Day 2: Poulsbo to Coupeville

May 20, 2024

Beautiful mostly empty road in this area of the Olympic peninsula

Enjoying the serene setting of the Larry Scott Trail heading into Port Townsend

Today was another beautiful day in western Washington. I started off a little later and eased into things. I'm still figuring out how to pack everything efficiently but I think I made it a little bit more balanced on the bike today than it was yesterday even though the organization scheme may be less intuitive. One of the first obstacles today was crossing the Hood Canal bridge. I’d heard about grates and crosswinds so I went in a little nervous, but the weather was calm and the grates were avoidable so it was smooth sailing.

Today also included a fair number of hills so I felt like it was a good training day to get used to doing some ascending.

I wasn’t really concerned about catching the ferry at the right time today since it had worked out fine the previous day. As I rolled into town, I realized I might be cutting it close to catch the next ferry. I ended up getting there around ten minutes too late and saw it pulling away. But no problem - I’m not on a tight schedule. This gave me an opportunity to bike around Port Townsend a little bit. It was another lovely seaside town - a bit hilly I learned when I went to check out the library and realized it required a significant climb - more training for the mountains I guess!

I got on the 5:15 ferry but didn’t feel like biking any farther after crossing. I camped at Fort Casey State Park right next to the ferry terminal. I chatted with a few other campers who were curious about my setup and where I was headed. One let me plug my devices into his electric pedestal since the bike camping spots only come with a picnic table - I really appreciated your thoughtfulness and generosity!

I noticed a weathered old sign that discouraged people from touching seal pups so I asked the campground host about it. He said he did think it was pupping season but there hadn’t been any on the beach that he knew of so far. So I kept my eyes peeled for seals during the rest of my time there but no luck this time. Though I can’t help but wonder, in this day and age, who is trying to touch seal pups? Hopefully it’s not been an issue in awhile so the sign hasn’t been replaced?

After dinner, I walked around, took in the sights, and went up to the old fort. That’s the reason there’s a park here and there are similar parks throughout the area. I was baffled to learn that those heavy artillery from the early 1900s could be shot up to eight miles.

I’m looking forward to getting out tomorrow but a little nervous because it appears it’s going to rain all day. Here’s to hoping the forecast is a little off this time.

Actual distance biked is lower (33 miles) because of ferry

Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 74 miles (119 km)

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Meghann VarnumI was just in Monterey CA visiting my sister and they also have signs up right now to keep quiet for the seal mums and pups. They had to put up fencing a few years ago because people were harassing and touching them too much.
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