A long hike

I did the trike ride on Wednesday and on Thursday I decided to hoof it as there is a hiking trail I wanted to check out. Starting out at my campsite near Seaview, I walked out to the Discovery Trail and turned south. At the Beard's Hollow parking lot I went across the highway and took the bike path to North Head Lighthouse. At the parking lot for the lighthouse, I took the short trail to the lighthouse. 

It was extremely windy with showers off and on so I didn't stay long or take many pictures. 

Back at the parking lot, I found and took off on the North Head Trail. It is the squiggly line below the red dot. 

This is a great trail typical of western Oregon and Washington with huge trees, lots of vegetation, and mud. I loved every minute of it!  Fortunately, I had my Leki hiking poles with me or I would have had a tough time of it. 

Interesting trees along the way. 

The root system for this tree ran along the nurse log. 

Expecting to see some Ewoks here. 

This was at the end of the trail. 

More Lewis and Clark Expedition markers. 

The entire walk was almost 9 miles or over 22,000 steps according to my Vivofit. Many places were a challenge, steep inclines, mud, roots and squeezing around tree trunks but it was an enjoyable workout just the same. Still, I was happy to get back to my comfortable little van and dinner. 

Life is good. 

A ride on the Discovery Trail

The Discovery Trail is a beautiful trail along the ocean, all paved, with interesting signs along the way about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  I lucked out with a sunny day for a trike ride. 

Starting out at my campsite, I was able to get right on the trail after a short push along a sandy trail. 

A map of the trail conveniently located at trailheads. This one is at the North end of the trail. The yellow at the top is the "You are here" indicator. 

I started south of Seaview and went south to Beard's Hollow shown here at the yellow print. From here the trail went up a steep gravel trail and I was not able to get enough traction with my single rear wheel plus my "engine" was having trouble too!  I found out later from Don that I could go up through the parking lot and cross the highway to catch a paved trail to the North Head Lighthouse. For now, I turned around and went to the north end of the trail. 

Along the way, I took lots of pictures. Here are a few of them. 

At this sculpture, which is concrete, I met a fellow trikker named Don who gave me lots of local info about trails in the area. 

There he goes. 

More sculptures along the way. 

Altogether a great ride on a gorgeous day for a total of 16.4 miles. 

Life is good. 

Washington coast

I have moved over to the Washington Coast while I wait for the weather to warm up. Still too cold to head east. 

I needed to spend more time by the ocean anyway. 

I am spending my time hiking and planning a trike ride on the Discovery Trail. 

Life is good. 

Enjoying the sunshine

I took a break today and sat in the sun at my campsite reading. 

Enjoyed the view at the back of the site. 

Life is good. 

The Yelm-Tenino Trail

Today nice weather was forecasted so I hopped in my van and drove to Tenino to ride the Yelm-Tenino trail. Parking in the city park, I got out my trike and was soon pedaling onward towards Yelm. This is a 14 mile trail that is a very easy grade and mostly has a country feel about it. 

A very nice paved trail that goes through the small town of Rainier between Tenino and Yelm. The day was sunny so there were quite a few people on the trail either walking or riding. 

A map of the trail at a rest stop in Rainier. 

The turnaround spot in Yelm. 

A wonderful ride of almost 28 miles on a beautiful day in Washington. 

Life is good. 

A walk in the woods

Yesterday I took a walk in the woods around the campground I am at. This being spring in the Northwest, it was wet and chilly but I enjoyed the discoveries I made along the way. 

The trail was a mixture of grass, gravel, mud and water. 

Winters destruction still in evidence.  

Fuzzy branches proved that, yes, I am in the Pacific Northwest. 

Signs of spring were found along the way. 

I walked a total of almost 5 miles for the day to get in a good amount of exercise. 

Life is good. 

Ft Stevens and a county park

While camped at the coast, I rode the trails at Ft. Stevens State Park. The weather was much better than when I rode the Banks-Vernonia Trail. I spent the entire day at Ft. Stevens basking in the sunshine. 

The next day I went to Cullaby County Park where I hiked the trails and rode my trike on the trail and the road that was still closed off for the season. There was a $3 fee to park for the day but it was worth it to be able to park by the lake in the sunshine and have access to the trails. 

One of the perks of driving the van everywhere is I have my home with me all the time. I can make my meals when I want them and I have everything with me to do whatever I want. When I find a nice place to park, I can stay all day and be totally comfortable. 

Leaving the coast, I headed to Portland to visit with my son and his wife for a few days and had a great time. 

Next I headed to the Chehalis, WA area to camp for a week. The park I am at is doing a lot of renovations and has problems with their water so I am not sure I will stay the full week. I have plenty of water and I can always buy bottled water if I need to. They may turn off the electricity, which could cause a little bit of a hassle. Cooking can be done on the propane stove, but I have no way to heat the van without shore power. Sounds like the electricity would only be off during the day so I could manage just fine if I don't want to move yet. There is a paved bike trail near here I want to ride before I leave. Fortunately, my solar can provide for most of my needs. 

Life is good. 

Banks-Vernonia Trail

I did my first official trail ride for my trip today so I can cross Oregon off my list of states to ride in. I rode the Banks-Vernonia trail from the Buxton trailhead to Tophill for a total distance of 11.3 miles. 

This was a very interesting ride with a steady uphill pull for most of the way out until a very steep switchback section DOWNHILL to get to, get this, the Tophill trailhead. Somebody goofed in naming this trailhead. After going up the steep hill, which the map said was 11% grade, I coasted the rest of the way back to Buxton. Of course, this being Oregon, it rained most of the ride. I was ready with my trusty rain coat so no problem. I met only one other cyclist so I had the trail to myself most of the time. 

Here are a couple pictures I took. Since it was a steady rain most of the way, I didn't take many. 

 

I would like to redo this trail someday when the weather is warmer and dry starting in Banks and going all the way to Vernonia and back. That would be a round trip of 42 miles. 

After the ride, I headed for the coast and my campsite there. 

Life is good. 

Back in Oregon

A lot has happened in the last couple of days. I arrived in the Bend, OR area yesterday and spent the night in the site I leased for the last year. I am not going to lease it this year since I will be traveling so I had to get the small garden shed off of it. This morning, after moving stuff around in my van, I was able to put the shed in without taking it all apart. 

It was a tight fit, but it would have been very difficult to take it all apart. 

Heading to Portland to drop the shed off for my son, I stopped to enjoy the wonderful Oregon trees. 

After having a short, but wonderful visit with my Daughter-in-law, I headed toward the coast. Stopping at a State Park along the way, I paid for a one night stay and put my van back together again. Fortunately, the van was designed to be easy to take the middle area apart. I knew I would need to haul this shed and to get at the van batteries under the driver's seat, I need to move one of the plastic drawer units. A bit of work, but not difficult. 

It has been a long and productive day

Life is good.