Let's start with 2am. For what felt like 3 hours, I fought the urge to have to get out of my tent into the forest, put on my shoes, and walk down the path to the stinky pit toilet. I finally got up and was so tired that I nearly stumbled into a few tents on my way. I hadn't been drinking, no. Upon returning to my sleeping bag, which, by the way, I had a travel blanket (like an airplane blanket) and a noisy survival blanket over my 45°F sleeping bag, but I was also wearing tights, sweatpants, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, my winter coat, and a thick hat...
Anyway, as I tried to get back to sleep, I started to hear a loud purring, sort of like a very large kitty. I thought, "No way, but that sure sounds like a mountain lion." It kept purring and getting closer. So, I turned on my flashlight, so it would know I wasn't a sleeping victim of its prey drive. It stopped purring. I thought that maybe I was just hearing things or someone in a tent across the way snoring. I turned off my light. The purring returned. Eventually, I started to fall asleep and the purring got closer again. For a bit, I pictured maybe it was just a sleepy mountain lion snuggled up close to my tent. I was laying so close to the one side of my tent that it could have gotten me, if it tried. After what felt like an hour, I heard it walk away. Over the course of the rest of the night, I heard beeping trucks waaaaaaay in the distance and a large plane(s) fly over (probably for Kitsap Navy Base), light rain begin, and then ultimately some sort of a whistle or loud bird that woke all of us up. Upon telling my story, nobody believed me until one other person said they heard the purring, too! I can't wait to sleep a full night when I get home!
It was a cool, damp morning and no one was in a rush to leave camp, perhaps trying to wait out the rain. Once we left, though, the rain picked up... of course. We rode along a fairly busy Port Townsend state road (rush hour) before getting to a couple of busier state highways that had logging trucks and plenty of cars. The shoulders were wide, but the rain picked up. I rode mostly solo, with a few others in sight that I would leap frog now and then. We climbed a very long mountain, which didn't seem like the hardest hill, but it was just long, foggy, and rainy. The downhill was fun, except the rain was far worse and I could feel the cold rain running down my tights into my shoes, making my feet squish with every pedal. And everything was filthy.
At Rest Stop 1, in Discovery Bay, nothing was open, so the route leaders set up a canopy on the side of the road. We were all too cold to stick around for long. The rain continued only a little while longer as we climbed another state highway to get to the Olympia Discovery Trail, which was quite shaded and lush. I rode most of the rest of the day with a father-son-granddaughter trio and a friend of a friend from my ride last year. We continued to leap frog whenever one of us stopped for photos or a stretch.
The second rest stop was hosted at a park in Seqium (pronounced Skwim) by a local MS group. They brought us all kinds of snacks. We stayed much longer than usual to enjoy the company and dry out from the wet morning.
The rest of the ride was along the same trail all the way to Port Angeles where you could see across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Canada!! It didn't register to me that we'd be right on the Strait like that, which I often look at on maps because of my job.
Even though we had a headwind, the gentle lapping of the waves on the shore was soothing. I couldn't make it to camp without a snack as I was starting to bonk, but we eventually got into the downtown area and to the Port Angeles First Methodist Church. We set out our tents to dry off, but are all sleeping in the Fellowship Hall together on the floor. The shower was hot, which felt wonderful.
Six of us went to The Rail for burgers and to watch the Stanley Cup Final. We also enjoyed New Zealand style ice cream at Welly's on the Wharf.
Tomorrow is a long day and the laundromat closes at 5pm, so I hope I can get out early in order to do some laundry in Forks!
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