W*h*ine Tour - Days 7 and 8
Cascade Frog on a River Bank
Continuing Our Journey…
By the time we reached the end of Willapa Hills Trail in Raymond we were ready to rename it the Blackberry Trail. For having a Rail-to-Trail enter their city, Raymond proved to be unwelcoming where bicycle services and tent camping are concerned. All the campgrounds do not allow tent camping as of this writing. Fortunately for us Trail Magic and the Pitchwood Inn & Alehouse owner rescued us.
Leaving Raymond we reached Westport with a wonderful ride along Grayland Beach. Deborah tells the story better…
June 22, 2021
Six Patches and Trail Magic
The day before we had been musing over whether or not to get a hotel room on the trip. That morning lazing in our tent, listening to the soothing sounds of Nature around us, feeling rested, clean, and our personal and literal batteries recharged, we agreed this was the best hotel room by far!
Only downside to the start of the day was dealing with the aftermath of the flats from yesterday. Both our rear tires had slow leaks to find before we could get back on trail. No one else seemed to be out here on this primitive section for good reason. And then a fat tire e-bike zoomed by us, possibly a local commuting to town, we guessed. Still weaving our way through the overgrown grass entwined with blackberries, we were trying keep out of their reach, when a field mower came into view. Extending our thanks as we passed by, maybe now flats were behind us...
Our morning ride in the open country-side soon transformed into a green canopy of forest through the last of the Willapa Hills. What a beautiful morning ride it was. After a short ascent, we were on a gradual downhill passing through the forest with relative ease, something I will always marvel at, and then....unbelievably, another flat - aftermath of the morning blackberry gauntlet. At this point, it had become routine. The only concern was whether we could make it to town before our patch kit was depleted. To our surprise, the same e-bike was now coming back up the trail. He had left from his family farm outside of Adna for the day and decided to turn back after seeing the condition of the second railroad tie bridge. Not only the trail but the bridges were also unimproved. Our interest was peaked for what lie ahead. Amazingly we reached the second railroad tie bridge only to fix yet another flat... Blackberries were now dubbed “forest-glass”. Even still this was one of the most scenic and shady sections of the trail - all worth it in the end. After a long downhill, the trail flattened out and stretched through farmland and small towns all the way to Raymond. With the exception of one forced diversion onto the road to get around, you guessed it, a blackberry entangled bridge, long forgotten.
We could feel a welcome drop in temperature, as we passed through the last bit of farmland - northwest coastal weather is summer bliss! Rounding the corner toward Raymond our paced slowed to a stop, wild cherry trees lined the trail, ripe for the picking, and we did. Our excitement continued to grow as the iron-carved “Welcome to Raymond” sign came into view - so much more satisfying to see it this time, from our handlebars, instead of from behind a windshield. After a high-5, timing was perfect to head for “Pitchwood Alehouse” to collect our reward at the end of the trail - beers and oysters and fries! Other than that, we had yet to settle on where to stay, now that we were in town.
The only campground we knew of was to the South and we were going North. Thankfully, Google had led us to the Alehouse, peaking our interest after seeing not only the menu, but an organic garden and trendy rooms on-site (think early days of McMenamins). Pushing our luck, even though it was a weekday, we decided to ask the engaging host behind the bar, if there was by chance still a vacancy, or any local advice for a good camp spot nearby. He needed to do some checking and would come find us. We happily ate on the patio, whilst waiting to see if good fortune would prevail. To our surprise, we were not offered a room to rent, or a camp spot, but a family guest house, atop a hill above town, and a truck shuttle to get us there, courtesy of our host. Really?? Trail magic, now Town magic - we were definitely feeling spoiled!
At the start of the trip, we had wondered how the pandemic would alter the world of long distance bike travel, even at home. So much of what this last year revealed about people pushed to extremes, made us question whether the code of kindness extended by strangers, to those choosing to live life on the road, had eroded or worse been replaced by fear. Yet here we were, experiencing kindness and generosity all along our trip, as if nothing had changed. Being treated like an in-the-moment celebrity, when your sweaty, grimy and tired is quite something to experience, and hard to explain. Thank you, “Pitchwood” family, and Trail Angels everywhere for staying true. We all appreciate you so much!
July 23, 2021
Grayland Beach Ride and WarmShowers.
We awoke to find ourselves in a bed with a ceiling and four walls, again feeling clean, charged and rested.... Wait a minute, how did we get here?! As much as it was unexpected, we really enjoyed our time atop the hill visiting with the “Pitchwood” family. Thank you for taking us in on the spur of the moment!
We descended into town early to grab tube sealant at Ace and replenish our lunch stash at the local grocery. Gray clouds turned to light mist over breakfast along side the slough giving us a much needed break from the sun, if only briefly. After a last minute stop to pick us up some drug-store sun shades, to replace the real ones I ran over the day before, I lost track of Nivaun. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw he turned into a vacant lot between the buildings, so I went up the other side to meet him and then, he was gone. We were just riding side-by-side a minute ago, I couldn’t figure out how I lost him. Perplexed, I called his cell, and found him back where we had both turned, with a silly grin and two daisies he picked from the vacant lot. Nothing makes a morning even better, than flowers from your sweetheart, now bouncing along below my handlebar in a Nuun make-shift vase.
Helloooo coastal ride! Even though we were opting for the road instead of trekking the back country, we had hopes of pushing through the sand dunes, to ride with the tide and sea birds for a good 5 mile stretch, before turning into Westport. In another 48 miles, we were finally reaching the milestone of our trip albeit a couple days behind schedule. Not only to pick up our fruit wine at Westport Winery, but to experience for the first time staying with a Warm Showers host. Our legs had hit their stride after many days of slow going. The sea breeze and white clouds kept the temps perfect, and we were cruising, flying down the flats, up rolling hills and down, with glorious views every direction. We exchanged silent hello’s from across the white lines with several bike packer pairs heading South. The season of bike travel was picking up.
Nivaun had a sentimental lunch spot in mind where we had stopped to play in the waves with our Aussie girl, Jessica, only a few years ago. So many memories were made out on this rugged coastline and in our Olympic mountains with our furry ‘kids’, now material-ized travel buddies atop our bikes in pint-size form.
A few miles later, we turned off onto a side road and down into soft sand at the first entrance permitting vehicles on the beach. A few long pushes, and hard sand was underneath us, astride our bikes, we were exhilarated by it all. This was a rail trail gone coastal, and the only place where riding with vehicles can be care-free.
It was a perfect day of travel, and now just a few highway miles to go, to meet our Warm Showers hosts. We were on the lookout for a safety cone placed a top the driveway so we wouldn’t miss our turn. And then, a forested driveway led us to the sweetest people we had yet to meet. Our heads were spinning with all that was being offered to us, not only a bed in their hand-crafted, oasis of a home, a shower, home-made dinner and breakfast the next day, but best of all was their delightful company. These were two people loving life and living it to the fullest at a retirement pace. We were taking mental notes from the minute we settled in and began to learn of their own “secret adventures”.
