Fall Weekend Cycling Getaway - Fairhaven to Seattle via Whidbey Island
It sounds cliche to say that the route from Fairhaven to Seattle has something for everyone, BUT it really does! Rolling farmland, including pumpkin patches and apple farms, rugged coast, hills, headwinds, ferries, trains, planes on trains, trails, concrete jungles, shipyards, canals, panoramic ocean views, bridges, a bustling urban centre and numerous historic points of interest including the stunning Chuckanut Drive and the historic forts on Whidbey Island. We were only gone for a couple of days, but this ride makes you feel like you have lived a month!
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| In search of the Great Pumpkin |
Our trip began in the quaint and historic town of
Fairhaven, a great place for Sunday brunches and leisurely weekend strolls! Our plan was to leave our car in the Amtrak long term parking lot, cycle to Seattle and catch the train back from Seattle at the end of our trip. We were quite tickled with the long term pay parking system at the parking lot, not exactly high tech, but very effective. Simply stuff your cash in the slot!
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| High Tech Pay Parking system - Fairhaven |
We set off heading south and immediately noticed a trail marker for the
Interurban Greenway. Always excited to be on trails, we jumped on and discovered a great trail almost all the way to
Larabee State Park.
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| Interurban Greenway trail marker |
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| Fall colours along the Interurban Greenway |
Leaving the trail we connected back up to the road and joined the famous Chuckanut Drive. This road hugs Chuckanut mountain as you wind your way along the coast. It can be a bit nerve racking for cyclists as the shoulders are narrow and being a scenic byway traffic can be heavy. Having said that, it is a route frequented by cyclists and we enjoyed the lush forest and ocean vistas as we travelled along the drive.
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Ocean view from road side pull out on Chuckanut Drive.
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Leaving Chuckanut Drive the route flattens out as you travel through farm land and eventually along
Padilla Bay. Being late October and a forecast for heavy rain, we had decided to leave our tent at home and look for motels and Band B's along the way. For our first night, we thought it would be fun to visit the Swinomish Casino. Well, of course, best laid plans - it turns out the casino was full. With heavy hearts and even heavier legs we kept on pedalling in search of a place to stay for the night. We had a late start and were beginning to get worried about losing daylight.
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| Apple Orchard - view of Padilla Bay in the background |
Not too far up the road we stumbled upon the
Fidalgo Country Inn and were instantly transported back in time. The parking lot came complete with lobbyists dressed in camouflage gear, armed with US flags advocating for Bill 594, which to our knowledge addresses background checks for firearms. Despite our complete ignorance of the issue, the gang was friendly and welcomed us to the Inn! They recommended we eat at the local diner. We took their advice and we enjoyed fantastic clam chowder soup and the sounds of 60's music.....we fully expected to be caught up in a 60's style protest march after dinner, but I suggest our imaginations got the best of us.
Day 2 took us across the famous Deception Pass bridge to
Whidbey Island, "the shortest distance to far away". The Deception Pass bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic places and is recognized for it's engineering, architecture and as the gateway to Whidbey Island. The bridge is located within
Deception Pass State Park, 4,134 acres of amazing!
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| Deception Pass Bridge |
The Island features many cycling routes and we enjoyed the numerous options to sidetrack off the highway and take the back roads through rolling farmland. Being October traffic was light, but unfortunately the fall prevailing winds are from the south...and they were mean! We battled all day and welcomed the break from the Kettles trail and Rhodo Trail near Coupeville. The trails provided relief from both the wind and the road. We arrived in Freeland and began our search for a place a stay.
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| Picture Perfect barn |
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| Bike route follows the shoreline |
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| Wind breaks at Picnic area - Oak Harbour |
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| Kettles Trail near Coupeville |
As we began to cycle in to town we were greeted by three dogs....and within seconds the chase was on! We haven't been chased by dogs in a very long time and it brought back memories of our
Mississippi River Cycle Tour. Just as we were beginning to panic, out came Sophie, the dog's owner. Sophie was the best! She had those dogs under control and back in their yard in seconds. She apologized over and over and then gave us the most enthusiastic set of directions I think we have ever heard! Sophie recommended the local motel and we took her advice. As we settled in to our room, the skies opened up and it began to pour. We looked at each other in disbelief. What are the odds of cycling for 2 full days in October and not have rain?
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| Deer crossing |
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| Clinton ferry terminal |
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| Creative use of bike wheels to make whirly gigs |
We were up early on our last day, as we had quite a few miles to get under the belt in order to arrive in Seattle in time for our train. Our route took us along Highway 525 to
Clinton where we travelled by ferry to
Mukilteo, a quaint waterfront community on Puget Sound. We learned that Mukilteo means "a good camping ground" and I think we would agree. The town has fantastic views of both the Olympic and North Cascade mountains.
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| Mukilteo |
From Mukilteo we began a long uphill climb in search of the Interurban Trail, a multi-use path connecting Everett with Seattle along the old Puget Sound Electric Railway corridor. Although, you probably would not call stretches of the trail "pretty" we found ourselves very impressed to have a dedicated multi-use pathway in the heart of such a heavily populated and busy area. Stretches of the trail paralleled Interstate 5, so it was very noisy at times, but the luxury of not being in traffic or negotiating intersections was such a treat.
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| Interurban Trail marker |
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| Great signage |
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| Miles of designated multi-use path |
The trail was well signed and although we took a couple of wrong turns, I must confess the mistakes were ours. At one point we were actually standing directly underneath a trail marker and missed the turn because we didn't look up. Not our proudest moment!
We ended our trip with a classic brain fart! After nearing downtown and travelling along Phinney Street - a really funky street with a definite Vancouver feel to it, we found ourselves crossing a bridge and looking for directions to downtown. We were planning to either connect with the
Burke-Gilman Trail or the
Elliott Bay Trail for the last leg of our trip.
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| Canal crossing near Lake Union |
We noticed a large hill, but to our right in the opposite direction of the hill was a bike path. Being tired and grumpy we jumped at the chance to hop on the
Ship Canal Trail in a feeble attempt to avoid the hill. In our efforts to avoid this last hill, we completely lost all sense of direction and ended up cycling miles out of our way along the wrong trail. Once again we amazed ourselves how fatigue, hunger and a sight of a hill can completely cloud judgement. Having said that, the Ship Canal Trail was a lot of fun as it weaved through the shipyards and railway yards giving us a view of Seattle we had never seen before.
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| We stopped to see how work on our private yacht was coming along |
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| Tourists enjoy a boat tour |
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| Planes on Trains - you really don't see that every day! |
Once we realized our mistake, we back tracked and made our way to downtown Seattle.....even managing to find time for a quick celebration drink before boarding the train.
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| Space Needle welcomes us to downtown |
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| Celebration drink and rest at the pier |
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| View from above - King Street Amtrak station |
Miraculously the rain had held off for the full three days of our trip. As we toasted our good fortune....we began to plan our next outing! Rumour has it the salmon are running on the Harrison River!
Giggle:
Rob deserves all the credit in the world for capturing amazing photos on our trips. He is always looking for an interesting shot or story to tell. Usually, I am fully supportive and enjoy our frequent breaks while he satisfies his "inner photographer." However, in all honesty, on more difficult days, those full of headwinds and hills I must confess that sometimes my patience runs a little short with his frequent picture stops. At my age, when you get the train moving, sometimes it is just better to keep it going down the track!
On day 2 of our ride we had struggled against really strong headwinds for the entire morning and as we approached Oak Harbor we were fighting just to stay on the bikes. We kept pushing forward at a painstakingly slow pace, grateful that it wasn't raining when Rob spotted a really cute roadside market, complete with giant pumpkin. Of course, he couldn't pass this opportunity by and before I knew it he was trying to setup his bike in front of the pumpkin. We were also lost, so Rob pulled out the maps....and with one sudden huge gust of wind....the bikes blew over and our maps went flying!!!! We took one look at each other and burst out laughing...what else could we do?
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| The wind steals our maps and topples the bikes |
Map and Route Tips:
Day 2
Day 3
Amtrak
Clinton Ferry
Downloadable Cycling Mpas - Whidbey Island
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