Aug 2015 – Apr 2016

Southward Bound

A 264-day adventure by Holly Read more

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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 35
Sunday, September 6, 2015 at 4:00 PM
⛅ 15 °C
Altitude: 671 m
Canada Blackcomb Creek 50.11959, -122.9568450°7’11” N 122°57’25” W
On the Road Again...
September 6, 2015 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
After 9 days off the bikes, and a steady stream of visits with friends and family in Pemberton, we finally packed everything up and cycled the short (but mostly uphill!) ride to Whistler. We made it in time to catch a free Spirit of the West show with Julia and Benton who happened to be in Whistler for the weekend. We then had a fun and animated dinner with Bridget McClarty discussing the adventure so far and hatching plans for adventures to come. Thanks to Bridget also for hosting us in her small comfy home!Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 36
Monday, September 7, 2015 at 4:00 PM
☁️ 17 °C
Altitude: 6 m
Canada Stawamus Indian Reserve 24 49.70829, -123.1442949°42’30” N 123°8’39” W
New and Old Friends in Squamish
September 7, 2015 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
We pedaled to Squamish and met up with Pete and Brett who were climbing for the weekend with friends from the island, and Amil who had moved to Squamish from Whitehorse - it was a Yukoners summit at Mags on 99 with delicious burritos and lots of laughs. We then headed to meet up with Claudia and Sofie at their home in the Garibaldi Highlands - we had met them a couple weeks earlier in Clinton and they invited us to stay with them. We had some great chats swapping adventure stories, Sofie gave us a private fiddle and ukelele concert, and Claudia filled our bellies with delicious food. Getting to meet great people and share these kinds of moments are part of what makes bike touring so rewarding!Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 39
Thursday, September 10, 2015 at 9:00 AM
☀️ 16 °C
Altitude: 22 m
Canada West End 49.27857, -123.1222949°16’43” N 123°7’20” W
Last Days in Canada
September 10, 2015 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
We spent a busy couple of days in Vancouver trying to visit all of our friends and buy a few more things to add to our bags. We managed to connect with Karina and Jeff, Verena (who was in Van for school), and Adam and Tracy who hosted us in their new super cute home. Today we plan to ride across the border and start the international leg of our journey.Read more
Great reading your blog, Karl and Holly, and seeing the great photos. Amazing how you keep running into people you know or how the locals provide you with food and information. Bisous from Mom and Dad
9/15/15Reply
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 39
Thursday, September 10, 2015 at 8:00 PM
🌙 18 °C
Altitude: 26 m
United States Bellingham Public Library Fairhaven Branch 48.72167, -122.5012348°43’18” N 122°30’4” W
A Warm Welcome to Washington
September 10, 2015 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 18 °C
We pedaled through Vancouver on a bike jungle gym - over the bridges and through the dales, finally reaching the border and on to Bellingham in time for a great sunset and our first deep dish pizza with Aquila and Brandon. It was great to catch up on the 6 years that had slipped by since the UVIC days, and scheme about more bike routes than we'll have time to explore with the help of many maps in their beautiful home. We are hoping to catch and adventure with these guys again before another 6 years has passed!Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 41
Saturday, September 12, 2015 at 12:00 PM
☀️ 18 °C
Altitude: 44 m
United States Macs Cove 48.40306, -122.6451648°24’11” N 122°38’43” W
Rail Trails...
September 12, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
With the help of local knowledge we managed to link up multiple sections of rail trails and then ended up riding with a big organized bike race/ride across the Deception Pass Bridge and on to Coupeville for lunch with a view of Mt Baker.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 41
Saturday, September 12, 2015 at 4:00 PM
☀️ 23 °C
Altitude: Sea level
United States Point Hudson 48.11823, -122.751648°7’6” N 122°45’6” W
Wooden Boats!
September 12, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
We took the ferry to Port Townsend where we happened upon their Wooden Boat festival and a gracious host, Amy, who let us stay in her yard for the night so we could enjoy the festivities.
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 42
Sunday, September 13, 2015 at 5:00 PM
☀️ 15 °C
Altitude: 13 m
United States Museum at the Carnegie 48.11756, -123.4325448°7’3” N 123°25’57” W
Olympic Discovery Trail
September 13, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
From Port Townsend we followed another rail trail until we got on the official Olympic Discovery Trail which runs from Sequim through Port Angeles and is under construction all the way to Forks. What a treat to ride through forest and along the ocean on a beautifully paved bike trail away from cars and surrounded by ripe blackberries!Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 44
Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at 3:00 PM
☁️ 5 °C
Altitude: 1,599 m
United States Bogachiel Peak 47.905, -123.7783347°54’18” N 123°46’42” W
High Divide Trail
September 15, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C
We detoured up to the Sol Duc Hotsprings for a soak and our first paid night of camping so that we could do a hike in Olympic National Park. We didn't get backcountry permits for camping ahead of time so just decided to do the ~32km hike in a day. Beautiful fall colours and a glimpse of the Blue Glacier on Mount Olympus through the clouds made this awesome ridge hike well worth the tired legs.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 46
Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 10:00 AM
☁️ 13 °C
Altitude: 5 m
United States Rialto Beach 47.92064, -124.637447°55’14” N 124°38’15” W
Rialto Beach
September 17, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
We made another detour off the 101 to head down to Mora and experience a misty, rugged Rialto Beach. We were treated to stunning coastal vistas, but only a snapshot of what this coastline has to offer - we'll have to come back someday to hike more of the Washington coast.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 46
Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 5:00 PM
⛅ 16 °C
Altitude: 10 m
United States Kalaloch Creek 47.61494, -124.3763947°36’54” N 124°22’35” W
Kalaloch Beach
September 17, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
We enjoyed a sunny ride from Forks to Kalaloch Beach - and while the varied forest landscape was enjoyable, it didn't quite compare to the stunning coastal vistas that awaited us at Ruby Beach. Our timing was also excellent, as we rolled into the Kalaloch Beach campground just minutes before Alice, Andy and Gilbert, who were also touring the coast in a camper van. We spent the night catching up and enjoying the sunset together.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 47
Friday, September 18, 2015 at 2:00 PM
🌧 14 °C
Altitude: 106 m
United States Quinault Reservation 47.52402, -124.1927247°31’26” N 124°11’34” W
Gilbert's Tea Stop
September 18, 2015 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
Motivation was low for the ride south of Kalaloch Beach - rain seems to make everything harder, including pedaling along a small highway shoulder getting passed by logging trucks. Luckily for us, Gilbert's tea stop was located at about the halfway point of our ride, when our spirits were at their lowest... a hot cuppa, a brief moment of respite and good company helped us carry on to the Quinault Lake rainforest.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 47
Friday, September 18, 2015 at 6:00 PM
🌧 15 °C
Altitude: 99 m
United States Willaby Creek 47.46181, -123.8590747°27’43” N 123°51’33” W
Quinault Lake: Land of Rain & Sasquatchi
September 18, 2015 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 15 °C
Mist and a sasquatch or two awaited us at Quinault Lake. We enjoyed the shelter of Alice and Andy's camper for a delicious curry dinner, and managed to find extra belly timber for Karl in the form of a 5lb bag of rice (it might take us a few days to finish that off...!)Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 48
Saturday, September 19, 2015 at 11:00 AM
☁️ 16 °C
Altitude: 10 m
United States Franklin Field 46.97208, -123.8220746°58’19” N 123°49’19” W
Somebody Had a Birthday...
September 19, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Happy Rainy Birthday to Sasquatch Karl! A tour of recordbook holding trees reminded us that we exist for a fraction of the lifespan of a well fed and watered Sitka Spruce or other forest giants in the Quinault Rainforest, so we donned our rain gear and hit the road for another wet day to Aberdeen, where we celebrated with a dry hotel room (aka gear drying area) and dinner at a cozy restaurant.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 50
Monday, September 21, 2015 at 12:00 PM
⛅ 15 °C
Altitude: 8 m
United States South Bend United Methodist Church 46.66428, -123.8077746°39’51” N 123°48’28” W
Oysters!
September 21, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We pedaled on from Aberdeen, over the hills to Raymond where we finally found the sun, and then around the bend to South Bend where we found a lot of oysters! Feeling the warm sun again reminded us that we are living the good life.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 50
Monday, September 21, 2015 at 7:00 PM
☀️ 14 °C
Altitude: 48 m
United States Stringtown 46.33798, -123.9717946°20’17” N 123°58’18” W
A Place to Call Home
September 21, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
We've mostly been wild camping on our trip, which means we never really know where we will stop, and exactly what kind of campsite we'll find (with water or not, with evening sun or not, loud from being close to the highway or tucked away in the forest). We are also still a bit on Yukon summer time, and often enjoy evening riding only to be reminded daily that it is DARK just before 8pm now! With a sunny day after a few days of rain, however, we wanted to stop early enough and in the sun so we could dry out the tent and our gear. We found a beautiful spot, on the edge of a clearcut of all places, and the yardsale of gear drying began. You have to be careful here though, because there are blackberry vines everywhere, and if you stay too long you might be swallowed up.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 51
Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 1:00 PM
☀️ 16 °C
Altitude: 28 m
United States Ruby Island 46.27773, -124.0537546°16’40” N 124°3’14” W
On the Trail of Lewis and Clark
September 22, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
While Karl seems to have his Americain history down, Holly had never heard of Lewis and Clark and their expedition across America ("does this have to do with Superman somehow?"), so we headed to Cape Disappointment and played tourist for a change by visiting the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. We may be adventurers of a sort, but we'll never get to see the raw, pre-colonised west the expedition experienced, so it was fun to learn about the tribes they met, the plants and animals they documented, and the joy of the achieved goal of reaching the Pacific Ocean.

And Karl was jazzed to watch a crane placing giant rocks, that we kept seeing being trucked by us on highway 101, on the north jetty at the mouth of the Columbia. Boys...Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 51
Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 3:00 PM
☀️ 17 °C
Altitude: Sea level
United States Megler 46.21861, -123.8642146°13’7” N 123°51’51” W
Loooooooonnnngggg Bridge!
September 22, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
We had heard about the long and narrow bridge that crosses the Columbia to Astoria, Oregon from numerous cyclists, and drivers as well. Still it was longer than expected. Due to maintenance on the high part of the bridge (that allows the big ships to pass underneath and continue upriver) the traffic was low and the ride along the narrow bridge was less intimidating than it first seemed. The other factor cyclists had mentioned was the dominant on shore crosswind you have to deal with when riding the bridge and we were lucky again that the wind was light when we crossed so we could stay our course on the narrow shoulder. The bridge is nearly 3 miles long, and with a brief stop for construction, it took us 20 minutes to ride across to Astoria, where we set up at the visitors center to get our Oregon maps together.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 52
Wednesday, September 23, 2015 at 6:00 PM
⛅ 22 °C
Altitude: 7 m
United States McBride Creek 45.91695, -122.8163245°55’1” N 122°48’59” W
Columbia River Camp
September 23, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
The night before we rode into Portland we managed to find another winner of a wild campsite on the banks of the Columbia River. We even got to camp early enough to enjoy watching ships go by as the sun set and listen to podcasts over dinner.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 53
Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 11:00 AM
☀️ 17 °C
Altitude: 13 m
United States Jones Creek 45.71612, -122.8751745°42’58” N 122°52’31” W
Apples!
September 24, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
One great reason to ride the coast in the fall is that the apples on the many feral apple trees along the road are all coming ripe so we suppliment our meals with many varieties of "gleaned" apples. Some apple trees take more work to harvest than others: climbing, jumping and spearing are all acceptable harvesting tactics in our books...Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 54
Friday, September 25, 2015 at 1:00 PM
🌧 16 °C
Altitude: 12 m
United States Riverplace Marina 45.50506, -122.6668145°30’18” N 122°40’1” W
Exploring PDX by bicycle
September 25, 2015 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 16 °C
We detoured from the coast into Portland because we wanted to explore the city and experience the Portland vibe. We rolled around taking in the city and its great bike infrastructure, including a new bridge, Tillicum Crossing, that just opened and is only for bikes, pedestrians and public transit (no cars, crazy awesome!). We also went to Powell's and read some books...Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 54
Friday, September 25, 2015 at 8:00 PM
☁️ 15 °C
Altitude: 32 m
United States Tanner Creek (historical)45.52055, -122.6816745°31’14” N 122°40’54” W
Feasting in Portland
September 25, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
We tried to take in all the goodness of eating and drinking in Portland during our short stay... we hit up the food carts for multiple lunches, Karl enjoyed a burger at Lardos while I settled on a delicious IPA, Voodoo Doughnuts were consumed, and our hosts recommended Bollywood Theatre, an indian street cart food restaurant for dinner. Needless to say we were very full and very sastified by the end of the day!Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 55
Saturday, September 26, 2015 at 11:00 AM
☀️ 16 °C
Altitude: 11 m
United States Chinese Baptist Church 45.50853, -122.6494145°30’31” N 122°38’58” W
Portland Hospitality
September 26, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Portland was the first time we stayed with a Warmshowers host (a cycle touring hosting website/community) on this trip. Our gracious hosts were Laura, Stephen and their two dogs Pinta and Sancha. They had all sorts of good tips for exploring Portland and we had some great conversations over many cups of tea. It was such a treat to have a home base in the city for 2 nights. We had a slow departure on Saturday morning as we had to check out 2 different markets and chat with a few more friendly folks.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 55
Saturday, September 26, 2015 at 2:00 PM
☀️ 19 °C
Altitude: 35 m
United States Maple Headquarters Reservoir 45.59476, -123.129445°35’41” N 123°7’46” W
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The Road Out of Portland
September 26, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Many people suggested that we could take the Max (Portland's public transit train) out of the city to skip the heavy traffic on highway 26. We chose to ride, however, and thanks to Portland bike maps and Google Maps' bike route, we rode on quiet residential streets up over the hills west of the city (and up a few secret trails and staircases!), through the suburbs away from the highway, and then through farmland with mountain views in the distance until we reached highway 6. It was a really pleasant ride that we would recommend to other cyclists!Read more
Jennifer Eakins Whoa! That does not look like a pleasant ride at all Holly!
10/26/15Reply
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 55
Saturday, September 26, 2015 at 6:00 PM
☀️ 14 °C
Altitude: 362 m
United States Fern Rock Falls 45.6104, -123.4288945°36’37” N 123°25’44” W
Tillamook Forest with an Extra
September 26, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
We camped as three for the first time at the base of the climb over the hills to Tillamook. Aaron, our new recruit, DJ'd for us as we made dinner. Aaron has ridden across the states from North Carolina and when we first met him near Bellingham we talked about riding the coast of Oregon together. We met up in Portland and set off toward the ocean together... He was travelling much lighter (and faster) than us earlier in his trip, but has since slowed to our tourist pace and provided us with a lot of great conversation and laughs.Read more
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Southward Bound Holly and Karl
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Day 56
Sunday, September 27, 2015 at 3:00 PM
☀️ 17 °C
Altitude: 4 m
United States Dougherty Slough 45.47419, -123.8434245°28’27” N 123°50’36” W
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Tillamook Cheese Factory
September 27, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Karl had been dreaming of the Tillamook cheese factory for months, so we made a slight detour when we came down out of the Tillamook Forest to go eat more cheese and ice cream than most people would consider socially acceptable. Ahh, the joys of bike touring.Read more
Bridget McEwan That really is a lot of ice cream...even for you guys. Wow.
10/7/15Reply
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