My first day - brunch with Rose in Seattle, a ferry ride to Bremerton and out to the hood canal. As the sun went down I stopped along the road and free-camped at a pullout. Before I settled down I met some lovely kayakers from the area. It was a night with no tent, I fell asleep looking out over the water (above) and up at the stars brightening and listening to the sounds of unknown creatures crying in the gently lapping water. I woke in the morning to a misty pre-dawn (below right).
This is my second morning and I am at the Pacific Ocean. I take the "old Highway 101" which is marked "road closed"; it leads me down a small road and ends in a dirt pile blocking the way. I hoist my bike up and over and head down to the end of the road -- it just falls off 30 feet to the beach bellow (above left and center). The rest of day is a lovely ride around Willapa bay (above left, bellow left), passing people digging clams and collecting wild plants. The next day I ride to Cape Disappointment at the mouth of the Columbia River and hike up a a steep wildflower-covered ridge with a tremendous view out, out and out (below center and right).
I wake up the next morning to a light rain. It takes me a lot of time to get myself set up and ready to go, as this is my first true trial of my rain gear. My body stays fairly dry all day, except that after about ten minutes my feet are soaked through. Crosssing the Columbia on the Astoria Brige is both terrrifying, and liberating (this is something that I find true biking on any unwelcoming road); I find the danger and stress worth the intrepid feeling I get and perhaps I have made a step to improve motorists' awareness of bikers and their appreciation for the capabilities of human powered transpiration (above from the Oregon side).
