Last night I toured the campsite and found the huge, complex abandoned cement battery at the end of the campground. I would have loved this place as a kid: it has multiple levels connected by stairs and ladders(!). It has dark passageways, tunnels and steel doors that can be opened and shut. The interiors were very dark and it was a fun exercise to try and figure out what each chamber’s purpose! What fun!
I slept great, and soundly, only waking up to remove pressure from the recurring arthritis in my left shoulder.
I decided overnight, and reaffirmed this morning, to proceed as planned west around the Olympic Peninsula. As the weather people projected, the winds have shifted bringing the heavy smoke into the Puget Sound area. The orange sunrise helped me diced to continue west and get as much costal air as I can.
The route today is to exit Port Townsend and follow a series of highways, roads and a lot of fantastic bike trails to the town of Sequim, Wa. There I will load up with a few days of food and proceed to Dungeness County Campground, on the bay just north of Sequim.
As typical for me, it took a lot longer to get out of the city than it should. I decided to follow some direction markets painted on the road that I have been following for a few days now. I should have just followed the printed map I am carrying: the marks led me to the Port Townsend fairgrounds, but ended there when the roads turned to dirt. I used Google maps, but kept missing that I was supposed to enter an overgrown, unsaved walkway. Once I figured all that out I rid the gauntlet being snagged from both sides by wild blackberry bushes. I complain, but the berries taste great! I was finally on the west end of town, where the paper mill was fully operational
I rode intermittently on Wa Hwy 20 and Interstate 101, both of which had decent shoulders, but the majority of the ride was on bike trails or seldom used side roads. This was a special day of riding that I will need to recall while being buzzed by Winnebago’s on shoulder-less roads. I found an awesome looking volunteer Fire Dept
Speaking of shoulders, I decided to visit one of Washington’s ubiquitous Cannabis shops to try a CBD cream for my shoulder. Don’t judge me(!), this is legal science in action. Besides, I heard about CBD on NPR, so there! I plan on trying it out tonight and will post the updates. I do have to say that I felt guilty going into the shop and noticed I am the only one in the store without a tattoo…
I did not have many great views today because of the trees, but you will have to trust me that the Sequim Bay is in the background of this photo
While the bike trails were fantastic, there was one sketchy bit- seems heavy rains undercut the trail supports!
It was simple enough to get around.
I ate lunch on a bench in front of the Gardiner City Community Center. There was a road to the beach, which was probably great, but it looked pretty steep.
I arrived in Sequim and found it to be a bigger city than I expected. I bought meals for today and tomorrow and loaded them into my packs. The ride to Dungeness County Campground was mostly on a bike trail and as is the custom, hiker/biker campsites are drop in (not reservable) and separated from the other spots. Again, I have the site to myself. Oh, and this place has hot showers for only 50 cents!
Thanks for reading!
Dale's Pacific Crest Trail hike -- 2019 