Monday, September 26, 2011

washington pass

i picked the wrong day to get through the cascades. it's about a 60 mile stretch back to any civilization, so i camped at diablo lake to get as close as possible. it started raining the night before when i thought i might make dinner. i had to stay in the tent and eat jerky and vegetables instead. the fire i'd already started soon died.

it sort of worked out as the camp was not very occupied (and no fee -- yay). in the early hours, a bear was knocking stuff around in the campgrounds 50 yards on either side of me. i'd put everything but the bike in the metal bear box except the jerky. so when i heard the bear i put my stinky clothes over the bag of jerky. gross i know, but it worked i suppose.

i slept extremely well as there was no noise except the bear and it was pitch dark. seriously, there was absolutely no light. not true the night before. here is a blurb i wrote about that experience:

i've seen the zombie apocolypse

it turns out to be a campground full of meth addicts. they stay up until midnight, sleep for two hours, then suddenly find themselve helpless unless they are chopping wood and burning an amazing amount of it, preparing their fishing boats, talking about the stupidest things -- the list goes on.

there are warning signs. for instance, if you arrive at a campground and there's a dude sitting way off to the side staring who knows where while a fire blazes with too many logs, then there's going to be some meth zombies that night. plus they have way more gear than a "normal" camper would ever dream or be able to pack modestly in their vehicles.

maybe zombie isn't the correct word. they're more like a cross between harmless vampires and zombies who need something (constructive?) to do in the wee hours. i'll give them this: they don't seem to be thieves or otherwise very harmful. just noisy and busy.

more of diablo lake from camp

note the fleeting attempt at blue sky

diablo lake from camp

this one is diablo lake

one of the dammed lakes for seattle city light -- i forget which one

warning: bigfoot/sasquatch crossing

you may not believe it, but i saw a few of them. i promised not to take any pictures though. sorry

marble mount

skagit river

unbelievable emerald color

the cascades

they will not be so inviting by the time i get to them

bike touring shadow

i guess i had a little free time

sunset looking back to anacortes

on the way out of anacortes towards mt vernon

that'd be nice too

i guess it was cheap to build???

more lopez island

lopez island

suppose to be the flattest island for cycling. they had a few 10+ % grades. seems wsdot didn't grade anything on the san juan islands. they just paved over any hills.

glimpse of shaw island from the ferry

as i didn't land there

eastsound, orcas island

had the best, if not very richest, coconut cream pie at a place called passion for pies. their shepherd's pie was incredible too.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

more fun stuff on the way back to camp

the trail on the way back to camp

some more views from mt constitution

some views from mt constitution

trail to mt constitution

an island within a lake within an island

it's a man-made lake, so doesn't count the same as lake chamberlin (i think) that has this on fidalgo island

not enough light, and i had the brightness setting too dim on the camera

but i really like the blurred, pastel result

since i missed riding to the top of mt constitution the day before, ...

...i decided to stick around and hike it instead, this lake was along the way.

stole the idea of this shot from emily

her's turned out far cooler with the sunset at san juan county park as backlighting.

eastsound orcas island

a very cute town. reminded me a lot of carmel, ca without the stigma of high snobbery

moran county park, orcas island

i guess these goats thought i had some food for them

not sure how they painted the roof without it caving in all the way

orcas island

a perfect day. i had hoped to make it all the way to the top of mt constitution since the weather forecast was for rain the following day. i took a wrong turn to olga which made me run out of time. bummer as the view from there turns out to be pretty good. problem was the day i made it to the top was hazy and somewhat overcast. oh well.

on the way to orcas island

sunset at san juan county park

sunset at san juan county park

sunset at san juan county park

it's actually coming from over vancouver island, canada, eh

canada, eh

from the beach below the campsite

camping at san juan county park

the ranger talked me into staying even though i'd gone clockwise around the island when i meant to go counter-clockwise. the problem being i got to camp too soon, but the ranger talked me into just hanging out and relaxing. i'm glad i did, and so was emily. turns out emily was staying there a second night and was having shifting problems. i offered to help. turns out she'd bent her small chainring and severely bent one of the teeth. that takes some chuck norris kind of strength!!! i borrowed some needle nose pliers from the ranger but could only bend is mostly back into shape so emily and the ranger went to friday harbor to the bike shop for a new one (turns out the ranger was going that way anyway). i got 2 hot dogs out of the deal. sounds like a rip off, but hot dogs are pretty good when you've mainly been eating soups and other dried foods.

btw, this turns out to be one of the very best campsites ever. the only bummer was the amount of dew that rose up from the lawn/grass overnight. a lot of gear got pretty wet. still it was worth it