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Sunday June 16, 2013 – Port Gamble Trails
Today we drove to Edmonds, parked the car, and rode our mountain bikes to the Edmonds ferry terminal. For each passenger + bicycle the cost was $8.70 to ride the ferry over to Kingston. Cyclists are special…they get to load first!
Eric waiting for the ferry.
Our ferry coming into Edmonds.
Excited to try out some new trails.
Why were we smiling? Because the purpose of our trip was to do some exploring on the Kitsap Peninsula. Eric wanted to check out the Port Gamble Trails.
To get to the trail system, we rode ~8.5 miles on roads (mostly uphill):
- Kingston ferry terminal to NE West Kingston Rd
- NE West Kingston Rd to Miller Bay Rd NE
- Miller Bay Rd NE to NE Gunderson Rd
- NE Gunderson Rd, across Bond Rd NE (Hwy 307) to Stottlemeyer Rd NE
- The south entrance to the Port Gamble Trails is located on Stottlemeyer Rd, past Gracey Trail Ln NE
NE Gunderson Rd
We had to climb a 10% grade.
We entered the Port Gamble Trails at the south end.
Click here to see the Port Gamble Recreation Map.
Initially, the trails were smooth, somewhat sandy, and exposed to the sun. It reminded us a little of mountain biking in Bend, OR.
Soon after, we were enveloped by lush forest. The canopy became quite thick, and the riding surface was a little more rooty. We gradually made our way north, grinning all the way.
Alder Forest
Twisted Sister Trail
Forbidden Forest
Exiting the Forbidden Forest
I spotted this caterpillar crawling on Eric’s shoulder, so I carefully moved him to this tree.
After riding ~7 miles of fantastic XC trails, we exited the system where Kitsap Ave NE joins Hwy 104. We then rode another ~6.5 miles along Hwy 104 to get back to the Kingston ferry terminal.
When I spotted this sign for CB’s Nuts, I insisted that we stop in for a taste.
CB’s Nuts
We bought a huge bag of hazelnuts for only $6.
Total mileage on the bike = 21.9 miles (~15 miles road, ~7 miles trails)
Total vertical = 3444 ft (1701 ft climbing, 1743 ft downhill)
Trip duration = 3 hours, 55 minutes (starting at ~10:45 AM and ending at ~2:45 PM)
The above figures were obtained from my Bike Tracks App. I started it when we got off the ferry at Kingston and stopped it when we completed our clockwise loop back at the Kingston ferry terminal.
I’m including our trip data because this is a trip definitely worth repeating!
Leaving the Kingston ferry dock.
One reason that we decided to take this adventure on this particular day was to visit my uncle Jeff at the Edmonds Art Festival. He is a comedic artist. Check out his work: Art That Makes You Laugh, by Jeff Leedy.
Jeff Leedy
Leedy Art
No active day would be complete without a satisfying, quick meal. I’d like to make a plug for Baja Fresh, a vegan-friendly fast food restaurant.
We order the “bare” veggie burrito (i.e. no tortilla and served over romaine lettuce instead), without cheese, without sour cream, and with extra guacamole. Each order comes with a small basket of chips. From the condiment bar, we select fresh cilantro, lime, and various hot sauces.
Baja Fresh Mexican Grill – Everett, WA
Baja Fresh Bare-Style Vegan Burrito
That’s a wrap to our fun day Sunday!
I don’t have many pictures from the current ski season, so here is a backcountry trip down memory lane…
The time was January 1-2, 2011.
The place was the “Back Bowls” of Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort, in Wenatchee, WA.
The weather was bluebird.
The solitude was magical.
The skiing was exceptional.
The snow was our art canvas.
Our Telemark turns were the brush strokes…
DAY ONE – JANUARY 1
DAY TWO – JANUARY 2
The conditions were a little different when we came “Back” to the bowls this year, Skiing Among Burnt Trees.
Ski road trip time!
In this post, let’s talk about what vegan skiers can do to eat a quick, healthy breakfast without leaving the hotel room.
We just spent a long weekend at Big White Ski Resort. Thanks to my Visa Rewards, we stayed for free in the White Crystal Inn.
When we arrived on Thursday March 14th, our view looked liked this:
Sunday March 17th we woke up to this:
Our “standard” room had no kitchen, but it did have a coffee maker, mini fridge, microwave, and toaster.
For our trip, I packed a couple bins full of the essentials, including a small cutting board and knife.
We brought a cooler to transport our green leafies, celery, apples, non-dairy milk, nut butter and jam. I brought our Vitamix blender so we could make green smoothies right in the room.
Large “beer cups” are handy for smoothies in the morning and apres ski beverages in the evening.
I brought our toaster, not realizing that the room already had one.
Eric likes to have toast with his breakfast smoothie.
I could have brought some oats to make oatmeal in the microwave,
but this time I opted for cold cereal with walnuts, raisins and non-dairy milk.
Segmented grapefruit is easy to prepare in the room.
I brought my grapefruit knife, some travel bowls and a set of utensils.
Time to get some untracked powder…
January 5, 2013 – Mission Ridge Backcountry
In lieu of skiing in-bounds on Saturday, we decided to spend the day further exploring slopes we like to call the “Back Bowls.” Eric modified our climbing skins so they would fit our new(ish) skis. Yay!
The last time we skied the “Back Bowls” was January 1-2 of 2011. At that time, we were treated to absolutely perfect fluff on a bluebird day.
Saturday…not so much. You could describe the avalanche conditions as “welded.” HA! It was fun, but in a different sort of way. It was immensely enjoyable just being out there exploring. (Truth be told, we did find a few soft spots.)
We skied into some trees that were burned during the huge Ellensburg/Wenatchee forest fires of Sept/Oct 2012. The fire line stopped just short of the Mission Ridge ski area. Whew!
There is something starkly imposing about burnt trees that remain standing after a fire goes out. It’s fascinating how something beautiful and impressive can emerge from such destruction. The black char against white snow in winter is particularly striking…
Lighting captured with the Go Pro 3.
Lighting captured with the digital camera.
We like to call this area the “Back Bowls.”
Skiing among burned trees.
A tree that survived the forest fire.
Char
We decided not to ski lower than this. We’d already dropped about 1300 ft!
Typical rock formations.
Enjoying the skin up.
Midday light.
Skin track.
Entering the burn zone.
Burned tree silhouette.
Black against white.
A bigger tree in the group.
My favorite image.
This is where we first skied the “Back Bowls,” in 2011.
Pretty needle coloring.
WOW…what a fabulous first day of 2013 at Mission Ridge!
This is a little place we like to call “Kevin’s”…
Mt Stuart
Shadow in Snow
Towers
Snowy Trees
View of Windy Ridge
Morning Sky
Views from the edge
Trees burned in the Autumn 2012 forest fire
It’s over too fast!
Our Winter Wonderland
