Day 84, Friday
Port Townsend WA to Hoh Rain Forest WA
Most of the ride around the Olympic Peninsula was mostly views of pine trees. They are everywhere up here. The national forests here are managed and logged so you can see different age trees in different parts of the mountains. With some areas having been recently clear cut.
I finally got to the Pacific at a beach called Beach 2, strange name. The
fog became very intense as I got near. The day had been clear and sunny until now. The fog made for very chilly riding. I parked and hiked about a mile to the beach. Very beautiful. Took some pictures and left. I made the mistake of wearing my riding gear on my hike to the beach. Even though it was cold at first, by the time I got back I was drenched in sweat.
The ride the rest of the day was through pine forests which is not very interesting. By the time I got to the Hoh Rain Forest it was time to start looking for a place to spend the night. I decided to camp out so I headed into the park hoping to find a place to eat before camping. No luck there. All there was was a small store runned by a very kind and friendly mother and daughter. They moved up here from Florida and bought the place earlier this year.
I bought supplies; wine, beef jerky, turkey slices, pickled mushrooms, and carrots sticks. Sounds like another so so dinner huh? It was pretty bad. By the time I drove the 12 miles to the camp ground it was dark already. I got my campsite and was dismayed to find that there was no where I could get firewood. I would have to drive back out to the store to buy some. I didn’t buy any earlier because there was no room on the bike to put it. With the small roads the round trip will take me almost an hour. Oh well…
I made the trip safely even though I was driving a little too fast. There are lots of deer and elk around, hitting one would end my trip immediately. I finally got the fire going with the starter fluids the ladies at the store kindly gave to me for free. There is not much to do when you are camping alone except sit there and stare at the fire. At almost midnight a car pulled into the camp spot across the lane and man, they had the brightest damn camping light. It lit up the whole area.
After the firewood was all used up I decided to try sleeping on the park bench instead of the tent. By this time it was pretty damn cold. I tried laying there on my mattress on top of the bench for a while staring up at the amazing night sky. At one point I even put on my helmet to try to stay warm. This ain’t working. So I crawled into my tent to prepare for another uncomfortable night fully clothed in riding gear. Why do I can’t out again??? And oh, my lap top died tonight. Damn thing.
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knappn/sets/72157602076894794/
