Day 7 - Colonial Campground to Winthrop, WA

Miles 64.7

Total Miles 345.7

 Had a nice night.  It rained off and on through the night.  Again, glad we had the RV instead of wet tents.  We all had to leave together today, since we need to head to Colonial campground again.  We arrived at our starting point about 9:00 a d took off.  We were immediately climbing.  The views to the top were again exquisite.  It did take the mind off the climb a bit to see the beauty and hear all the creeks as the rumbled down the mountainsides.

About 5 hours and 15 minutes later, I arrived at the top having traveled 32 miles of mostly uphill climbing.  It really was rather brutal.  I averaged 7 mph, but on the climbs, I was mostly traveling 4/5 mph. I just have to settle in and climb and not worry about how little distance I am moving. The peak was at 5,500 ft and I still had 32 miles to get to Winthrop. According to the map, it was mostly downhill, but as I started descending, I noticed that the wind was blowing right into our faces.  When the decent was steep, you would still move quickly, but as the decent lessened on the bottom, I actually had to pedal going down.  That was frustrating.  We pretty much fought the wind all the way to Winthrop.  We arrived about 4:45 and I was beat.  I don’t know if I have ever climbed a mountain to that extent.

One cool thing that happened was these young men passed me up as I created the mountain and then a mile or down the other side were standing by the road holding up a bottle of Gatorade and a banana.  I stopped and they asked if I needed it and I told them they couldn’t have been more timely as I ran out of water on my way up.  What wonderful people there are in the world.  It just always amazes me.

Brandon had everything set up at the RV park for us to arrive and crash for a bit.  We went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and it tasted so good.  We are going to watch a movie tonight and I feel like I can use a goodnight.  

One of the things that really surprised me was how different the foliage is from one side of the mountain to the other.  This is a picture from the east side.  It so much more dry.

The West side. 😊

Day 6 Rockport, WA to Colonial Creek Campground

 Miles 37 & 47.5

Total miles 280.8

It is kind of different that the descriptions on places, I am having to use campgrounds because we are not in any City or town.  We had 28 miles of pretty easy flat riding today and then came time to start climbing Washington pass.  It does a few ups and downs, but the summit is at 5,477 ft and we started at near 0.  We made it up about a fourth of the way today and tomorrow we get to tackle the rest. :) When we climb mountains like that, I just settle into about a 4.5 mph pace and just spend some time.

You can see that there are two mileages for the day.  We couldn’t get a campground where we wanted to finish (it is a weekend), so we were going to call Brandon about 10 miles prior to finishing.  However, when we got up on the mountain we had no cell service for AT&T not Verizon. So when we got to the campground, I rode the 10 miles back to a small town and called Brandon.  He came and picked me up and then we drove up the mountain and got Tim.  We then drove back down to a campground about 15 miles of the one we stayed at last night.  If we would have been on bikes and carrying our tents, we could have stayed, but it has been raining all afternoon, so still happy we have the RV.

The scenery has been gorgeous. We are riding along the Skagit River and they have have dams up the river making some beautiful lakes and the steep tree covered mountains are just so pretty.  We rode all day in 50 degree weather.  The skies were overcast and then when we finally arrived in camp at about 3:00 and it started raining and has been raining since.  It is supposed to clear up tomorrow and actually get a little warmer.

Day 5 Deception Pass Campground to Rockport, WA

 Miles 64

Total Miles 233.3

I had a hard time sleeping last night. I was up at 5 and read for a bit in bed before falling back to sleep until 6:30. We were having some issues with the water in the RV and I think I was worried about that.

There was a bridge to cross right as we left this morning and the bridge was under repair.  We walked the bikes across on the sidewalk, but because of the construction, there was just room to walk beside the bike. It was kind of a pain. Literally. You just kept hitting the pedals with your leg.  I am sure there are going to be some bruises.

It was pretty flat riding today.  You can see the mountains in the east that we will be climbing on Saturday.  They just keep getting taller and taller as we get closer. These mountains in Washington are so green and pretty with all the trees.

Some nice riding through a bunch of towns today.  We went through Anacortes, Burlington, Sedro-Woolley, Concrete and a half dozen smaller places.  It was fun going through each one.  The maps we use keep you off the busy roads, so it was through the residential areas we went. It was fun to see homes and people.  The area we rode through is the Skagit Valley. A lot of agriculture, logging and mining takes place here. It’s a very pretty place.

It was again cool today.  Clouds threatened us with rain, but we again lucked out.  As soon as we arrived in camp, it began to rain. Worked on the water issues when we got back and I think I have them solved. Time will tell. There was a local grill close by and they were having taco night, so that’s what we had for dinner.  It was actually very good.

A view from the bridge we crossed this morning

Concrete Washington. Used to be know for cement that was produced here.  All gone now.

A beautiful bridge in Concrete

Sauk Mountain

Day 4 Port Townsend Hip Camp to Deception Pass, WA

 Miles 44.9

Total miles 169.3

We finished our ride on the Olympic peninsula today.  We had scheduled the ferry passage for Brandon and the RV at 8:00 this morning as that was the only time that was available.  We all got up early and got things ready and sent Brandon off at 7:00 to make his time.  We rode the 16 miles to get there and had to take the 9:30 ferry.  Bikes don’t have to reserve the time as they just load all bikers in the front.  It cost $70 to take the RV and $4.50 to take the bike.  

We are now on Widbey Island, WA.  Actually we are on the northern tip of the island and will be riding first thing in the morning to the mainland Washington and close to Anacortes, WA.  This is the place I was going to originally start before Tim suggested riding across the Olympic Peninsula, which I am glad we did, however it has added some days to my plan which I hope I will be able to do.

Today’s riding was nice, but we did have to ride some busy roads. This mornings ride wasn’t on that great of road in that the shoulder wasn’t very wide and it was busy. The rest of the busy roads today had good shoulders and we did have a few trails. The weather was again very cool.  It pretty much remained in the 50’s. However, the sun did shine, so we enjoyed that.

Tonight we are in Deception Pass State Park. We are again staying close to the shores of the Puget Sound. We took a nice walk tonight and watched the sun go down. Didn’t have the camera so missed a great picture. 

Paper factory in PortTownsend

Riding to the ferry

Day 3 Crescent Beach Campground to Port Townsend Hip Camp

 Mileage 56.4

Total Miles 124.4

 Left the beach this morning and that will be it as far as beach camping for the trip. Another really good day of riding.  We were on trails for probably 2/3rds of the day.  The trails were in all kind of conditions.  Newly paved, old and rather rough and even crushed rock, but over all it was nice to be off the roads.

It does take longer to ride, however, when you are off the roads. When you come to roads and need to cross, the bike always needs to yield to the cars (of course 😊) and so you are constantly slowing to check the traffic.

 

These daisies just went throughout this valley.  It was really pretty.

Even did some single track.

We had a 60% chance of rain today, but got by without too much trouble.  It sprinkled on us for a bit, but really didn’t get us wet.  It looks like we could get a little tonight.  The sky is currently getting pretty dark. Temperatures didn’t really get much above the 50’s today.  Kept the jacket on the entire day.  I guess that is just northwest weather.

 We are staying at a “Hip Camp” tonight.  I didn’t know even what a Hip Camp is, but it’s made for tent campers and those sleeping in their car or vehicle to have a place to stop and camp without really any hookups.  Tim did the planning for this area and there was just nothing else around.  It will work for us.  They have a shower, but you were nearly in the open using it.  I guess there is no one around now, so it worked great.

 Haven’t been out to eat yet since we started riding.  There just hasn’t been any towns close to where we are staying. That is good on the budget, but I think everyone is getting tired of the type of food I brought along.  Tonight, Tuna Helper, salad and beans!!

 These have been great rides to get us ready for the mountains which we will get into in a couple days.  I hope I’m ready when the time comes. 😐

Day2 La Push, WA to Crescent Beach Campground, WA

 

Miles 63

Total Miles 68

 

What a great day of riding.  Today’s route was through a bit of the Olympic National Park and areas adjacent to it.  Probably about half the ride was on roads and half on paved rail trail.  There were areas that were just stunning in their beauty.  I will have some pictures and hope they do justice.

The State of Washington has done a great job with the rail trail to and around Lake Crescent.  The forest is a rain forest and it is just amazing how green and thick the foliage is. The trail is smooth and I think Tim and I were the only ones in there today.  It was just so peaceful and quiet.

 It was a little cool today.  I don’t think it got much over 50 and the sky was cloudy most of the day.  We had to dress pretty warm and we kept the warm cloths on all day.  The last hour or so of riding it did start to sprinkle on us.  We put the rain jackets on and of course since we did that, it stopped.  I guess that makes it worth it.

 We didn’t ride through any communities, so just relied on the things we packed to eat.  It seems when we do these trips, I eat oatmeal for nearly every breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and then we just packed a bunch of stuff we can easily cook for dinner.  Tonight, we had bean with bacon soup and toasted cheese sandwiches.  Actually, it all tasted great. 

 I don’t think I mentioned yet how we are doing this trip.  We are not carrying all our gear (self contained) as we have done in the past.  We are taking the motor home as our SAG wagon and my son Brandon is driving it each day to our next stop and we camping and cooking etc in it.  Brandon is trying to work as we go along. He said today turned out well, but access to internet is going to be key to him getting things done and the place we are tonight doesn’t have much to offer.  It is there but tremendously slow.

 Well, that all for tonight.  Hope you are all well!! Goodnight.

That tree is growing right up from the stump of a previously cut tree. Crazy.

Our camp!!

Plenty of these passed us today.

Part of the rail trail.  It was dark and just walked the bike through.  Not too long, but it curved its way through.

Brandon & Dolly

Day 1&2 Home to La Push Washington

 Miles 5

Another start to another adventure.  The plan is to finish my cross North America goal.  I had planned to start in Anocortes, Washington and the Tim Love, my great long-time riding companion (usually we have Nancy Maio, his wife with us) decided to join and suggested we start in La Push and have a true Pacific Ocean start.  I thought that was a great idea.

Brandon and I drove from Burley to Tacoma Washington yesterday to where Tim and Nancy live.  It was 700 miles and about 11 hours of driving, but with both of us it went rather well. We had a great visit with them both and they were so kind to feed us my favorite hamburger meal and then just enjoyed the night catching up.

 Today we made the 170 mile trip from Tacoma to La Push.  La Push is actually in the Olympic National Park.  It rained for most of our trip here and well into the afternoon.  Currently, the sun is shining and things are supposed to clear up.  It is 54 degrees and very pretty.  The tress and foliage are so green and thick.

We start riding tomorrow.  The overall plan is to take 4 weeks and ride from here to Wolf Point, Montana, where I started last year.  If things all work out, we will ride 1,200 miles.  Looking forward to it.

The three of us (and Dolly) starting this new adventure.

The ocean at La Push.  I wish it wasn't so rainy.  It was a beautiful place.

This is Tim, my riding companion.  Great to be with him again.

The traditional dipping of the bike tire in the Pacific.

Close to our starting place was the home of Cullen's (Twilight, you know?).  We decided to make a visit since we were so close.