Consolation Tour D5 Enumclaw to Seattle
Animated map: https://www.relive.cc/view/v8qVEGAmr36
I woke up in a real bed after three night in the tent at exactly the same time I woke up in the tent. Admittedly, it was nice to sleep after a shower made me feel clean and unsticky. I enjoyed my morning Wordle and generally felt civilized. It was going to be a shorter day at 50 miles half of which would be in familiar territory. There was no need to rush.
After more lounging and a bowl of cereal at the complimentary breakfast, I walked onto Cole Street for a cup of coffee at 8am. The woman running the place was nice, but the open door lured a platoon of flies in. I was distracted and soon left. I was on the road before 9am. On the way out of town, I saw a funny row of garbage cans perfectly in a line like soldiers and a “Sidewalk ends” sign exactly where the sidewalk ended in a wall. I really hope that was a joke.
The countryside around Enumclaw is very pretty, so pretty I missed a turn. I ended up biking another three and a half miles to get back but the detour put Mount Rainier in my sight and it was glorious with a blanket of new snow. This area seems to be a competition between working farms and mini-estates. I hope the farms win, but I am not holding my breath.
The plateau ends with a plunge into the Green River Valley. I’d ridden its length starting from Renton. This would mark my return to an area I’d cycled since leaving Easton State Park and this was a crossing of a day ride. The other side of the valley featured a long hill that looked way worse on the map than it was in reality.
From there it was the gradual return of the suburbs. The Soos Creek Trail was an oasis in the middle of the housing developments. I highly recommend a trip. While it does follow the powerlines for a while, it is a nice bit of wildness close to the city. After Soos Creek it was a short straight road to another descent into the Cedar River Valley and back to Terra Cognita for me. I lunched at Boona Boona in downtown Renton followed by riding by striking Boeing machinists. The adventure part of the trip was over.
Along the familiar Lake Washington route, I decided to take a new way to I-90 trail. I had and enjoyable trip through Mount Baker, landing at the western portal of the I-90 bike/ped tunnel without actually going in it. It was a short trip to the CID which looked different as the final section of a long trip and not a lunch spot. I even took pictures.
After a stop at work, I decided to take the long way home along the waterfront. The weather was perfect. I pedalled slowly through the tourists, saw the new aquarium addition, down Alaskan Way until Myrtle Edwards. I found a bench where I lounged listening to the waves. Back on the bike, I made my way up to the Locks where the salmon were running. There were even plenty to see from the spillway. I forgot to unpause my tracker so the GPX track from here to home is messed up. I continued the backstreets up from Ballard until suddenly I was home.
And the trip ended.
Comments
Post a Comment