These three days had us walking a low elevation alternate on the foothills around the snowy Olympic Mountains. We walked through S’Klallam and Coast Salish ancestral lands.
Day 9 – Alternate Mile 43.9 – Bike trail walking
We continued east on the Olympic Discovery Trail this morning, which was a paved bike path that turned into a paved low-traffic road. We saw lots of bike tourers, which was cool. Shortly after getting on the road, we stopped at the Log Cabin Resort on Lake Crescent for lunch. Not exactly a wilderness experience, but tasty food always makes us happy, especially Tim who drank four coffees! Shortly after lunch we saw a sign for the Olympic Adventure Trail, a single track alternate to the Olympic Discovery Trail for mountain bikers/horses/hiking. Perfect!! It is a great trail with nice trees/moss/ferns and occasional ocean views. And we saw a lot of snakes on it. -R
Day 10 – Alternate Mile 64.7 – Port Angeles
We woke up early today in hopes of making it into the town of Port Angeles before noon. We got started hiking fairly early (~6:30), and the Olympic Adventure Trail continued to impress us as it weaved through the low-elevation hills of the Northern Olympic Peninsula. We saw a few runners on the trail, including one who told us he hiked the PCT in 2016 — cool! We only made it to the outskirts of Port Angeles by noon, but that still gave us plenty of time to get into the heart of town and get our town chores done. We even went to the Port Angeles aquatic center and enjoyed their showers and hot tub! The hot tub was delightful for our sore muscles. Tonight we are camped at an RV park in Port Angeles — we plan to get back on the trail first thing in the morning. -T
Day 11 – Alternate Mile 87.7 – Meeting locals
This morning we left Port Angeles via the Olympic Discovery bike trail, stopping for a coffee on our way out of town. We headed back towards the foothills on a paved road, and eventually made it into Olympic National Forest. We’re following a combination of trails and dirt forest service roads through the NF as we make our way back to the official PNT. Walking the roads was a fun adventure because we met a few different locals today who were super friendly and learned some history of the area. For example, the Olympic Adventure mountain bike trail we were on the past two days was built by inmates called the “Chain Gang”. -R
Enjoying following your adventures, keep it up and the stories. As I live across the water from your current position, southern Vancouver Island, here is a wave across the strait to you two.
I’m happy you’re on alternate trails and enjoying them. I hope you’ve healed up Tim. Hug Renee for me. 🙂