August 19, 2011
Day 4: Tolt Memorial Park to Stillaguamish river
I got on the road at 8:30. It was 54F, cloudy, with a slight headwind. Kind of chilly. The traffic was heavy on highway 203, but after a few miles the shoulder became much wider when entering Snohomish county.
Highway 203 ends at Monroe, at US 2. I took a long breakfast #2 stop at McDonalds to warm up. In Monroe I finally got onto back roads again, going north on Woods Creek road. It was nice to finally be away from all the traffic, and the clouds started to break up, making it much warmer. I passed some nice looking farms, finally getting north of Seattle's suburban sprawl. Lake Roesinger road and Menzel Lake road took me over a couple of big hills to the town of Granite Falls. Then Jordan road took me towards the town of Arlington. The back roads had no big trucks, but had moderate car traffic and no shoulder.
South of Arlington I stopped to look around at Jordan bridge county park. The weather was beautiful. People were swimming in the river and sunning on the beach.
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A few miles further I turned into River Meadows County Park, but found that the campground was already fully reserved for the weekend. So I continued on to Arlington and turned east on highway 530.
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7 miles east of Arlington at the first river crossing was an old park with barricades blocking car access, but it was easy to get in with my bike. I arrived at 5 PM and set up free camp in a beautiful deserted area overlooking the river. I had plenty of time to make dinner, make a shower, and explore the area. On the other side of the highway I discovered an old railroad bridge across the Stillaguamish river.
The evening was pleasantly warm and it was nice to just sit and rest for a while. It was a great ending to an otherwise uninspiring day.
Distance: 64.7 mi. (103.5 km)
Climbing: 2402 ft. (728 m)
Average Speed: 11.2 mph (17.9 km/h)
Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 177 miles (285 km)
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