Olympic Discovery Trail, Moving Further West

Since I've started riding again, the miles have started to add up. I like to ride from the house, but at least once a week, it's nice to put the bikes on the rack and drive to a trailhead. I decided last week that I would plan to ride my new bike at least once a week, and so far, that's what I've done. Last weekend, we rode east. Today, we rode west.

A couple of weeks ago we rode from the trailhead at the top of Fairholm Hill to the Camp Creek Trailhead. That was a great ride, and I'll certainly ride that section again, but today we started at Camp Creek and rode west along a shared road, the Mary Clark Road, which terminates at Highway 101 just west of Sappho, between the two bridges that cross the Sol Duc River. This was a section I was curious about, so that's what we did.

This ride was totally on the road. The first thing that happened was W wanted to turn around; he thought he saw something down a trail. What he saw was an elk, minding its own business, browsing along a closed road grade. It was pretty hard to see, with the sunlight filtering through the trees, but I did see it, and that's how our ride started. The road was easy to ride; the first several miles had a great shoulder, but we had the road to ourselves. The first rig we saw was a Forest Service truck, parked off the road; someone was out doing their work. We could see the second rig; it was bright red, and around here, that usually means a Department of Resources vehicle. We recognize these rigs - W drove one during his years as a DNR Land Manager. We saw the young woman, getting her vest on before heading out to work. Until we hit the end of this section, which was 10 miles in length, we didn't see another vehicle on the road. 

Highway 101 looking east

After a short snack and water break, we turned around and headed back to the trailhead. We saw a few more vehicles, including a car we had seen when we were turning around. The man stopped, and asked us if we needed any water, which was really nice. It turns out he's a Forks local, and out for a drive with an older man. After him, we saw a couple of trucks which came out of driveways along Mary Clark Road, four men on quads who drive out to the area from Port Angeles to work on quad trails on Forest Service land, and two loaded logging trucks. Those two trucks were the only ones that came up behind us, and it's a little unnerving! The forest was a mix of newer trees, and some older stands that had been pre-commercially thinned. And one section through this mix was straight for two plus miles - easy riding. 

This was a good ride, and I could appreciate how touring riders would like this section, with it's quiet two lanes, but once they hit Highway 101, they will be on a pretty busy main road - for now. I've ridden on 101, and didn't really enjoy it, because of the traffic and the narrowness of the shoulders. And now that I've ridden this section, I don't know that I'll need to do it again. My curiosity has been satisfied, and the section east of the trailhead is nicer. Still, it was a good 20 mile ride, with beautiful sunny skies and temperatures in mid-70s. I'll look forward to our next trip out on the bike.

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