OP Day 4- More to the ODT Than I Expected, and Riding Through the Gamut of Weather

It rained off and on all through the night. I kept thinking I was hearing some animal (finally brought my food panniers into my tent...I’d left them in the vestibule because they were muddy from the day’s rain). Really, I think it was just the rain. This morning, everything was muddy. When I was hiking the AT, if we thought it was going to rain, we would bank leaves around the base of the tents. That kept the rain from splashing mud onto the tents. Here, of course, we have no leaves. Pine needles and such just don’t work like leaves. 

When I woke up, I really didn’t want to get out of my quilt. I was dreading packing everything up in the rain. But, I didn’t have much choice now, did I? It’s not like I haven’t packed up in the rain before, but it’s just not fun. I got everything done in my tent as much as possible. I even ate breakfast in my tent (apple, peanut butter, and a few dates and nuts is a good breakfast, right?). It wasn’t really raining that much. Most was drippage from the trees. I thought I’d be getting a late start, since I laid in my quilt for longer, but turns out it was my earliest start out of the three mornings! Not cooking breakfast makes a big difference. It wouldn’t even matter, but today was a long day. It’s rare that I plan to go 70+ miles. Usually, when I do, it’s because it has just worked out that way (no good camping, or a magnificent tailwind, etc).

I checked the temperature on the Garmin. It was 39 degrees. No wonder I was wearing both my hi-vis jacket and my Shake Dry! I also wore my new Showers Pass Crosspoint waterproof gloves. Yeah...my hands were still frozen. At least it had stopped raining. 

I had to backtrack to where I could get up to the Spruce Railway Trail that I had been riding yesterday. I saw one side path that went up, but it looked pretty steep. Instead I went back to where I was supposed to get off yesterday. Turns out it was a nice paved path up to the trail. 

Some tight switchbacks, but not so steep. 

So that was 2 1/2 miles of backtracking. The rest of the Spruce Railway Trail was great. There were a couple of climbs, but I embraced them to warm me up! 

No surprises here...lots of moss covered trees. 

The trail, being new, was nice and smooth. Some of the older parts of the ODT are pretty bumpy now. I cruised along quite nicely. At one point, the trail crossed 101, then ran parallel. At the end of this part, I thought I had to get onto 101. Instead, the trail went on a FS road for awhile (crossing the river). Then there was more paved path! What an added bonus that was!

Ummm...not sure what river this is. 

The final 9.2 miles were on a quiet road. At one point it was quite sunny. I even took off my Shake Dry jacket!

Just look at that glorious sun!

Of course, not long after, not only did it start to rain, but it was hailing! I pulled out my poncho (I already had my gaiters on to keep my toes warmer). Once again, this poncho idea works great! I stay dry! And when it’s cold, because I am dry, and protected from the wind, and not cold. Even with just my hi-vis jacket (and arm warmers, and long sleeve base layer, and short sleeve wool jersey...okay...at least I wasn’t sweating!). 

Maybe 10 minutes later it eased up, and the sun came out again. I continued with the poncho to allow it to dry out a bit. 

Finally I came to where there was no more ODT. There was this small sign. 

They are working to get the property for the section from there (Saphos) to Forks. From Forks to La Push (and the Pacific), it says they are to begin this year. In the meantime, it’s back to 101. 

I took the poncho off before getting onto 101, only to have to put it back on about 3 miles down the road. Then in less than a mile, I took it off again! This time it was off for good. 

I stopped at the first Subway restaurant I saw in Forks. I was at 38 miles, and I was starving. I also had service, so I was able to upload yesterday’s posts. It was a gas station Subway with tables outside. By the time I was done eating, I was freezing. I put my Shake Dry jacket back on over my hi-vis jacket. That works pretty good. 

Garmin (Ride With GPS) routed me the “Sly dog” way out of Forks on neighborhood streets. It was okay, I didn’t need to get anything in Forks (besides lunch) anyway. 

I went by all the turns for the Hoh Rain Forest, and various campgrounds. The road is kind of boring through there. Finally, I came to the Olympic National Park sign. 

That meant I wasn’t too far from the ocean. Just after the turn for Ruby Beach, I got a first glimpse. 

Just a glimpse...

But then this...

I finally arrived at Kalaloch Campground at about 4:30, after 73 miles. I was hoping for an ocean view campsite, but the campground is pretty full. It doesn’t help that half of the campground is closed (don’t know why). I settled on a campsite that had some sunshine so I could dry out my wet tent. As I was walking up to pay for my site, I saw 6 other cyclists. They were a group of 20 somethings. When I asked where they had come from today, they said Forks. I said I had come from Fairholm. They had been there the night before last. Yep, this old lady managed to do in one day, what took them two! Not that there’s anything wrong with taking two days (in fact I wouldn’t have minded that at all!). 

After dinner, I walked to see the sunset. All I got was this photo because it started to rain. 

Kinda pretty...

I walked as quickly as I could back to my campsite, made sure everything was okay with Sly (poor bike...hasn’t had to spend this many nights outside), then dove into my tent. Now, I’ve reached the end of this day...and post. Goodnight! Oh, and tomorrow, I only have 60 miles!