WATER, MOUNTAINS, FALL COLORS AND THE 2 B's

I’m behind again in blogging.  What else is new?

A couple of weekends ago we had an epic weekend.  On Saturday morning we headed across the sound for a morning cruise over to Poulsbo.  Coffee and breakfast underway, can’t beat it.

Poulsbo is one of those destinations that never gets old.  It’s got the “2 basic B’s” well covered.  A good bakery and brewery.  Or, in the afternoon, a good brewery and bakery.  Sluy’s bakery has a heavenly apple fritter and Volholl brewery churns out a decent IPA.  Add to that a fun German restaurant and it’s kinda fun.

On this trip however we were debuting a new model.  We rented a car.  A nice little black SUV type thing.  After securing the car upon arrival, we then toured the town, relaxed, and before long it was dinner time at the German restaurant.

One small highlight of the day was observing the ‘Moon Jellyfish’ swarm.  Thousands, if not millions of Jellyfish.  More than one person asked ‘what is their purpose’?  Why so many?  Don’t know.  Other than to make me glad I’m not a Jellyfish.  They are one of the few animals with only one bodily  orifice. Which means whatever they eat is excreted (ok., pooped) through the same hole.  EWWWWW!  Again, glad to not be a jellyfish.  

Moon Jellyfish swarm

Sunday morning we made the obligatory stop at Sluy’s then headed up the peninsula, across hood canal, then over to the eastern slopes of the Olympics.  Our destination was Marmot ridge, using the ‘Big Quilcene’ trail.  Getting there involved taking ever smaller roads and the last 9 miles were on a one lane dirt road.  The SUV came in handy.

I hadn’t been feeling top notch all morning, but we started on a trail that was agreeably, but relentlessly, up.  We started just above 2500 feet and we’d top out at around 6000 feet just over 5 miles later.  The hike was truly beautiful and Jodi enjoyed herself immensely.  I, on the other hand, began to feel lousy.  With each passing step my head cold took root and my energy level began to
flag.

Up top I rested a bit and we had a good lunch.  The views were terrific, I just wish I could have enjoyed them more.

The way down was good, but I couldn’t wait to sit down and rest.  It was nice to descend from an alpine environment down to more of a rain forest.

The mushrooms were out and they put on a nice show.

Once back at the car we headed back to the boat.  We had gotten off to a bit of a late start and my slow hiking had put us further behind.  It was Sunday afternoon, getting late, and we had to drop the car off.

By the time we untied Cambria and headed home, it was well after  sunset.  Fortunately it was a dead calm evening with a near full moon.

We retraced our path from Saturday morning.  Out of Liberty bay, up through Agate Pass, around the north end of Bainbridge and Pt Monroe, then across the sound to Shilshole.

I recall doing this in high school and college - that was before electronic navigation.  We didn’t have Loran, no Radar, well prior to GPS and the AIS system.  We had a compass, a depth finder and binoculars.  It is SO MUCH easier nowadays!!!

The crossing was dark, but beautiful.  With no freighters on the AIS system and no targets on the radar, save for a distant tug, it was an uneventful crossing.

Docking was easy and by 9:30 we were tied up in our home slip.  Not a bad way to go.

I just wish I would have felt better!!