Twig Adventures

Saturday, August 20th, 2022, 1030-1930Port Townsend to Mt Zion Blue alt, WEBO mm 1046, Section 9 Olympic Mountains20 miles, Gain 2400′, Loss 630′, elevation 1970′ I had a slow start in the morning. It was too much fun hanging out with all the other hikers. We reminisced and compared notes about the upcoming stretch. Everyone was trying to get their permits for Olympic National Park sorted out. I was glad to be done with mine…at least for the first stretch to Port Angeles. I’d only had to commit to one night. The rest of the nights could be figured out later. Baby steps. I got to meet Dan in the morning…what a wonderful character. Besides riding much of the length of[…]

Friday, August 19th, 2022, 0750-1800Dike rd to Port Townsend, WEBO mm 1020, Section 8 Puget Sound23 miles, Gain 2000′, Loss 2000′, elevation 50′ In the morning, Skip dropped us off at our respective stop locations from the day before. I guess I could have gone straight to the ferry, since it looked to be mostly road walking all day. The south end of the route takes walkers onto the beach, but is only passable during low to mid tide. I’d be reaching it on a rising tide, so was resigned to the roads. As such, I decided to take a slight alternate to connect to HWY 20 more directly, cutting off about a mile. Missing out on a trail is one[…]

Thursday, August 18th, 2022, 0750-1830Whitney junction HWY 20 to Dike rd on Whidbey Island, WEBO mm 990, Section 8 Puget Sound28 miles, Gain 3060′, Loss 3030′, elevation 20′ It ended up being a very early morning. Alarm clocks went off at 02:30 am as the Germans and Wolverine woke up and prepped for a 60 mile hike. They’d hatched the idea a few days before, wanting to set a new personal best through a road section that would allow for it. They were pretty quiet and I tried to sleep through the rustling but came up short. After a bit, I gave up and just read some stuff on my phone. They were off shortly after 3 am, when it grew[…]

Wednesday, August 17th, 2022, 0940-2000Lake Samish to Whitney junction HWY 20, then Mark’s Way cool barn, WEBO mm 959, Section 8 Puget Sound24 miles, Gain 2240′, Loss 2430′, elevation 7′ I had high hopes of getting back to hiking early in the morning. I was a fool. It’s not possible when trying to depart the Walkers, one of the strongest hiker vortexes on the planet. A hiker I know, Coyote, stayed for 4 days the previous year. But luring me on were a string of pearls…trail angels interspersed throughout the Puget Sound. Given the lack of free camping in this urban\suburban setting, it’s a very lucky and helpful thing. I had my sights set on the Way Cool Barn, a short[…]

Monday, August 15th, 2022, 0620-1300HWY 9 Hobo Camp to Lake Samish & the Walkers home, WEBO mm 935.5, Section 8 Puget Sound20 miles, Gain 3800′, Loss 3800′, elevation 515′ I slept great overnight but had some anxiety over all the road traffic, thinking about how I’d need to walk alongside it for 3 miles in the morning. The highway had little to no shoulder, tight turns, and guardrails intermittently. Huge trucks, including double trailer logging rigs, were frequently driving by, using the route to skirt the weigh stations on I-5 (as was later explained to me). A posted speed limit of 50 mph was laughable. Most traffic was traveling much above 60 mph. I waited a little bit for the light[…]

Sunday, August 14th, 2022, 0620-1920FR 313 to HWY 9, WEBO mm 913.6, Section 8 Puget Sound32 miles, Gain 4580′, Loss 6920′, elevation 280′ I’m calling this day the official start of the Puget Sound section, because I had the first and most awesome views of the sound and also because it was almost all road walking all day. My crappy tent site proved to be one of the worst when I woke to a ton of condensation. But at least it was very quiet. No vehicles came by and I didn’t even hear a noise…well save for one: the honking or barking noise of some still unknown animal. It’s something I hear all the time but last night was especially prevalent.[…]

Saturday, August 13th, 2022, 0730-2030Baker Lake Road to FR 313, WEBO mm 881, Section 7 North Cascades31.5 miles, Gain 6273′, Loss 4540′, elevation 2630′ Dan gave all of us a ride back to the trailhead early in the morning. We picked up Karaoke at the motel, where she stayed for a second night. At least we were efficient in consolidating the ride so he didn’t have to make several trips. It was incredibly nice of him to take us so far…probably about 30 minutes one way. We offered gas money but he wouldn’t take it. Again, I offered my free Te Araroa consultation services… it’s something. The route started off on a very nice closed forest path but all too soon[…]

Thursday, August 11th, 2022, 0620-1530Mt Baker Hot Springs to Baker Lake Road, WEBO mm 849.7, Section 7 North Cascades25.7 miles, Gain 2520′, Loss 2970′, elevation 890′ It was hard not to be too eager about getting into a real town this day. I had a lot of miles to go…a full day.  Thinking only about town can ruin the joy of a day of hiking, causing me to rush. But after so many days without real food and a shower, we were all a bit eager. I actually didn’t feel too gross, given all my water baths. I could have probably gone another 10 days. But I also very much wanted my trekking poles back. The clunky aluminum poles that I’d[…]

Wednesday, August 10th, 2022, 0945-1700Mt Baker HWY to Mt Baker Hot Springs, WEBO mm 824, Section 7 North Cascades19.6 miles, Gain 3520′, Loss 4200′, elevation 1330′ It was a day of all things Mt Baker. First I awoke to a sunlit valley with Mt Baker overseeing the realm. I heard a bald eagle chuckling down along the river. We hung around the camp for awhile in the morning. Then David picked us up, ready to deliver us back to the trail. I think he was a little sad that none of us took him up on his generous offer to take a zero at Camp Baldy. It was no knock against his place. He just didn’t quite understand how us thru[…]

Tuesday, August 9th, 2022, 0615-1700Twin Rocks camp NCNP to (near) Mt Baker HWY, WEBO mm 802, Section 7 North Cascades22.6 miles, Gain 6060′, Loss 6400′, elevation 2400′ Despite my late and tedious night, I was up and at ’em like usual. We tackled the rest of the river valley as a team, which made it more palatable. We didn’t have far to go for the climb over Whatcom Pass, but there were more blowdowns, washouts, and thick undergrowth to push through. Not to mention an encounter with an overly standoffish juvenile black bear. He stood his ground when Wolverine approached, barely lifted a paw when I added my presence, and finally started moving down the hill when Karaoke appeared. Young ones[…]