I thought of stopping for pie in Chimicum, but it was still pretty early so I rode on by. Then I thought I would stop for second breakfast in Quilcene. But, I didn't feel like it when I got there. At least, I wasn't hungry enough for a whole meal. I did stop at the Forest Service Info place and ate an apple and some trail mix.
Next up was the climb up Walker Mountain. I'd been told yesterday by four Canadian cyclists that had come from Potlatch (where I am tonight) that a road crew had recently chip-sealed the section of Hwy 101 going up Walker Mountain (up for me, down for the Canadians). They said they left the uphill shoulder alone. I was pleased to find that to be true. So, where the lanes of traffic and the northbound shoulder had rough new chip-seal, the southbound shoulder was nice smooth pavement. It made the climb so much more enjoyable (if a 3 mile climb can be called enjoyable). At the top the chip-seal ended and everyone had smooth pavement. I don't know if it was planned to leave the shoulder un-chip-sealed, but they did it right!
When I got to Brinnon, the apple and trail mix was gone from my system, so I stopped at the Halfway House Restaurant. The food was good, but I had to wait quite awhile to get it. The place was hoppin'! A nice day at Hood Canal on a holiday weekend and everyone comes out!
Back on the road I still had about 28 miles to go. There was a bit of a head wind, but not too bad. The road is a series of rollers until A few miles north of Hoodsport. From there it is much more flat. I was thankful for the flat as I was getting rather tired. This was my longest day of the whole trip.
I stopped in Hoodsport at the grocery store to get something to drink. The clerk asked how I was. I told her I was thirsty. She said I looked kind of thirsty!
It was only a few more miles to Potlatch from Hoodsport. At first I thought about setting up near the water in the marine campsites, but there were a ton of day-use people there (like I said, nice day on Hood Canal...). So, I headed up to the Hiker/Biker site. I am the only cyclist here (it's 7:45 so, I suppose someone could still come in). The rest of the park is full. I've never been here when there were this many people here (holiday weekend). I just met one of the guys from the site next door. They have 8 sites. In a few minutes, Calvin told me, there will be about 40 people eating dinner next door. All I know is they have been cooking the dinner since I arrived here at 4:45.
I didn't take many photos today since I've already been this way once this summer, but here is a photo of the great shoulder going up Walker Mountain.
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