XWA Day 2 Olympic & Kitsap Peninsulas

Day 2 started off with an early alarm clock. I got up and quickly packed my gear and got rolling around 5:30AM. I knew that morning I would get warmed up with the big climb up Bon Jon pass. I had a steep hike-a-bike out of the campground right off the bat and then a long steady ride climb up to Bon Jon pass. I underestimated the route here and thought I was done climbing after Bon Jon, but that is just the beginning as it keeps going up on the other side of the pass until just prior to the Mt. Townsend TH. There were a few small patches of snow here. I passed Jason's bivy soon after leaving my camp on the way up Bon Jon and then later Tom (TS) just after Bon Jon. I filled water in the streams on this section and treated with iodine. I eventually made it down the lower Big Quil trail with no problems and bombed down into Quilcene. I was really wanting a nice hot breakfast sandwich and coffee and I pulled up to an espresso stand. Sadly no breakfast sandwiches but I got a coffee and relaxed for a bit and threw out some garbage (it was always hard for me to remember to throw away my garbage at each stop). Since I didn't get food, I rolled just a little ways further to the grocery and got my first hot food of the trip (crisp deli tacos). There were several other riders at the store with me here. I mounted my map board and got my maps ready for the next section. I knew the Port Ludlow section would be a little tricky navigation so I had printed out good maps here and I got through with no problems. Across the hood canal bridge and onto old home-turf trails in Port Gamble. Riding in Port Gamble brought back some strong memories of previous years living in Kitsap. One of which was taking my son on his first trail ride right after he got his first pedal bike for Christmas. I remember fishing him out of a mud puddle after he tried to ride through and then fell over right in the middle of it. After that I was pushing both my bike and his bike about a mile back to the car as he was having no more riding that day. I saw a big owl sleeping in a tree right next to the trail and a coyote in this section. I kept riding hard all the way to the ferry and rolled up right in time to load at the back of the boat. Rick (RM) was on the same ferry (in front) and we rolled off in Edmonds together. He had a room in Lynnwood off Hwy 99 and offered to share it with me so I took him up. It was fun to chat with Rick and share life stories and he eventually finished with a very strong 2nd place. This was a shorter day and I was prepared to go further, but it worked out fine. I ate a whole tub of Ben and Jerry's at the hotel among other snacks. Reflecting back on the day, it was a bit mind boggling to think that I rode both Lower Big Quil and Wild West on the same day without a vehicle to get between the two trailheads.

DAY 2: 95mi, 9200ft elev. gain, 14hrs, Dungeness Forks-Lynnwood

The easy snow

Snow Selfie