Deception Point State Park
60 miles today
110 Miles down
I woke up rested after have slept cold though the night. I am glad I brought my hammock but I am beginning to think I should have brought more insulation for the bottom. Still it is far more comfortable than sleeping on the hard and rocky ground found in the campsites I have been in.
Given how hard this tour has been I am feeling surprisingly good. Still I wish I had trained more in prep. In all the tours I have done in the past I think I may have had to stop twice on a climb, even in the Adirondack Mountains, but I find myself stopping several times a day, often more than once on a single climb.
A couple people, Russel and Karen, came by my campsite today. Russel is from Australia and is exploring the area and I assume Karen is a friend joining him for a stretch. Tell told me about a a nature program down at the beach that was happening in about 20 minutes. I hurriedly packed up and headed down to the beach to meet them.
There we all got a quick lesson on how to responsibly explore and then set lose. I had never been in a tide pool and the experience was simply amazing. I have never seen anyplace more full of life. Every surface was crusted with living things! Immediately obvious were mussels and barnacles. Looking more closely I learned about limpets, chitons, and saw more critters that I have yet to identify. Lifting up rocks showed even more life below. Thousands of tiny crabs could be found everywhere, most the size of my finger nails though some bigger. Finally the last thing I found was clams who stuck out large fleshy feet to feed on the water lapping over them. When I touched one it responded by sucking it's foot in and squirting a jet of water at me in the process. The depressing thing about my exploration was there was so much life growing everywhere that even though I chose my steps carefully I new every last one was likely causing peril to something unseen.
The sea gulls were also neat to watch. As I sat I saw them pick up mussels and fly a short distance in the air then drop them on rocks in an effort to crack the shells.
After that I started on my day late but not upset. It was worth every minute. As I worked my way away from the park I ran into another cycling couple, this time local who gave me a recommendation that put me near the water. It was a nice gentle route with rolling hills that ran me along the shore or a river. On the muddy sores of the river I saw a majestic Heron stalking it's prey. I watched it for a few seconds and before I could get my camera out it got spoked and flew on down the river.
Later I passed a feild where someone had a large radio controlled plane. They are doing all sorts of stunts that made me fear for the plane.
In Bellingham I found a marine supply store where finally I bought some fuel for my stove. It was beautiful city with lots fo cute stores. I stopped by the library to get grab my email and upload my journal entries. After that I caught the bike trail that meandered along the shore. It eveantually ended up on a causeway that parrelled the shore for what felt like half a mile or more. I got a good view of the horizon and bay before me.
The day ended with a hour of chilled biking. Road construction redirected the bike route over steep hills and then I had to cross couple very narrow bridges. Fortunaly Washinton State law sets aside a few campsites for bikers at every state park so even though it was almost dark there was still a biker site for me.
All in all today was good day, I made good miles, the morning rocked, and I found a good place to sleep. I look forward to getting and earlier start tomorrow though so I can set up camp before dark.
Oh, also I got no flats today!!
60 miles today
110 Miles down
I woke up rested after have slept cold though the night. I am glad I brought my hammock but I am beginning to think I should have brought more insulation for the bottom. Still it is far more comfortable than sleeping on the hard and rocky ground found in the campsites I have been in.
Given how hard this tour has been I am feeling surprisingly good. Still I wish I had trained more in prep. In all the tours I have done in the past I think I may have had to stop twice on a climb, even in the Adirondack Mountains, but I find myself stopping several times a day, often more than once on a single climb.
A couple people, Russel and Karen, came by my campsite today. Russel is from Australia and is exploring the area and I assume Karen is a friend joining him for a stretch. Tell told me about a a nature program down at the beach that was happening in about 20 minutes. I hurriedly packed up and headed down to the beach to meet them.
There we all got a quick lesson on how to responsibly explore and then set lose. I had never been in a tide pool and the experience was simply amazing. I have never seen anyplace more full of life. Every surface was crusted with living things! Immediately obvious were mussels and barnacles. Looking more closely I learned about limpets, chitons, and saw more critters that I have yet to identify. Lifting up rocks showed even more life below. Thousands of tiny crabs could be found everywhere, most the size of my finger nails though some bigger. Finally the last thing I found was clams who stuck out large fleshy feet to feed on the water lapping over them. When I touched one it responded by sucking it's foot in and squirting a jet of water at me in the process. The depressing thing about my exploration was there was so much life growing everywhere that even though I chose my steps carefully I new every last one was likely causing peril to something unseen.
The sea gulls were also neat to watch. As I sat I saw them pick up mussels and fly a short distance in the air then drop them on rocks in an effort to crack the shells.
After that I started on my day late but not upset. It was worth every minute. As I worked my way away from the park I ran into another cycling couple, this time local who gave me a recommendation that put me near the water. It was a nice gentle route with rolling hills that ran me along the shore or a river. On the muddy sores of the river I saw a majestic Heron stalking it's prey. I watched it for a few seconds and before I could get my camera out it got spoked and flew on down the river.
Later I passed a feild where someone had a large radio controlled plane. They are doing all sorts of stunts that made me fear for the plane.
In Bellingham I found a marine supply store where finally I bought some fuel for my stove. It was beautiful city with lots fo cute stores. I stopped by the library to get grab my email and upload my journal entries. After that I caught the bike trail that meandered along the shore. It eveantually ended up on a causeway that parrelled the shore for what felt like half a mile or more. I got a good view of the horizon and bay before me.
The day ended with a hour of chilled biking. Road construction redirected the bike route over steep hills and then I had to cross couple very narrow bridges. Fortunaly Washinton State law sets aside a few campsites for bikers at every state park so even though it was almost dark there was still a biker site for me.
All in all today was good day, I made good miles, the morning rocked, and I found a good place to sleep. I look forward to getting and earlier start tomorrow though so I can set up camp before dark.
Oh, also I got no flats today!!
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