back tracking north for a ways. But I was going to camp just before the turn east so this was going to be a short days ride. I began by heading…
where I saw a pretty bird… they burn the mountain -Issa without intentions This day was mostly clear, with an unusual southerly wind blowing white streamers of clouds across the blue canvas. On the road I almost immediately reached Yachats where I stopped at the Bread & Roses Bakery and lingered over their fine coffee and baked goods. Departing I found my rear tire flat. I fixed that in Yacharts but all of this found…
plum blossoms— in my account book I enter “cash for sake” -Issa beach to beach It rained all night only ceasing upon the dawn. So it was a damp morning of packing as I broke camp and headed south. A scant distance Down 101 I came to Newport and the turnoff to Yaquina Head Lighthouse. A classic lightouse right at the end of the headlands overlooking the dramatic and rocky coast. There were vast amounts…