I’m spending this week in the Puget Sound/Seattle area. I have been here about four or five times but it has always been during July or August which most folks will tell you is a pretty glorious time here. The rest of the year is known for a lot of overcast and rain. The weather was just that when I arrived Monday evening and all day on Tuesday. However, just as I was finishing up work in the afternoon the Sun made an appearance. I had not planned on grabbing a rental bike until later in the week so here I am off work with sunshine and no bike. The time involved with chasing down a bike and then getting to a trailhead would eat up most of my daylight so what the heck, I’m going for a hike. So straight to one of the Banner Forest trailheads located near Port Orchard I went.
This place is known as a mountain biking area with about 10 miles of singletrack. I only scratched the surface of the trails here on my hike which may have been 3 miles at most.
Most of the stuff I hiked was twisty with some small ups and downs that looks to just be a hoot to ride.
I love the the flora of the Pacific Northwest. Green green green and very mossy.
I saw a few log rides as well as few spots that have oppurtunities for some minor air time.
This was a pretty cool log ride. It is optional as the trail runs about half way down it’s long length. Then the log is cut where it crosses the trail. Log riders have to come of the log and immediately get back up on it on the other side of the trail, ride the next section the make turning roll off the log where you merge back onto the trail. Very Cool!
While I have been up the Pacfic Northwest and B.C. before, I had forgotten how the thick foilage in places can really make for pretty dark shade. I was enjoying my hike and I traveled back into the woods a little further than I thought so the waning light and thick foilage made for a couple of spooky spots near the end of my loop.
I’m going to be spending a few weeks in Seattle Area in few months so I have a feeling I’m going to get back over here with a bike. Oh, two minutes after I got in my car it started raining.