5 days around the olympic peninsula
i've managed to get a multi-day tour in the third week of august the last three years in a row. this year the tradition continued with jaytee on doin a lap around the olympic peninsula. i think i might have underestimated this route a bit. its a hilly and remote son o' bitch of a route. maybe a one and doner, but god dang it we got it done 🤝 and glad we did. the coast is always a good time.
i met up jaytee at the fast ferry downtown bound for kingston. an easy way to get this tour underway if you start on a weekday. i changed up this bike a bit since the seattle to spokane tour. i put on some randonneur bars, a new stem, shimano brake levers, and got a dynamo hub on the wheelset. i also opted for rear panniers this time around as opposed to the big ol saddle sack. happy with all the changes.
jaytee and i were takin it a bit too easy on the first couple days. we'd later pay for that on the back end of the tour. we got off the ferry and went straight to the filling station for a beer and a shot. we were a bit eager to be on vacation.
quick little lunch in port gamble 10 mi in.
little country markets are the oasis on these journey's. the quilcene village store was my favorite one on this tour. well stocked variety of food good for camping, good beer selection, a friggin mochi freezer, and a selection of whiskey. icing on the cake is that they are open til 11:00 pm. frickin' stores in capitol hill don't even stay open that late anymore!
we got about 60 mi in the first day and 5k of elevation. a decent start. we spent the night at the hiker/biker spots at sequim bay campground.
we woke up in sequim bay and had a a lazy morning for no particular reason. slowly made some coffee, ate some breakfast, packed up, and checked out the beach for a bit. it was a beautiful morning. we didn't leave until about 10:00 am. as i said, we were in vacation mode the first two days. it was an easy paved 20 mi on the olympic discovery trail to port angeles.
talked to a dude for a bit after takin this photo and a swig of whiskey. legend has it some vietnam draft dodgers still live in those mountains.
we were really on vacation mode once we hit port angeles. ate some goofy chocolate, went to swains, and had a two hour lunch by the water. found this pretty sweet vw on the way.
had a nice cool down swim in the elwha. as i said we were on vacation mode. we'd pay for it on day 5.
we were swimming around when a teen girl found a dead salmon. she played around with it like a golden retriever for a bit too long.
we hit the OAT after the river. steep hills, ravines, switch backs, good dirt, and some views. we were determined to get to lake crescent, but we wouldn't make it. it gets dark early in those woods and the paths are narrow. thought someone might find me at the bottom of a ravine if we didnt stop and set up camp. we did at about 10:00 pm. lost my nalgene and the last of our whiskey to the trails. we smoked a cigarette for dinner.
we pedaled about 15 mi into lake crescent on the morning of day 3. had ourselves another swim and a big breakfast.
we did get about 85 mi in on day 3. not bad, but still had plenty to go. enjoyed some pavement on the ODT and saw the sea to sound riders out there.
we went into forks for a resupply. drank as much liquid as we could. made sure to replace our bottle of whiskey. i didn't buy an extra big bottle of water assuming there'd be water at our campground that night. i gambled wrong.
day 4: we slept at cottonwood campground (dnr land). we managed to snag the last sort of spot at dark. we were dreaming of a shower at this point, but (spoiler) that wasn't happening this trip.
when we woke up for day 4, we searched the campground for a water spigot as we were both down to about half a bottle. no luck, so we packed up and hoped that the campground (hoh ox bow) up the road would have one.
as we rolled up to the next campground, i saw the writing on the wall. there was no spigot there either. while knowing the answer, i stopped the nearest camper and asked if there was a spigot at there. he got the hint and spared us the last half of their lemon flavored trader joe's sparkling water bottle. got us two a about a bottle each. they were a couple italian's doing a US tour by car. god bless those fckrs.
that water carried us to the top of the first big ol climb. 1,300 ft straight up in the heat. we spent all that water on that hill. we knew we had another 2,500 ft climb ahead.
you'll see on the ridwithgps there is an option to skip that next logging mountain climb and head straight to lake quinalt where there would be guaranteed supplies. i told jaytee that if we couldn't get water, there's no way i can make it up that climb. he was feeling the same, but both of us also felt we needed to climb that thing or we wouldnt have done the whole dang route. plus this view of the first climb was pretty dang good. would we be missing something?
we soared down that hill keepin our eyes peeled for any water source. we rolled into clearwater. i swear i saw a few spigots on the back end of some properties, but we are bit out in the country and didn't want to gamble with trespassing. there was a hipcamp (salmon run hospitality) along the road as we came through town, with a trail down to clearwater river. a couple unoccupied tents were up with the peple presumably hiking. i'd be lying if i said i didnt snoop a little bit around for a water jug. didn't see any, so we walked down to the river.
we were filterless, so we waded out into the water. we filled up a bottle and stared at it for a minute. it was looking so clear and refreshing. the water was moving at a good pace and it was pretty devoid of development up river. we took a sip to test and that opened the flood gates. we were both chugging river water. fuck it, we're climbing that hill.
after filling up our bottles then rinsing ourselves off, we had little lunch at the campground. we had more whiskey left from forks. told myself that would kill any river bateria if i took a few swigs.
we climbed that friggin hill, belly full of river water. it was a quiet and narrow national forest road, so i was a bit surprised when a yellow jeep wrangler rolled up on me as ascended the mountain. i pulled over to let em by and they stopped and chatted for a minute. they told me they use to ride mountain bike trails off this road years ago and were just trying to skip out on 101 traffic on the way back to hoquiam. before they headed on there way they gave me a couple water bottles out of the cooler. i let em know jaytee was ahead so they loaded up a couple more to hand off to him as they rode by. I chugged one and finished the hill.
we were hoping to get about a 100 mi in that day, but those hills were killer. we were at about 60 when we got to lake quinalt and knew we couldn't go further. there was an rv campground behind the convienience store where we resupplied. i went over the camp host to plead for a spot in their field. she told us she couldn't do it since they don't have a restroom available for us, but the pizza shop next door sometimes lets folks camp behind their spot since they have a port-o-potty. she walked up there with us, vouched for us, and got us a camp spot for the night behind dino's. really lived off everyone's kindness on day 4. we smashed some pizza, downed a frosty manny's, and put our asses to bed. we had a 120 mi to go.
we had a decent sleep behind dino's and needed an early start. just as we were about to leave the lady running convenience store opened her doors at 7. we resupplied and i scored some advil that saved my knee that on the upcoming hills. the night before i got a flat about a mile outside lake quinalt on the 101. it was a bit of a rush job and i don't think i got enough air in there. i got a flat within 5 min of entering the first forest service road of the day. we patched it and jaytee's pump did a better job than mine.
jaytee scored some coors at the store that morning. they were some how still a lil cold at the top of the first big climb. we sipped some beer, i popped another advil, and we rolled down to the last big climb of the trip. just as we started climbing that second hill, i snapped my chain. that beer got me through that surprisingly quick fix. nothin felt better than getting to the top of that hill knowing that was the last one of the trip. we smoked our last cig up there and relished in the fact it was going to be a nice long cruise into bremerton.
it was a 60 mile mostly flat and scenic ride through skokomish, union, and the southern end of the hood canal. i wish i had more time to take photos along that section, but the roads were fast and narrow. you'll have to see it for yourself. we had a vision of finishing at mezcalitos and had to beat the clock. nothin sounded better than a margarita and some mexican food after 5 days of roughin it. we made it in at the buzzer.
this route was a challenging one. it lures you in and lets you put your guard down on those first couple days. before you know it, you're way out in remote, rough, and hilly landscapes. day 4 and 5, jaytee and i were saying this was a one and done type of trip. a couple weeks have passed now - the bike tour tribulation amnesia has settled in a bit and jaytee is tryna run this one back again next summer - crazy bastard. it is one hell of route. I'd maybe add a sixth day to go off course and hit some of those friggin wa coast beaches.