Larabee State Park (Bellingham)
I left Twisp around 10 am noticing it had its own Cyber Cafe. As I drove towards the park I came acros three USFS campgrounds. They were similar to the ones in the Twisp area except they cost $8 instead of $3 because they had water and garbage. They were all along rushing mountain streams still full from the melting snow runoff. One that caught my eye the most was Klipchuck because it was near some biking trails. The air did not seem much cooler at any of them though. On the way over I heard on thge radio that there was an explosion at a Weyerhauser plant in Aberdeen Washington (near Ocean Shores) and that people had to be evacuated from their homes because of the chlorine gas cloud that was released.
There were some great views of glaciers and waterfalls along the road, similar to Glacier National Park. There were also a lot of trailheads. When I got over the first pass to the western side of tghe Cascades I noticed the air temperature drop about 10 degrees. The traffic increased quite a bit also. There were more campgrounds but they were all $12 per night and I just did not get a good feeling about them. There just seemed to be too many people around, some camping some not.
At about 1:30 pm I was greeted by a line of traffic at the Burlington KOA about 7 miles from the coast. I decide to try the state parks which were right on the coast. I should have learned my lesson from Sunset Bay that Bay View State Park would not be a good place to hang out at the ocean. It was on a bay as the name implied and the tide was out. Kids were out wading in the muddy murky mess left behind. I quickly left and drove up to Larabee State Park. Just about all the sites had been reserved, but I found a nice quiet place under some large cedar trees. I later heard from the park ranger that all the sites were booked up for the entire weekend. So I would make it a one night stay (which is what I wanted anyway.)
I immediately went to shave and take a shower. I had forgotten to bring quarters, but remembered that Washicngton State Park showers are free if you just use cold water. So I got a free shower. As I exited the restroom, I was shocked to see the headline in the local newspaper that the Dow had dropped to 8,813. The last I had heard it was over 10,000. Good thing I don't play the stock market.
I visited the "beach" which was just a small rocky shoreline filled with muddy sand and rocks. It was part of the day use area and a hangout for a lot of local teens. Not my idea of an ocean get away.
The ranger booth opened at 5pm and I went to get some brochures on the trails in the area. There was something called the Interurban trail that began (or ended depending on your point of view) across the highway from the campground. It was described as a multi-use trail for hikers, bikers, and joggers. It ran 7 miles north to Bellingham.
I immediately got on my bike and began to ride. The first 4 or 5 miles were great for biking It was an abandoned railroad line that was well maintianed with nice gravel. It was wide and had a lot of interesting ups and downs. I could see the highway about 50 feet below me and the ocean in the distance in a lot of places. There were a few hikers, bikers and joggers on the trail.
Eventually the trail turned into a single lane trail through a forest. It was kind of muddy and not well signed. At one point, I had to interrupt a teenage couple necking on a park bench to ask them if they knew which trail was the inter-urban trail. I felt I was getting closer to a metropolitan area when I started seeing a lot more joggers and the trail turned back into a wide gravel road. There was some kind of fun run going on because I passed about 50 women jogging with name tags on their shirts.
Finally I made it to the Bellingham Cruise Terminal out on the bay. It was a gorgeous sunny day of about 75 degrees. There wer about 25 people waiting to get on a cruise boat to the San Juan Islands. There were at least two dozen sail boats out on the water. It was quiet and peaceful. The streets were clean and the traffic minimal. I got a favorable impression of Bellingham.
I was back at camp by 7:30 pm. I spent a peaceful night reading by the fire. I even started the lantern when it got dark rather than read by the flashlight in my tent like I usually do. All-in-all it was a good day. But tomorrow was another day. A day I would have to decide where to stay.