So I have wrapped up my work project in Everett Washington. It took a bit longer than expected and I’m glad to be back home. I did get in some tasty miles of singletrack during my stay but between the work, weather and a nasty bit of crud I had for a while, I did not get my dirt fix as often as I would have liked. So why do we ride our bikes? Geez there will be just about as many answers to that question as there are folks who decide to through a leg over a bike in the first place. I believe that is part of what mountainbiking so special in the first place. One pursuit with countless permutations of living life and generally having a good time.
One of those “answers” for me is seeing beautiful scenery and the occasional critter or two. I was extremely fortunate to score a pretty awesome place to stay during my visit. It was a quint little beach house on Possession Sound that simply was fantastic from an experience standpoint. It made coming home from the “office” everyday seem like a mini-vacation. When the weather was cooperating there was some incredible views to be had right from the dinner table and deck. By the end of the first week I had adopted a routine getting up a couple hours earlier than I really need to just to enjoy the views and a few relaxing cups of coffee before starting my day. In the evening the place just begged you to crack open a bottle of one of the Pacific Northwest’s tasty microbrews. The views were often a daily dose of “answers” if you will.
Whales…..Yes I said whales. Whales were a common sight right out the front windows. A few gray whales liked to come into the shallows and feed on whatever tasty critters where on the bottom here. They would swim sideways and use their tails to stir up the bottom and then spin around and scoop up and filter out all of the tasty snacks.
They would work down the shoreline and eventually head back out to deeper water and off to the wherever the next buffet spot was located.
They made plenty of noise with all of their activity and sometimes the sounds be the first thing that would draw my attention their “visit”. Seeing these majestic critters was certainly a life enriching experience.
The tidal shift is pretty dramatic in this area. The lines of “puddles” you see in the photo above are the divots created by the whales when they are feeding at high tide. They are typically 6-8 feet long each.
It was quite a trip to walk out onto the beach at low tide and meander around where the whales were at less than 24 hours ago.
Even when there were no critters close by, the views were often of the quality that many us pedal for miles to seek out.
I kept my camera nearby all the time as you never knew what was going to pop up on the beach at any moment. This pair of otters were in hurry to get their take-out order home before it got warm.
So while I did not get in as many miles as I would have liked on this trip, I got of wealth of “answers” that I typically only find along quite singletrack of the backcountry.