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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!