Day 147 - 27th October, Cape Lookout State Park - Pacific city - Neskowin, 30.33 miles

Ráno prší, aspoň máme výhovorku a môžeme spať. Pred obedom sa však už len prevaľujeme v spacákoch, vonku sa už len prevaľuje hmla, takže balíme a vyrážame na Cape Lookout. Nie je nič lepšie ako poriadny kopec po ránu, vlastne obedu. Chvíľami to vyzeralo, že už šliapeme dole hlavou, tak bol strmý. Ako sme sa tam tak škriabali do výšin nebezkých, predbehol nás ďalší bajker smerujúci na juh, volal sa Luke, cez leto pracoval na Aljaške, v zime bicykluje kde sa dá, momentálne sa ponáhľal za frajerkou do Arkádie (čo je ešte dosť ďaleko na juh v Kalifornii), takže už sme ho viac nestretli, teda dnes sme ho ešte raz stretli, predbehli sme ho v Pelican Bay. Baby sú baby, ale dobrý pivovar je dobrý pivovar  :-). Ako tak sme sa vyberali na Cape Lookout a prehupli sa na jeho južnú stranu, ako keby niekto mávol čarovným prútikom a zrazu bolo po hmle a svietilo slnko, navyše nasledoval parádny zjazd.

Na jednom mieste cesta pretínala obrovskú pieskovú dunu, celkom vtip, východná strana bola pod prísnou ochranou so všetkými možnými zákazmi, na západnej strane sa preháňali amíci na motorkách a buginách, ale vlastne to bola tiež súčasť manažmentu, veď len plnia funkciu veľkých herbivorov, ktoré si tu už viac menej vystrieľali, udržujúc pieskové duny v počiatočnej fáze sukcesie. Myslím, že tu sa nám aj po prvý krát otvoril výhľad na obrovské holoruby, ktoré nás potom už sprevádzali po celý zvyšok Oregonu. Tunajší drevostíňači sa s nejakou estetikou nenechajú zastrašiť a rúbu kam až sa dá. Keby nechali aspoň nejaký potemkynovský pás lesov pri pobreží na pokoji, tak si blbí turisti, ani my, nič nevšimneme a teraz by som sa tu rozplýval nad tým aký je Oregon nádherný, takto však musím povedať, že Oregon je pekný blivajz, pobrežie s útesmi a skaliskami je super, ale ak sa pozriete hocikde na východ tak väčšinou vidíte len pekne hnusné holoruby.

Prechádzame cez Pelican Bay, s krásnou pieskovou dunou na pláži (Luke akurát vychádza z pivovaru), Pacific City s mnohými lacnými turistickými lákadlami a peknou zátokou s kopou vtákov, opäť sa raz štveráme do kopca kopčiska, opäť nás prebieha Luke a opäť ho ešte raz stretávame v Neskowin-e, kde sa rozpráva s Johnom. Takže ak keď sme to už nečakali zase sa stretávame s Johnom a ideme spolu. Luke nás už definitívne opúšťa a ponáhľa sa do Arkádie za priateľkou. Navečer opúšťame 101-mu a ideme po starej 101-ke, je to trochu dlhšie, ale ide cez národný les (menej holorubov), takže je tu veľmi pekne a prakticky žiadna premávka. Bivakujeme kúsok od akejsi základnej školy, John večer pečie chleba.

Day 146 - 26th October, Tillamook - Oceanside (Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge) - Cape Lookout State Park, 19.02 miles

Ráno sa presúvame k oceánu, na obzore sa črtajú tri obrovitánske skaliská, takže sa dlho nerozmýšľame a frčíme k nim (aj keď je to v protismere našej cesty). Po pár kopcoch sa dostávame do malého letoviska (Oceanside). Než sa ale vydáme obkukávať tie tri gigantické skaliská (Three Arch Rocks) varíme najprv raňajky. Bicykle opäť nechávame bez dozoru a ideme si obzrieť skaliská a útesy. Skrz útes je prerazená chodba, dá sa ňou dostať na druhú stranu útesu s nádhernou plážou plnou mušiel a parádnych skalisiek. Je krásne a teplo, máčame si nohy v oceáne, lozíme po skalách a zbierame mušle. Okolo „Troch oblúkov “ krúžia pelikány, na skalách posedávajú kormorány, čajky a ešte nejaké iné, nám neznáme, ptice. Keď sa vraciame k bicyklom, ktoré sú stále tam, kde sme ich nechali (aj s vecami), zisťujeme, že k našim dvojkolkám pribudla aj jedna jednokolka. Tak sme sa stretli s Pítom (Pete), chalanisko, 22 ročný, vyrazil z Washingtonu D.C., prešiel na jednokolke skoro skrz celé USA, a teraz je na ceste zo Seattlu do Argentíny, potom Afrika, Európa, Ázia a spať do USA, všetko na jednokolke. Úplne úžasná bola jeho batožina, prakticky žiadna nebola, jeden malý batoh na chrbte a dva ešte menšie na jednokolke. Len som ticho závidel, keď vidím tie naše gigantické, superťažké bágle....

Už sme pomaly chceli odísť, keď ku stolu, kde sme jedli, prišla štvorgeneračná ukrajinská rodinka. V podstate to bol taký závan domova, takže sme sa s nimi dali do reči a kým sme sa rozprávali (ukrajinsko-anglicky), namiesto sendvičov vytiahli odniekiaľ taniere, šálky a hrnce s pirohmi, varenými zemiakmi, kyslou kapustou a inými pochúťkami východoeurópskej kuchyne. Samozrejme, že nás nepustili bez toho, aby nás poriadne nakŕmili. Peanut butter je fajn, američania sú väčšinou úžasní, pohostinný ľudia, ale táto ukrajinská rodinka všetko tromfla. Možno to z časti robilo to, že ako slovania máme k sebe bližšie, ale hlavne, východná pohostinnosť je naozaj od srdca.

Od “Troch Oblúkov“ sme ja a Baška prešli len kúsok po Cape Lookout State Park, tu sme si spravili romantický večer a po prvý krát videli zapadať slnko do oceánu. John pokračoval ďalej, zajtra je nedeľa a chcel sa dostať k najbližšiemu katolíckemu kostolu. Než sme sa rozlúčili, dobehol nás Pít, hekticky prepletajúc nožičkami na jednokolke. Ono je to ako keby ste stále jazdili na najľahšom prevode a jednokolka nemá brzdy, čo robí dole kopec o kus náročnejší než hore kopec. V kempe sme stretli ďalších cyklistov, mladý pár (v porovnaní s nami starochmi) zo Švajčiarska. Po treku v Nepále si prišli trochu zajazdiť do USA, idú Seattle - San Francisco (možno ďalej). Toto bol asi jediný pár, ktorý bol viac nabalený ako my. Mali napr.také veci ako čajník, alebo prenosnú sprchu (ktorú dievčina používala akurát, keď sme prišli a slnko sa skláňalo k hladine oceánu...  :-)

Day 145 - 25th October, Manzanita - Tillamook, 35.7 miles

John prežil noc v zdravý, ráno si dokonca doprial ďalšiu dávku muchotrávok a navrch ešte jednu plávku, o ktorej mu Baška povedala, že nie je jedovatá, ale nie je veľmi jedlá. No, súdiac podľa Johna, môžeme povedať, že vyprážané muchotrávky nie sú jedovaté, sú dokonca chutné, nie sú halucinogénne a rozhodne by sa nemali miešať s nejedlými plávkami. Pretože kým sme vyrazili, začal sa cítiť celkom neisto v oblasti žalúdku. Za chvíľu mu už bolo pomerne zle, bol ospalý, unavený. Navyše sme si v snahe skrátiť si cestu trochu zašli a spať na 101tku sme sa takmer museli prebiť cez nepoddajnú vegetáciu. Po tomto prechode to John asi na pol hodinu zalomil, čím jeho telo dokončilo detoxikáciu. Bo potom už bol v pohode, dokonca keď sme dorazili do syrovej továrne v Tillamooku, okrem syru, ktorého sme tam zjedli tonu a “fadžu“ (ochutnávka zadarmo) sme si dopriali dva krát výbornú zmrzlinu, čo tu tiež vyrábajú, pričom John mal zo všetkého asi najviac. Ó, Tillamoocká zmrzlina, to vám je niečo, asi najlepšia v celých štátoch, rozhodne najlepšia čo sme zatiaľ mali. Akurát, že kým sme sa odtiaľ dostali bola už tma a my sme opäť skončili v mestskom parku. Našli sme tu síce pekné odľahlé miesto, maskované krami a stromami, ale aj tak o pol dvanástej prišla polícia a my sme sa opäť museli pratať. Odšliapali sme to teda kúsok USA Tillamook, a zalomili to prvom vhodnom mieste pod lesom, ignorujúc fakt, že sme na súkromnom pozemku. Našťastie nikto nás už neotravoval a my sme mohli pokojne spať až do rána.

John survived his amanita dinner and he did some more mushrooms for breakfast. That wasn't probably very clever, because than he started to feel quite "dizzy". On the way to Tillamook, he wasn't feel very good at all, he was sleepy and tired. But after one crazy shortcut, which including pushing our bikes through very dense vegetation around one lake and short nap, he was ok and when we arrived to Tillamook Cheese factory he didn't hesitate to buy ice cream. That was something that ice cream, probably the best ice cream in USA is in Tillamook. And they had free examples of their cheese and fudge. When we left this factory we were full of ice cream, cheese and fudge and we also bought some cheese and fudge for later. Only problem was that it was dark again. Days are so short now, especially when you started to bike around noon and than spend half of afternoon detoxicating and than eating ice cream. There was Tillamook in front of us, and no suitable place for camping around. So, again we end ed in the town. After some riding around we found quite remote park on the edge of town and hide our tents in the bushes. We were totally sure that nobody can find us here. Wrong, again about 11:30pm police came and he had to leave. This time they were even more polite than last time, policeman was originally from Russia and he told us that if is not his boss, he would leave us there, but ... So we have to bike in the middle of night again. Luckily we found some place near forest a few miles from Tillamook, it was on privet property, but we didn't care, we just want to sleep. We were lucky, nobody kicked us and we stayed there till morning.

Day 144 - 24th October, Seaside - Canon Beach - Manzanita (Nehalem Bay State Park), 28.51 miles

Stále sychravo, kým sa vydáme na cestu je opäť obed, hľadajúc jeden veľký kopec prichádzame na Canon Beach, pláž pomenovanú podľa dela, čo tu našli vyplavené z nejakého isto významného vraku lode čo sa pokúšala dostať do Portlandu. Veru útesy Oregonu sú sviňa, a tu na Canon Beach boli vskutku majestátne, obrovské zuby trčiace z mora. Škoda len, že bola taká kosa, dnes bol asi najchladnejší deň čo sme tu na pobreží zatiaľ mali. 101-ka, po ktorej vedú naše “kroky “ sa teraz kľukatila na útesoch (alebo skrz), navečer sme sa vyštverali na vysokánsky útes, pozorujúc mestečko Manzanita, kdesi hlboko pod nami, hneď za ním je State Park s kempom, kde sme plánovali prenocovať. Nočný zjazd bol vskutku napínavý. Kemp bol výborný, tunajšie “štátne“ kempu majú špeciálne vyhradené miesto pre cyklistov a hikerov (väčšinou niekde hodne bokom, asi aby sme nepohoršovali slušných ľudí kempujúcich vo svojich gigantických prívesoch alebo obytných autobusoch). Výborná vec na týchto kempoch je aj to, že sprcha je zadarmo (aspoň v Oregone) a platí sa samo-registráciou 5$ na hlavu za noc, väčšinou, pokiaľ vyrazíte zavčas rána, tak to, či ste zaplatili ani žiadny ranger nepríde skontrolovať. Konečne sme teda mali opäť po pár dňoch sprchu. Jediná chybička krásy bola, že tu chýbali „food boxes“, po skúsenostiach s mývalmi, sme vedeli, že všetko jedlo treba zasesiť na stromy. A dobe sme spravili, zakrátko po tom čo ostatní bajkeri zaliezli do stanov, prišlo asi päť neuveriteľne tučných mývalov a hneď začali kontrovať bicykle a stany. Dve dievčiny nechali pri stane tašky s jedlom, veľa im toho neostalo, zožrali ešte aj vitamíny. Baška zabudla v taške na bicykli balík čokoládových tyčiniek, taška bola zazipsovaná, ale mývali ju otvorili bez problémov (ešte ju aj z časti zavreli), keď som ich vymákol, akurát dojedali posledné kúsky. Dostali sa aj do panieru, kde Baška mala jedlo, ale teraz tam boli len prázdne sáčky. Mývali milujú igelitové sáčky, hlavne ak ich môžu roztrhať na franforce... Škoda, že tu na zemi bol len piesok a nie kamene, napriek tomu akí sú šikovní, sú fakt sprostí a pomalí, kľudne si pred tebou budú žrať tvoje tyčinky a na útek sa dajú až, keď sú v dosahu kopanca. Mať tak kamene... Ozaj, počas posledných dvoch dní sme našli kopec muchotrávok červených, John ich ešte nikdy nevidel a strašne sa mu páčili. Spravili sme chybu, keď sme mu spomenuli ich potenciálne halucinogénne účinky. John ich hneď zobral a večer si spravil poriadnu hríbovú praženicu. Varovali sme ho že si jedovaté, ale na Vikipédii si John našiel, že pražením sa ich jedovatosť odstráni, no uvidíme ráno... my sme ostali pri našich cestovinách a zelenine.

Another cloudy, wet and probably the coldest day so far, here on west coast, luckily no rain. After we left Seaside and pedaled through one big hill we arrived to the Cannon Beach with first huge rocks standing near the coast in the ocean like huge, black teeth. They looked quite dramatic, especially in this cold wind and with dark grey clouds above and big waves around. Hwy 101 went around and sometimes through cliffs, it was fun to bike through tunnels with John singing but than it disappeared in earsplitting roar of cars's engines. Short before dark, we arrived on the top of high cliffs, down were blinking lights of Manzanita and there somewhere was also Nehalem Bay State Park with campground. Downhill ride in the light of ours headlamps was a small adventure, with steep cliffs on right side. In Nehalem Bay we stayed on hiker/biker site, there were already two another groups of biker. One thing I don't understand, why these hiker/biker sites are, here in Oregon, as far from restrooms as possible? For dinner John cooked the fly amanita (or fly agaric) mushrooms, nice red colored mushrooms with white dots, John saw them first time in his life. Trying to widen his knowledge about these mushrooms we (which was not very clever) told him that some people eat it to have hallucination. We also told him that it is poisonous, but John found out that when you cook them properly they should be ok. So he had very interesting dinner and I with Barbora were wondering how he will be in the morning. During the night we have some uninvited visitors, four very fat raccoons which after eat nearly all foot from another bikers group which camp near us, were very curious if also we can offer something good (maybe another packages of vitamins? or more chocolate?). Well, they were nearly disappointment, we hung all our food on the trees, but Baska forgot one bag with chocolate bars in her frame bag. It was closed but zipper wasn't problem for raccoons, they also open one of her front panniers, where she usually have food. Now it was full of empty plastic bags. Raccoons love plastic bags, so they took nearly everything out and tore them apart. 

Day 143 - 23rd October, Astoria - Seaside, 23.14 miles

Ráno, vlastne doobeda, John vypeká palacinky, reálne palacinky, nie lievance (američania volajú lievance palacinky) a čo je ešte divnejšie nepoužíva na to predpripravený mix z obchodu ale naozajstné ingrediencie ako vajíčka, múku, mlieko... (obchod bol neďaleko).  Väčšinou keď sme boli v Cuyahoge a nejaká naša kolegynka povedala že ide niečo upiecť, znamenalo to iba, že zmieša biely alebo hnedý prášok s vodou a šupne to do trúby. Takže doobedie bolo venované palacinkám (ja som ešte namontoval nový predný nosič na bicykel, skombinoval som ho s tým starým, čo držal pokope vďaka izolačke...), ono aj tak je odvčera nevľúdne, sychravo, slnko sa schováva niekde za hmlou a oblakmi, ale aspoň nemrzne  :-) Z Astorie sme pokračovali ďalej po pobreží Oregonu. John si chcel v Astorii nájsť prácu, ale mesto naň nepôsobilo pozitívne takže pokračoval s nami. Cestou cez prístav sme na jednom mieste našli mólo obležené (doslova) tuleňmi. Boli neuveriteľne hluční a smiešni (a veľkí). Hneď za mestom sa Baške zlomila špajdla na zadnom kolese, a to sme boli včera v bajkšope a kúpili jej nový plášť. No, jedna špajdla nie je nič hrozné, trochu sa jej zosmičkovatelo zadné kolo, ale jazdiť sa na tom dalo. V sychravom popoludní sme sa prebicyklovali do mestečka Seaside, prechádzajúc popri pieskových plážach, dunách a snobských letoviskách. V Seaside sme našli pekný park, nikde žiadny zákaz stanovania, tož sme obsadili jeden z prístreškov a dali sa do robenia večere a opravy Baškinho kolesa. Zistil som, že mám všetko potrebné na výmenu špajdle, ale nemal som dosť veľký kľúč na demontovanie kazety (osemkolečka), menšia improvizácia nepomohla, akurát som si dorezal ruku na zuboch. Našťastie sme tu mali mali Johna a s pomocou jeho kombinačiek a klieští, sme celú výmenu ľahko zvládli, potom ešte vycentrovať koleso a Baška akurát dovarila večeru. Keď sme už konečne chceli ísť spať, vlastne ja som už nejakých 10 minút spal, prebudili nás prudké svetlá a rázne “Hello, here is police", čo neveštilo nič dobré. Ale nakoniec to bolo relatívne v pohode, akurát sme museli všetko zbaliť a presunúť sa do kempu (súkromného, drahého, 20$ za noc). Z nejakého dôvodu tu v Oregone sa nesmie spať v meste  :-). Policajti boli vskutku milí, povedali, že ich to mrzí, ale zákon je zákon, ani tu 700$ pokutu nám nedali...

Still cloudy,foggy, cold and wet weather. John is cooking french pancakes for breakfast/lunch, I am working on my bike, finally I successfully combined old and new front racks together. Our camp is close to the shipyard and one pier is occupied by the seals. They are lying on each other and making the funniest noises on the world. John originally planed to stay in Astoria and find some job here, but this town didn't give him good vibrations so he decided to leave with us. We left Astoria through an another horrible bridge (but better than the first one from Washington) and near Warrenton a spoke on Baska's rear wheel broke. Well it wasn't very bad so we continued. First impression from Oregon was very cloudy and foggy. The coast with sand dunes looked grey, cold and sad. We passed through some poor neighborhoods and than through some very, very rich one. In the evening we got to small town - Seaside. It was dark already and there wasn't any state park nearby so we decided to stay in small city park. It was nice spot with shelter, where Baska cooked dinner, while me and John together repaired that broken spoke on her back wheel (thanks for John, I found out that I don't have good tools for that kind of repair, we had to demounted the cassette). Immediately after we fall asleep (about 11:30 pm), sharp light woke us up and somebody loudly said "Here is police, please can you legitimize yourself?"So we found out that in Oregon isn't allowed to "camp" within city limits and the fine is 700$. But luckily we didn't have to pay anything, that police guys were quite polite and just told us that we have to pack and leave. In the middle of misty, unpleasantly wet night we didn't find better place than private RV park in Seaside for 20$ per night. 

Day 142 - 22nd October, Cape Disappointment - Astoria, 24.41 miles

Zobudili sme sa do krásneho slnečného rána, ale kým sme s najedli a pobalili, z oceánu sa privalila hmla a všetko zahalila do odtieňov šedej. Aspoň boli útesy s majákom viac atmosferické. Pozreli sme si pláž s hromadou naplavených kmeňov, Baška s Johnom sa snažili nechať spláchnuť do oceánu nejakou “sneaky“ vlnou a Baška si niekde v tej zmeti kmeňov nechala sandále, takže sme s nimi chvíľu hrali na schovku.
Vybehli sme si aj na maják, nechajúc všetky naše doklady, peniaze, bicykle len tak bez dozoru. U nás by som si to nedovolil ani náhodou, ale tu na divokom západe je to úplne v pohode. Z majáku sme asi pozreli zahmlené ústie rieky Columbia do mora. V minulosti najobávanejšia rieka, ktorej ústie sa stále menilo s mnohými plytčinami a pieskovými ostrovmi, sa teraz poslušne tmolí v zregulovanom koryte. Na druhú stranu vďaka kamenným hrádzam získal stáť Washington, niekoľko kilometrov štvorcových, na ktorých sa nachádza State Park a kemp, kde sme spali. Po ceste so Astorie, sme našli ďalší IPhone. Bol zablokovaný, takže sme nemohli zavolať majiteľa, ale aj tak som ho zobral, mysliac si že ho necháme na najbližšej policajnej stanici, IPhone je pre nás nepoužiteľný, nedá sa na ňom výmeniť karta, to tak nájsť SmartPhone, ako sa to podarilo Johnovi, to by s nám celkom hodilo. Až do Astorie sme na žiadnu políciu nenarazili a až v Astorii sa nám podarilo spojiť s majiteľom telefónu, ktorý naň zavolal. No nepotešil sa, nachádzal sa asi 20 míľ od Astorie. Asi sa mu nechcelo predchádzať cez ten 4 míle dlhý most, tak úzky, že každému nákladiaku sme riadidlami oškreli lak na karosérii (v skutočnosti nás iba jeden “logging truck“ minul tak tesne, drevorubači sú hovädá, hlavne teda ich šoféri čo sa valia v obrovských nákladiakoch vrchovato naložených stromami, ako keby im patrila celá cesta, bohužiaľ ich tu jazdí pomerne dosť). Každopádne, keď majiteľ telefónu dorazil, spolu so svojim kumpánom (vyzerali dosť podozrivo), akurát schmatli telefón a odfrčali preč. Do Astorie, okrem toho, že ju máme po ceste sme zavítali aj preto, že Bašku tí mal čakať na pošte list od Terky (slovenskej), nečakal. Kdesi sa stala chyba, možno ho Cheryl zabudla poslať, nevolali sme sa jej, takže to ostane asi chvíľu záhadou. Ešte sme navečer nakúpili nejaké zásoby v Safeway a zabivakovali kúsok od mesta pri prístave.

Today we woke up into nice sunny morning, but very soon fog came from the ocean and everything sunk in the gray mist. But even in this weather was Cape Disappointment very nice, mystic. First we climbed through driftwood on beach near lighthouse. Baska and John were trying to "catch" the waives, or it was opposite? Than we went to the lighthouse, up on the cliffs with foggy views on the Columbia River. When we left Cape Disappointment and went to Astoria, Baska found another IPhone on the side of road (this was the third one). It was locked and we were unable to find it's owner, so we decided to take it with us and leave it on the nearest police station. Problem was, that there wasn't any on the way a we had to take it to Astoria. It's owner called right when we arrived to this "pleasant" town (in the fog it looked quite sad) and that guy wasn't happy that we took it to Astoria, wasn't happy at all :-) It looked like that he would be happier without phone, than to drive to Astoria. Well, I don't blame him, the bridge across Columbia River is really horrible, nearly 4 miles long and very narrow, we were nearly killed by one arrogant logging truck (nearly all of them are arrogant, they probably think that whole road is only for them) and there was also construction work in the middle of the steepest part. But it would be nice to say "thanks" at least, when he and his buddy arrived they just grabbed the phone and left without a word. We stayed in Astoria, because Baska needed to go to the post office, there should have been the letter from her friend from Slovakia, but it wasn't there... and we also had to buy new tire for Baska (I found same front rack as Baska's, so I bought it too, it would be nice to have front rack which doesn't holt together thanks to ducktape).

Day 141 - 21st October, Bruceport State Park - Cape Disappointment, 43 miles

Ráno sme zistili, že ďalší “bajker“, čo využil “služby“, uzavretého parku bol istý kanaďan, volá sa John a je z Quebecu. Je na ceste okolo USA. Zdal sa byť ako dobrý týpek a keďže sme mali spoločnú cestu rozhodli sme sa, že pôjdeme spolu. Cestou sme sa postupne dozvedeli jeho “story“, že jedného dňa so uvedomil, že akosi nerobí to čo ho teší a tak nechal “doma“ svoju nepodarenú ženu, ktorá ho “nechala“ po tom čo prišiel o prácu a keďže deti už má veľké (je mu okolo 40), zredukoval svoj majetok na bicykel a zopár vecí čo má na ňom a jednu krabicu, čo nechal u kamaráta, opustil podnájom, kde býval a s pár dolármi v kapse, vyrazil na bajku si trocha vyvetrať hlavu. Keď sa mu minú peniaze, tak sa niekde zastaví, pár dní pracuje a potom ide ďalej. Okrem toho, že bol vyštudovaný technik, a kopec znalostí ako inžinier, mal celkom dobré “ekologické“ a “protisystémové“ zmýšľanie a ako málo kto poznal, že sadlo sa dá použiť aj inak ako len na vyprážanie (konečne sa nám ho tu v obchodoch podarilo nájsť, takže už sa stravujeme skoro po slovensky), veľmi má rád čili a nemá problém zjesť aj jedlo čo ti spadne na zem, takže do našej party celkom zapadol.
Postupne sme sa blížili k “Mysu Sklamania“ (Cape Disappointment) na hranici s Oregonom, kopírujúc pobrežie plné krásnych zátok, potokov a mokradí, dokonca občas s lesom, ktorý nebol zjazvený holorubmi (ale to naozaj iba občas). Všetko tu bolo ovplyvnené prílivom a odlivom, rozdiel môže byť až tri metre. Cape Disappointment bol nádherný, žiadne sklamanie. Prišli sme navečer, hmla, ktorá sa ešte stále drží oceánu trocha ustúpila. Chvíľu sme si máčali nohy v oceáne a potom skrz prízemné chuchvalce hmly prešli ku skalám/útesom náhle vystúpivších z piesku a hmly, tieto útesy tvoria onen obávaný mys a spolu s majákom hľadia do ústia rieky Columbia. Prespali sme v miestnom State Parku.

In the morning we found out that the another visitor of this state park is also biker. His name is John and he is from Canada. After a small chat we found out that we have the same way, so we decided to bike together. It was very nice and sunny, warm day. We biked next to the coast, with many bays and passed many sloughs. Difference between high and low tide is about 10 feet here so during low tide everything around was muddy. During lunch we discovered that we have a lot of common with John, for example he doesn't have any problem to eat raw vegetable like onion or garlic or lard as a spread for bread, baked his own bread and cook porridge for breakfast, also camp everywhere is possible and don't like to waste money for campgrounds. As we biked with him, he told us a part of his story, that why he left Quebec and biked through Canada and that his goal is to bike around USA.
In the evening we reached the Cape of Disappointment. In the evening light and with light mist the cliffs looked gorgeous.

Day 140 - 20th October, Hoquiam - Raymond - Bruceport State Park, 43.44 miles

Keď prechádzame ranným Aberdeenom, náhle sa pred nami zastavuje premávka a mladý jeleň si pomaličky vykračuje cez cestu. Tu má aspoň istotu že ho nikto nezastrelí. Za Aberdeen sa dostávame do holorubnej (s)púšte, ktorú tu po sebe zanechali lesáci, aj s malým vysvetlením. A my sme hneď pochopili prečo je tu všade toľko tabúľ zlorečiacich NP Olympic. V 2007 totiž prišiel zlý ujo hurikán a pováľal im všetky tie nádherné smrekové monokultúry, ktoré tu s takou vervou všade sadia. Takže sa udialo presne to isté ako pod našimi Tatrami a keďže už teraz nemajú do čoho zatnúť, snažia sa dostať k stromom čo sú v parku. A samozrejme, keďže lesníci nedokážu žiť bez poriadnej dávky demagógie a propagandy tak tu všade trčia tie tabule. Našťastie sme v Hoquiam a Aberdeen videli aj tabule s opačným posolstvom.
Cez dorezané kopce sme sa dostali do mestečka Raymond a vychutnali si pekný večer bicyklujúc popri rieke Willapa. Akurát bol čas odlivu, takže rieka bola len malá stužka v skoro kilometer širokom koryte, obnažené blata boli ideálne pre bahniaky, ustupujúce voda po sebe zanechala fantastické mokrade, navečer z nich trocha stúpala hmla, miestami jediné suché miesto naokolo bola cesta pod nami. Skoro za tmy sme dorazili k Bruceport State Parku, situovanom na malej pieskovej dune/kopci. Bol už  zavretý (už je po sezóne), ale náš nejaká závora neodradila. A neboli sme jediný.

Day of chocolate blizzards from DQ, first in the morning in Aberdeen, even it was quite cold day (but now is cold nearly every day), than second one in Raymond. On our way through Aberdeen the cars in front of us suddenly stopped and a stag slowly walked through the road looking curiously around, a few men were standing around and clutching they teeth, they couldn't shoot it in the city... From Aberdeen to Raymond we biked through another horrible clear-cuts and here we found out why there are everywhere so many "No more Wilderness" or "Stop Wild Olympic" signs (luckily half city in Aberdeen and Hoquiam had signs like "Wild Olympic is our future" or "Save Wilderness"). So, probably, the true reason of this propaganda war is laying between Aberdeen and Raymond, whole that area is one huge clear-cut, nearly all hills around are without forest or with very young trees. It's mainly because hurricane from 2007 which hit this area and toppled down all these weak spruce monocultures planted with the foresters in the past. So, loggers in two years "salvaged" all wood what they could use, which practically mean that they took out everything and planted a new monocultures again. Only problem is, that now they have to wait for next 60 years till they will be able to harvest another trees here. Only good trees left in protected areas where forest was strong and lucky enough to resist that hurricane, which mean that there is a lot of big trees, a lot of money. When I saw all this and realized how ridiculous it is, I had to laugh. Exactly the same things happened also in Slovakia and loggers/foresters did same stuff as here, used same propaganda and also tried harvest last remaining trees from national parks. I don't know how successful were here, in Slovakia, unfortunately, were quite successful...
After we passed through that devastation left after loggers corporations we enjoy nice downhill ride to Raymond and than biked next to Willapa river. Because of a low tide, there were huge wetlands and muddy plains around that river, amazing ecosystem especially for shorebirds. Also in the evening light with a little bit of fog it had a nice, eerie atmosphere. In the evening we reached Bruceport State Park, it was closed but not for us :-) and judging by small dot of light from headlamp we were not only one bikers which ends up here.

Day 139 - 19th October, Griffiths-Priday Ocean State Park -Hoquiam, 25.75 miles

Dnes sme sa veľmi nepretrhli, od oceánu, kde stále bola hmla sme prešli len kúsok do vnútrozemia (kde je stále krásne indiánske leto), pri mestečku Aberdeen sme naďabili na malú rezerváciu pri prístave, zátoka s nádhernými blatami, ideálne pre bahniaky, tie však boli na náš ďalekohľad veľmi prťavé, zato tam však poletovala kaňa (hnedý vták), niečo ako naša sivá, naša prvá americká. Prespali sme v komerčnom kempe (keďže sme na večer skončili v meste), 20$ za noc, ale aspoň sme využili sprchu.

Today we took break till noon, the ocean coast was still in fog but a few miles from it was nice Indian summer. Biked, thought small hills with heavy traffic in the opposite line (another clam hunters) and narrow road to the town of Aberdeen, we saw there nice bay which was reservation for shorebirds like plovers or sandpipers. Quite nice place. Slept in private RV park for 20$/night. At least we took shover.

Day 138 - 18th October, Quinault - Copalis Crossing - Griffiths-Priday Ocean State Park, 48.32 miles

Skoro z rána sme si pozreli najväčší západný červený céder na svete schovaný kúsok od cesty v prekrásnom pralese. Dosť pripomínal ten céder zo včera, akurát že tento mal dutinu o rozmeroch väčšej garáže, vyzerala ako drevená jaskyňa. Obvod stromu bol 63.5 stopy, priemer 19.5 a výška 174 stôp (vydeľte si to tromi a máte to cca v metroch). Potom sme si pozreli najväčší smrek sitka (Picea sitchensis). Tento približne 1000 rokov starý gigant bol naozaj majestátny. Obvod okolo 58 stôp, priemer 17.68 a výška 191 stôp. Takto asi musia vnímať naše stromy mravce, krásny, zdravý smrek, ale ako keby ho niekto neúmerne zväčšil v porovnaní so svetom okolo, keď si predstavým, že takéto stromy tu rástli všade od Vancouveru po San Francisco, a my sme ich takmer všetky vyrúbali za pár rokov...
Keď sme opustili jazero Quinault a tým aj Olympic dostali sme sa opäť do krutej reality zvanej “Timberland“, nekonečné smrekové plantáže - choré, tesné, dusné, tmavé a obrovské holoruby - toť priemyselná ťažba dreva podľa lesníckeho gusta. Samozrejme všade ostnaté drôty a tabuľky so zákazmi vstupu.
Navečer sme sa dostali do hmly čo znamenalo, že sme pri oceáne. Prespali sme v miestnom State parku, večer sa tu všade tmolili lovci ustríc, asi je na ne práve sezóna.

In the morning we went thought the nice old rainforest to see the biggest Western Red Cedar in the World. Looked quite similar like that previous one but this one had huge hollow which looks like wooden cave on size of living room. Circumference 63.5`, diameter 19.5`and 174`tall. Than we visited place on the opposite site of lake with the biggest Sitka Spruce in the World. That was really something, real giant still in top condition, looked like another Sitka spruce trees but this one was huge, huge. We were absolutely tiny, sitting on its roots. Air around it was full of its sap scent. This was probably my the most favourite tree so far. About 1000 years old and about 58 feet circumference and 191 feet tall. When I imagine that trees like this were growing along whole west coast and we cut them nearly all down in couple of years... Do we really need so much wood?
After we left Olympia National Park our way led thought "Timberland", huge areas dedicated to “industrial way" of wood harvesting, which meant to bike thought forest plantations, dense, dark, stuffy and weak spruce monocultures or another huge clear-cuts.
At the end of day we got back to the ocean and slept in small state park in shelter. Near the ocean was still foggy and pretty wet so it was nice to have a roof above ours heads. The ocean shore was full of people collecting clams. Question, what is clam-gun?

Day 137 - 17th October, Bogachiel State Park - Kalaloch (finally The Pacific Ocean) - Lake Quinault, 63.89 miles

Ráno sme sa zobudili do pravej jesennej hmly, typická inverzia, keď sme sa dostali trochu do kopcov už svietilo slniečko, ale to sme zase všade okolo seba videli tu spúšť  napáchanú lesákmi, všade naokolo bolo mnoho obrovských holorubov, hádam ešte horších ako u nás na Slovensku. Dole k oceánu, dnes sme po prvý krát dorazili na pobrežie Pacifiku, sme zase zišli do hmly. Oceán bol fantastický. Aj keď počasie nič noc, na impozantnosti mu to neubralo, vlny boli obrovské a hučali ako dunenie hromu, pobrežie bol pieskovcový útes, pláže s čiernym pieskom. Tu na pobreží sme našli aj jeden z najväčších bielych cédrov na svete, okolo 1000 rokov starý, kmeň neuveriteľne pokrútený, hrčovitý, prerastený koreňmi a s mnohými dutinami, vyrastali z neho ďalšie obrovské stromy, boli tu celé poschodia s kríkmi alebo rastlinami čo na ňom rástli, skrátka taký malý les sám pre seba. Obvod mal okolo 20 metrov a priemer okolo 7 m. Obed sme si dali blízko kempu Kalaloch na vrchu útesu nad oceánom v lese s pokrútenými smrekmi s obrovskými hrčami na kmeňoch, následok poškodenia kôry hmyzom a v kombinácií s pieskom z oceánu. Zišli sme aj dole k oceánu aby sme sa ho konečne mohli aj dotknúť. Potom sme opustili pobrežie, 101tka nás viedla spať k Olympicu, opäť pomedzi holoruby ale aj von z inverzie, takže nám opäť svietilo slnko. Prespali sme pri jazere Quinault, akurát dnes sa konečne americký páprdovia dohodli na rozpočte a znovu otvorili národné parky. Takže opäť sme spali medzi gigantickými smrekmi, takmer legálne. Akurát bol aj spln a nádherné hviezde nebo.

Foggy morning, and cold. Passing through another huge clear cuts, whole hills were completely deforested, Bogachiel rainforest looked like a dream, hardly to believed that this devastation was once also so amazing, gigantic stumps are still reminding it.
For couple times we got on the sun but near to the cost we went down under clouds again. Today we finally reached the Pacific Ocean. The beaches were with dark sand and waves were so huge and sounded like thunder. From one giant we moved to the another, near the costs was thousand years old white cedar. Well, that was "the Tree". Barely alive, yet, it was more like small forest itself, from it's trunk grew big trees, there were stories with plants and bushes. Whole that tree looked incredible old, full of hollows and twisted branches, roots. The circumference was about 60 feet. Than, we had a lunch on the ocean shore in spruce forest with many trees with creepy bumps on their trunks (because of some insect and sand from ocean). We went down to the ocean to "touch" it and than we turn ours backs to the ocean and followed 101 back to the Olympic, actually to Quinault lake and the Valley of "Giants", around this lake are some of the biggest trees of its kind on the World. Again we had to pass through another huge clear cuts. What was nice that when we left the ocean shore, very soon was sunny again, clouds and fog was only near the ocean. Google street view car passed us, maybe we will be on the street view :-). To Quinault lake we got late in the evening.  Slept near lake between gigantic Sitka spruce trees with the full moon and zillion stars above.

Day 136 - 16th October, Bogachiel Rain Forest - Bogachiel State Park, 5.84 miles

Na svete sú len tri miesta, kde môžete nájsť dažďové pralesy v miernom pásme, je to v Chile, na Novom Zélande a tu vo Washingtone, takže dnes sme strávili celý deň v jednom z týchto pralesov (ešte navštívime tie ostávajúce dve miesta a máme to z krku). Kupodivu nepršalo, celý deň svietilo a hrialo slniečko. Bogachiel bol jednoducho famózny, vynachváliť sa to dosť nedá, slová nestačia. Bolo to niečo nádherné a dokonalé. Nič podobné sme zatiaľ asi nevideli. Všetko tu bolo neuveriteľne živé, nič nebránilo v prúdení energie, a to aj napriek tomu, že pred mnohými rokmi aj tu zabrúsili belosi so svojimi pílami, takže tisícročné stromy pripomínajú už len gigantické pne, ale tieto lesy sa vedia rýchlo zotaviť a mnoho gigantov tu ešte stále zostalo. Bolo to ako prechádzať sa nádhernou katedrálou, akurát, že lepšie. Všade bolo plno svetla a priestoru, toto nebola žiadna tmavá, dusná monokultúra. Bola to zároveň aj tá najlepšia učebnica ekológie, krásne tu bolo vidno ako les funguje, ako sa obnovuje (kupodivu sám, bez našej pomoci), všetko bolo navzájom prepojené a pracovalo v dokonalej harmónii, neexistovala tu smrť ani skaza, “mŕtve“ drevo poskytovalo priestor a živiny pre nové stromy a tie zase ponúkali priestor pre pre paprade a huby a mach, ktorý z nich miestami visel ako zelené tapisérie. Všade tu tiekla voda, poletovali vtáci alebo sa tmolil nejaký hmyz. Fantastické miesto, len škoda že z týchto nádherných pralesov ostali už len malé ostrovčeky, skoro všetko tu už vyrúbali, no čo, do niečoho si predsa treba utierať zadok a hlavne ako inak by tu stavali tie svoje “nádherné“ všadeprítomné drevotrieskové domčeky čo sa za dvadsať rokov rozpadnú, alebo spadnú, keď čo len trocha zafúka...
Za celý deň sme tu stretli iba troch ľudí, jeden z nich bol onen Krakonoš zo včera. Večer sme sa presunuli do Bogachiel State Parku, kde bol kemp a hlavne sprcha, bolo už načase sa dať trocha doporiadku a vyprať si zopár vecí.

There are only three places on the Earth with the temperate rainforests, one is here, second in Chile and the last one in New Zealand. This day we spent in this green heaven. Bogachiel Rainforest was so amazing so beautiful, so spectacular, even though a huge part of it was cut down many years ago, gigantic stumps of thousand years old trees are still reminding that time. But still there are beautiful, gigantic trees, moss was covering the soil as a thick carpet and hanging down from branches as green curtains, ferns and mushrooms were growing on the forest floor but also on the trees, there were many streams, springs or wetlands and also Bogachiel river was nearby, everywhere were birds or another animals. The forest was full of light, thus wasn't any dark, super dense monoculture. Probably the best thing was how everything was alive and connected and works for the each other. The new trees were growing from the old fallen "dead" ones, "alive" trees provide space for a moss, ferns, mushrooms etc..., even the dumbest person would probably noticed how perfect is this system, even politics or loggers. This was the ecology textbook in the real life, only sad thing is that only a few islands of the real forests like this remained, who knows for how long, especially with our greed for more wood, more money... We spent whole day here, just looking around and breathing. In the evening we moved to Bogachiel State Park campground, washed some of our clothes and our dirty heads. We met bikers here but didn't speak with them, later we found out, that one of them was John which we will meet in a few next days.

Day 135 - 15th October, Bear Creek - Forks - Bogachiel Rain Forest, 26.38 miles

Dnes sme sa dostali len do malého mestečka Forks, cestou nič extra nebolo, ak teda nerátam ďalšie obrovské holoruby a nenávistné tabule lesákov, vyzývajúce k zrušeniu národného parku, hlavný dôvod čo im na ňom vadí je, že tam nemôžu ťažiť drevo. Vo Forks sme si zaskajpovali s Veterníkom a Vitanou, ktorí sa práve vrátili z prechodu Dukla - Devín. V návštevnom centre vo Forks nám tetuška poradila, aby sme navštívili dažďový prales Bogachiel, ten je v národnom lese a nie v zavretom parku, takže si ho môžeme pozrieť. Táto alternatíva sa nám páčila, bolo to bližšie než vyhlásený Hoh v Olympicu a nemuseli sme riskovať ďalší stret s nejakým rangerom. Po ceste tam sme stretli nejakého miestneho Krkonoša, zdá sa že na západnom pobreží nuda nebude. Do Bogachielu sme dorazili až navečer, stihli sme len malý výletík než sa zotmelo, ale jednoznačne sme sa ocitli na zatiaľ najkrajšiom miestne čo sme dosiaľ videli...

Today we biked from Bear Creek, where we spent night in small campground, to Fork. Nothing very interesting to see here, except huge clear cuts and logging trucks. In front of the visitor centre in Forks we spoke with my brother and his girlfriend through Skype, they just returned from the hiking trip across the whole Slovakia (over 700 km and four weeks). In visitor centre we got a very good tip about alternative to Hoh Rainforest in Olympic (which was still closed and we didn't want to risk another confrontation with rangers, now when our names are in their system...), the lady from the visitor centre told us about Bogachiel Rainforest, which is in the National Forest (still open) and legal to visit. So we went there and we found easily the best place which we visited so far on this trip.

Day 134 - 14th October, Sol Duc Falls - Bear Creek, 37.73 miles

Väčšinu dňa sme strávili v údolí Sol Duc. Ráno sme sa vybrali pozrieť si jeden z najkrajších vodopádov Olympiku. Po ceste nás minulo rangerské auto a hore na parkovisku nad už čakala rangerka. Že vraj, či vieme, že park je zavretý. Povedali sme jej, že vieme, ale nesúhlasíme s tým. Tiež nám povedala, že im sa to takisto nepáči, ale čo sa dá robiť, že? Politikov treba poslúchať, nech sú ich rozhodnutia akokoľvek absurdné, no, američania sú dobré výchovaní... Našťastie, keďže sme len hlúpi zahraniční turisti a nie hrdí vlastníci národného parku, dostali sme len ústne napomenutie a museli sme ísť dole, teda museli... pani rangerka pri tom na nás mrkla okom a povedala, že nikto nebude kontrolovať kedy park opustíme. Takže sme si spravili ešte malý výlet k nádhernému vodopádu, cez lesy nad ktorými by zaplesalo od radosti srdce každého ekológa. Potom sme sa ešte prešli po krátkom chodníku vedúcim pomedzi gigantické duglasky a smreky (cca 6-7 ľudí by malo problém ich oblapiť). Opäť sme si dali obed na ceste (kde svietilo a hrialo slnko, v tieni bola riadna kosa), videli vydry v potoku, skoro zrazili čriedu jeleňov (americký “elk“, to čo tu volajú “deer“ je skôr ako nás srnec), vychutnávali si ticho a pohodu. Po tom čo sme opustili park nás “realita“ udrela priamo do tváre, holoruby gigantických rozmerov, čele kopce okolo parku sú vyrúbané, prakticky bez jediného stromu, a kde nejaké lesy sú tak to len otrasné monokultúry. Do toho sa tu pomerne často dajú nájsť plagáty ako “dosť divočiny, nechceme divoký Olympic, oberá nás o prácu, práca v lese = fungujúca rodina“. Hneď sme sa cítili ako doma. Oni tie zelené mozgy niekde asi sériovo vyrábajú, podľa toho čo sme videli sa zdá, že lesníci  (aj keď tu sú to skôr len drevorubači) všade používajú rovnaké metódy aj rovnakú propagandu.

In the morning we went to the Sol Duc Waterfalls, one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the park (based by advertisement) and we were caught by ranger, but she was nice, also disagreed with this situation, so she gave us only verbal warning. Luckily we are not period owners of national parks here in USA, otherwise we got fine. The waterfall was really amazing and quite unusual (was split to three and falling into deep crack in the rock).

Day 133 - 13th October, Elwha Dam - Lake Crescent - Sol Duc Hot Springs, 40.42 miles

Vyrážame ešte pred úsvitom, ráno je mrazivé, vidíme ranný Olympic pokrytý snehom, dole v údoliach sa stále ešte prevaľuje hmla. Dobré ráno na premýšľanie o zmysle života. Raňajkujeme/obedujeme až pri jazere Crescent, opravujem ďalší Baškin defekt. Jazero je nádherné, obrovské a hlavne je to pravé ľadovcové jazero, žiadna priehrada. Za jazerom sa dostávame ku vstupu do údolia rieky Sol Duc, zároveň aj do národného parku. Park je samozrejme zavretý, pretože páni politici sa nevedia dohodnúť na rozpočte. Ale nás nejaká závora ani debilní politici neodradili od toho pozrieť si aspoň kúsok z Olympicu, skrátka sme závoru obišli a mali celý park pre seba. Nakoniec to bolo hádam lepšie ako keby bol otvorený, žiadne smrduté autá, ticho, nikde nikoho, celá cesta iba pre nás... Lesy začínali byť divokejšie a zachovalejšie, ako sme sa blížili ku Sol Duc Hot Springs. Kúpanie sa v teplých prameňoch sa však nekonalo, všetko bolo zavreté v zavretom hoteli, kapitalizmus musí byť, nič zadarmo! Aspoň, že hviezde nebo alebo húkanie sov bolo zadarmo...

Meditative, morning, nice views on Olympic covered with snow, fresh clear air, fog on the bottom of valleys, good time for thinking, it's good to start early in the morning. Breakfast/lunch by lake Crescent and repairing Baška's flat tire. Lake Crescent was amazing, real glacial lake, not damn man made dam (what were most of the "lakes" what we saw). Tall above was King Storm Mountain. After the lake was entrance to the Olympic National Park, closed of course b/c of that stupid government shutdown. But nobody was guarding the entrance and b/c we didn't agree that a few ordinary people have right to "close" mountains, just to get better bargain, we passed that closed gate (wasn't Slovakproof closed) and have whole Sol Duc Valley for ourself. We had lunch in the middle of road, biked next to each other. Well, maybe that closure wasn't so bad idea at all. How often you can be in empty National Park, no noisy, smelly cars, RVs, trailers, no noisy smelly people... Just nature around us. And what a nature, as we went higher and closer to Sol Duc Hot Springs the trees were bigger and bigger. Everything was in all possible shades of green, covered by moss, ferns, which grew on the ground and also on the trees, it was something like to be in heaven, probably better :-) Sol Duc Hot Springs was disappointment, no accessible hot springs, everything was in hotel which was closed, not b/c of government but b/c of season. Well, why should be something for free if you can pay for it? At least the stars were for fee and also the owl's concert in the night.

Day 132 - 12th October, Sequim - Port Angeles - Elwha Dam RV Park, 24.63 miles

Doobeda lialo, tak spíme (sme schovaný pod prístreškom), opekáme bedle, čítame Harryho Pottera :-). Po obede je zrazu krásne, prechádzame do Port Angeles, po výbornej cykloceste (ale s priveľa strmými kopčekmi). Dostávame sa už k niečomu čo vyzerá ako naozajstné more. V Port Angeles navštevujeme opäť DQ.večer je parádny výklad na Olympic.

Raining till noon, we are hide in shelter, eating, frying mushrooms, reading. About noon, clouds vanished and rest of day was nice and sunny, but cold. We biked on the Olympic Discovery Trail, good, paved but very hilly (Pennsylvania style). Another visit of DQ in Port Angeles, that's nearly a real sea here... Camped close to Port Angeles at Elwha Dam.

Day 131 - 11th October, Kitsap Memorial State Park - Sequim, 44.32 miles, total 4006 miles

Dnes sme zo slnka toho veľa nevideli. Navyše počasie bolo také, že do kopca sme sa potili a z kopca mrzli. A dnes sme mali pred sebou veľa kopcov. Od Kitsap Memorial State Park sme prešli cez kopce po rušnej 104 (ale mala dobrú krajnicu). Výhľady na východnú stanu Olympicu boli dosť žalostné, všade obrovské holoruby. Na 101tke sme stretli dve cyklistky, tiež na nejakom dlhšom výlete, išli však v druhom smere. V indiánskej dedinke menom Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe sme sa napojili na parádnu cyklocestu, zaviedla nás do Sequim Bay State Park, kde sme uvideli prvé gigantické douglasky, Baška našla gigantické šampiňóny. Pri pohľade na tachometer zisťujem, že už sme dokopy prešli 4000 míľ. Oslavujeme to v mestečku Sequim v DQ s tekvicovou zmrzlinou (už ide Halloween). Spali sme kúsok za mestečkom Sequim pri rieke so starým železničným mostom (Railroad bridge Park).

Cloudy and cold day. Biked from Kitsap on Hwy 3, than passed Hood Canal Floating Bridge on Hwy104. Nasty road, heavy traffic (but good wide shoulder), a lot of hills, a lot of clear cuts everywhere. East side of Olympic looks really bad. Passed through hills we switch for Hwy 101, our final Hwy for couple of next weeks. Met two girls, they were also on the bike trip, in the opposite direction. Probably came from Alaska because they were only in shirts and tshirts, and it was really cold. In Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe we found nice bike trail to Port Angeles. The best part of it was through Sequim Bay State Park with huge and very huge trees (and many mushrooms). Got to Sequim in the evening, good time for celebration we passed 4000 miles mark. And they have a Dairy Queen here with amazing pumpkin blizzard :-) For the dinner was mushroom soup.

Day 130 - 10th October, Bainbridge Island - Suquamish - Port Gamble - Kitsap Memorial State Park, 25.69 miles

Ráno nás čakajú výborné raňajky, potom sa ešte dlho rozprávame s Ronom a Poly o všetkom možnom. Obchádzame severnú časť ostrova, vo Fay Bainbridge State Park je kopec naplavených kmeňov, ostrov je fajn, malé kopčeky, skoro žiadna premávka. Prechádzame do indiánskeho mestečka (takmer bez indiánov) Suquamish, kde je pochovaný náčelník Seattle, tuleň tu kráľ rybárom ryby a na stromoch pískali orly bielohlavé, potom sa cez lesy a ďalšie kopčeky dostávame do prístavu Gamble a spíme v Kitsap Memorial State Park.

Morning: tasty breakfast with Polly & Ron and good discussion about environmental issues, permaculture and self sustainability.
Noon: we biked around north part of the Bainbridge island (Fay Bainbridge State Park with many  logs - driftwood) to Suquamish (grave of the Chief Seattle, seal was eating fish from fishermen nets, bald eagles were sitting around and made noises like chicken)

Evening: biking to port Gamble and camping in Kitsap Memorial State Park, nice evening, we slept between quite big trees, found many mushrooms for diner and spoke with SJ.

Day 129 - 9th October, Seattle - Bainbridge Island, 17.54 miles

Dnes sme opustili Seattle, rozlúčili sa s Alyssou, Alexom a ich spolubývajúcimi a pohodlne bicyklujúc po cyklocestách, sme sa dostali do centra a našli trajekt cez Puget Sound na ostrov Bainbridge. V prístave už čakala kopa cyklistov, pri vylodení to vyzeralo ako na nejakých pretekoch, len čo otvorili trajekt vyvalil sa z neho peletón cyklistov, my uprostred, bola to dosť sranda, ale zároveň som mal pocit že každú sekundu musíme spôsobiť nejakú fatálnu hromadnú zrážku, my sme boli jediný ťažko naložený diaľkari. V Bainbridge Baška získala nové osemkolečko (s robotou za 50$), to staré už malo svoju štvrtú reťaz a už to robilo neplechu. Dnešný cieľ bol malý kemp na severe ostrova vzdialený iba zopár míľ. Ale kým sme opustili Bainbridge zotmelo sa. Do kempu sme nedorazili, bo na jednej z križovatiek nás odchytil akýsi chlapík-cyklista (volá sa Ron) a po krátkom rozhovore, obávajúc sa o našu bezpečnosť, nám povedal, že môžme prespať na jeho záhrade. Neváhali sme, tiež sa nám veľmi po tme bicyklovať nechcelo, aj keď bola pekná hviezdnatá noc. Keď sme už mali postavený stan, prišla Ronová žena, Polly, a keď nás zbadala iba zalamentovala “máme tento obrovský dom a on vás nechal spať vonku na záhrade?!“ Takže dnes sme mali opäť raz strechu nad hlavou, sprchu a výbornú domácu večeru. Ron a Polly sú výborný ľudia, naša krvná skupina, tiež prebicyklovali cez polku USA do Severnej Dakoty a Minnesoty. Každý rok sa účastnia miestnych indiánskych slávností, keď sa zídu všetky miestne kmene na jednom veľkom splave s nádhernými zdobenými člnmi. Ron je dosť dobrý fotograf, takže všade na stenách mali fotky z týchto slávností.

Today we left Seattle, said goodbye to Alyssa, Alex and all amazing people from theirs house. Using the bike trails, we got very easily to the downtown and found ferry across Puget Sound to Bainbridge island. Ticket for both of us was about 15$. But first we took our bikes to the ferry terminal to buy a tickets and after we pushed our bikes through whole building, got to the second floor, then, we saw small notice that bikes are not allowed in the building and we had to go out. Why there wasn't any sign on the entrance doors? :-) They had special line for bikers outside. When the ferry arrived there was maybe 30 bikers. From ferry we could see very nicely Seattle and also Cascades & Olympic. When ferry arrived to the Bainbridge Island all bikers were ready, standing one next to the other, on the foredeck and when ferry staff opened the gate, all bikers just flew out from it. It was like a race, we where in the middle, bikers just passing around us. Baška's chain was still jumping on her cassette which is already worn out, it's it fourth chain, luckily we were passing around bike shop which was still open, so we spend another 50$ and changed it. But then it was nearly dark and closest state park with campground was about 6 miles away. So again, biking with the stars, we were heading there. On one interception some another biker was shouting something on us. Baška was close, so she stopped and spoke with him. That guy, his name was Ron, was asking us if we have a place to stay overnight and invited us to camp at his backyard. Ron's house was just near by that interception, so why not? We built our tent in his backyard and then his wife, Polly, arrived and when she spotted us and found out what we are, she just yell out "we have this huge house and he let you sleep outside?!" So we packed our tent and move in, had nice shower and Polly with Ron prepared amazing dinner and tea, we spoke a lot about our and theirs trips (they also biked cross country to North Dakota and Minnesota). Ron is excellent photograph, so everywhere in their house are photos of aboriginal people from local coast tribes, during their annual canoeing gathering celebration.

Day 127 and 128 - 7th & 8th October, Seattle

Dával som do poriadku naše bicykle, Baška išla pozrieť s Alyssou neďaleký park. Potom sme ešte trochu pracovali na Blogu, fotkách a pod.

Working on bikes, Baška went somewhere to the park, last day we worked on our blog, pictures, letters...

Day 126 - 6th October, Seattle, 20 miles

Ráno dlho vyspávame, okolo obeda vyrážame s Alyssou do mesta (je neděle jde se do města). Ženieme sa všetci traja na bajkoch, Seattle je na bicykle ako stvorený, plno cyklociest alebo aspoň jazdných pruhov na cestách, ktoré sú len pre cyklistov. Veľmi rýchlo sme si toto mesto obľúbili, asi najlepšie mesto aké sme zatiaľ navštívili. A tá panoráma okolo, všade sú hory. Na severe trčí niečo z Kanady, z juhu na nás z vysoka poškuľuje Mt Rainier, na východe je neuveriteľná, zubatá hradba Cascades a na západe je zase hrebeň Olympiku, trocha pripomína naše tatry. No a všade tu sú jazerá, zálivy, ostrovy, je tu krásne zeleno, celé mesto je na malých kopčekoch. Všade sa to tu hemží cyklistami a cykloobchodmi (nikde žiadny trafení korčuliari), mostami, loďkami, jachtami, hydroplánmi, podivnými týpkami, trávou (tu je legálna), pod jedným z mostov majú trolla... Skrátka fantastické mesto. Prešli sme jeden lokálny trh, zopár cykloobchodov, kúpil som nové reťaze, staré blatníky, treba dať trochu bicykle do poriadku. Na ďalšom trhu, v centre, som sa nechal zlákať a kúpil som okarínu, hádam dopadne lepšie ako mandolína, rozhodne je skladnejšia. Večer sme sa stretli s Alyssinými priateľmi, všetko horolezci, bola tu aj jedna partia akurát na “road“ tripe okolo USA. Fajn večer.

Today we explored a little bit of the city. First we went to local version of Farmers Market, bought delicious lunch there, later I bought some parts for our bikes, we have to change chains, tires, break pads... Alyssa, even she is also new in this town, was our guide, she showed us where is Seattle's troll and then we went to downtown. Traffic was quite crazy there, but Seattle is very good for biking, it has a lot of bike lines, bike trails. And scenery around Seattle is spectacular, Olympic, Cascades, Mt  Rainier, Puget Sound, hills, ships, boats, hydroplanes, a lot of people on bikes... We visited another Public market in downtown, I bought small ocarina :-) Mt Rainier was watching us on our way back home. In the evening there was a small gathering of Alyssa's friends in their house, the most of them were climbers and outdoor people, it was nice to met people with similar interests. Everybody prepared some food, Baška together with Alyssa prepared salads, Baška's garlic-cheese-yoghurt spread (Yogeese) was very successful.

Day 125 - 5th October, Riverbend - Issaquah - Woodinville - Seattle, 68.95 miles

Ďalší krásny deň, po chladnom ráne sa pekne oteplilo, nezvyklý to pocit. Pokračovali sme ďalej po cykloceste až kým sme sa nedopracovali k mape všetkých cyklotrás v Seattli a za pomoci jedného miestneho bajkera sme naplánovali, síce mierne dlhšiu, ale za to krajšiu cestu ako sa dostať do centra, kde býva Alyssa. A hlavne je to takmer stále mimo ciest. Ešte nás čakal jeden divný most, z ktorého sa dalo zliezť iba po strmých schodoch (s naloženými bajkami to bol zážitok), zvyšok cyklociest bol úplná paráda, skvelo značené a takmer všetko asfaltky. Zavolala nám SJ, je opäť na joga ranči a zdá sa že sa má celom dobre (aj keď jej chýba bajkovanie). V Issaquah bol Lososý festival (teraz akurát tiahnu z mora), ale videli sme tu len tlupy amíkov napchávať sa hranolkami. Zvyšok dňa sme strávili na cyklocestách okolo jazier Sammamish a Washington. Od jazera Sammamish sme po prvý krát uzreli Mt Rainier. Neskutočný to kopec, zaberal dobrý kus južnej panorámy, osamotený, obrovský kopec, celý pod snehom, vyzeral ako namaľovaný... Na cyklocestách okolo jazier sme stretli more bajkerov (skoro všetci tu nosia Ortlieby ako máme aj my) a medzi nimi aj jedného Martina, švéda žijúceho teraz tu, tiež prešiel naprieč USA (aj cez švédsko), veľmi sa mu páčil náš výletík a dal nám zopár dobrých rád ohľadne Olympic NP. Potom už bola zrazu tma a to taká, že to pomotalo aj môj (už dosť unavený) orientačný zmysel, takže sme si trochu zašli (cez most mŕtveho muža), ale čoskoro sme sa našli a ďalej už pokračovali bez problémov. K Alysse, sme dorazili až okolo jedenástej. Dobrá to duša, čakala nás s výbornou večerou a keďže sme boli už mierne zničený, za chvíľu sme išli späť. Ale predtým ešte teba povedať, že... SME TU, SME V SEATTLI!!

Another nice sunny day. Biked on Snoqualmie Valley bike trails, after cold morning, it got warmer very soon (unusually feeling, after soo many cold days). Found map of bike trails in Seattle, after small discussion with one local biker, we chooses trails around lake Sammamish and Washington, it's a little detour, but nearly without traffic. Before we got on the trails we had to carry our bikes from the bridge (on Snoqualmie Valley bike trail) down very steep stairs. SJ called, she is now in the Ranch and she is doing very well. There was Salmon days festival in Issaquah, well, we saw a lot of people and even much more stalls with deep fried foods, we didn't notice nearly any signs that this event is about salmons. From the Sammamish Lake we saw for a first time Mt Rainier. That's really spectacular mountain, it looks like if it isn't real, so huge and high, covered by snow, so dominant... Rest of the day we spent biking around lakes, met Martin, Swedish guy, long distance biker, now living in Seattle. It was really pleasure to speak with him about biking and he gave us some good tips for Olympic National Park and was really exited about our journey. Than, the night came very suddenly, we were still somewhere near Woodinville and sending texts to Alyssa that we will come later and later... And then got lost, only a little bit, but still it took about half an hour to get back on trail. Finely we arrived to Green Lake, were Alyssa lives, at about half past ten. Alyssa welcomed us with good dinner and after swapping some stories from or trip we, very tired but very excited that we are here, went to sleep.

Day 124 - 4th October, Easton - Snoqualmie Pass - Riverbend, 45.2 miles

Day with big D. Everything was so perfect, peaceful, amazing ... Foggy in the morning, though. And cold as usually. Still continuing on the Iron Horse Trail. Slowly, gently getting higher and higher. Suddenly in one moment, fog disappeared and we saw huge Cascade Mountains, snowy white, right in front of us. Snow and blue sky and dark rocks. We met two bikers, they gave us some interesting information about government shat down and also about Mexico, good news. Than we met two hikers, they came through Pacific Crest Trail, hiked more than 2400 miles from Mexico border. They were forced to go down from mountains because of snow, now they headed to the Hwy #97 and to hitchhike to Canada. Than we got to the Keechelus Lake, with nice views to the Cascades. After Hyak there is the longest tunnel in whole USA for the non-motorized vehicles, 2.3 miles long, and you can literally see the light on the end of the tunnel :-) When we went out, we were already on the west side of Cascades, after dry, east side with desert, this was something absolutely different. Everything was green, trees covered by moss, water everywhere. And the best were trees, huge and so tall. And judged by old trunks which remains here after the old forests, they were just very small, tiny... How amazing was this country before somebody started to cut down all trees...
Downhill ride was very nice, with many bridges, views to the valley and on the mountains. Only disturbing thing was highway, roaring down on the bottom of valley like one huge airport. Iron Horse Trail ended by Cedar Falls (near Rattlesnake Lake without rattlesnakes, they never lived here). Here we changed for Snoqualmie Valley Trail and even we hadn't enough water we successfully camp before absolute dark. Other thing which changed was that here was much warmer than on the east side. So it's unbelievable but we are nearly in Seattle, tomorrow we are heading nearly to downtown to meet Alyssa, Stacey's daughter (Stacey is director of CVEEC, were we worked). She moved to Seattle just recently so we are very lucky that we can meet with her. Universe still works.

Day 123 - 3rd October, Cle Elum - Easton, 20.92 miles

Today we took a day off. It was sunny, but very windy, for a while nearly warm weather. So we dried all our wet clothes and spend whole morning in the tend finishing third book of Harry Potter :-). While we packed and did some grocery shopping it was nearly 6 pm. So to the Easton we came again after dark. There we camped in the Lake Easton State Park. Nice campground is there, with huge coniferous trees.

Day 122 - 2nd October, Ellensburg - Cle Elum, 29.04 miles

Day on the Iron Horse Trail. Freezing cold in the morning persuade us to buy booties for our shoes. We found really cool bike shop (Bicycles Recycle Shop Inc.) in Ellensburg downtown. People here were very nice, they let us in, even it was about half an hour before opening and help us promptly to find what we needed. The booties help us to warm up nearly immediately. From Ellensburg we headed to the Cle Elum on the Iron Horse Trail, it is with gravel, but we biked worst already. It was nice to stay away from traffic for a while. And there were small bonuses like wild plumbs with soooo sweet fruits, tunnels, huge basalt cliffs, Yakima river or alive rattlesnake long as my arm. That rattlesnake was amazing, looked so deadly, dangerous ... even it was getting slowly away and was very noisy, we went around it with big respect (and in big curve).
In the afternoon started to rain, not very hard, but without pause. And in one moment, in the middle of nothing, suddenly, without warning my front rack broke. First I didn't get it what happened, luckily we rode very slow, because of the rain and gravel, so nothing horrible happened, only rack was on pieces, paniers survived without harm, even I run over them. Ortlieb is really good. So after a few minutes, in the rain, cursing like an old sailor, I fixed it. With tape and some rope you can fix nearly everything. To Cle Elum we got after dark. Again. And even it stopped rain for a while before we found place for tent it was again raining. In nearly freezing temperature it wasn't very pleasant evening. During the night it started to freezing. When I had to go out, I had to fight with zipper on the tent, it was completely frozen. At least rain stopped an sky was full of very cold stars :-)

Day 121 - 1st October, Quincy - George - Ginkgo Petrified Forest -Ellensburg, 57.49 miles

Freezing morning, when we left Quincy Lakes we saw car wreck, well not wreck, car was probably ok but it was complete disassembled (wheel missing, etc...), it wasn't here yesterday, so while we slept (quite far from that spot) somebody was very busy. We also spotted small rattlesnake, roadkill unfortunately. From George we biked on Freeway # 90, very busy road with many trucks, but with good shoulder. Luckily we didn't spend a lot of time on this road. There was one nice viewpoint to Columbia River Canyon (flooded by Wanapum Lake/Dam), then crazy downhill ride and through the bridge (we were lucky because for a while there were no trucks).
Gingko Petrified Forest was very interesting, but without forest, all tree trunks are buried deeply in the basalt lava underground, only a few is lock in the cages as if it is in zoo, probably the biggest and the best petrified trees you can see in front of souvenir shop, close to Visitor Center. But desert around was amazing, cloudy day slowly changed to clear blue sky, wind was blowing into our faces. Nice, crystal afternoon and evening, but also very cold. And we had to climbed quite high hills. It was long uphill ride in the golden light and fresh wind. When we got to the top of the hills, sun was just sinking down into the clouds, somewhere behind Cascades Mountains. Downhill ride was much colder and in the dark. The Owl was looking at us and we were looking at it. Two intruders breaking the dark with weak light beams of their headlamps.

Day 120 - 30th September, Wenatchee - Rock Island - Stan Coffin Lake, 41.01 miles

Dnes opúšťame Wenatchee a pohodlie Joshovho domu. Za oknom máme dúhu, ale inak sa počasie mení každých 5 minút. Okolo desiatej sa však vyjasňuje, vonku je ale riadne chladno. Hore na horách vidíme sneh. Po menšom nákupe vo Wenatchee, opúšťame toto mesto, najprv po peknej, ale krátkej cyklotrase, potom po ceste #28, sledujúc Columbia River na juh. Nad nami sa vypínajú obrovské skalné steny z bazaltových stĺpov, rieka tu vytvára široký a hlboký kaňon. Všade naokolo je púšť, ale aj tak prechádzame cez množstvo sadov, takže máme zabezpečený prísun čerstvých jabĺk, na zemi ich vždy nechávajú kopec dobrých, nechápem prečo ich len tak nechávajú hniť, možno pre nás :-) Večer spíme pri Quincy Lakes. Je riadna kosa, obloha je plná hviezd a náladu dotvárajú zavýjajúce kojoty.

Woke up into sunny morning with rainbow behind window. But till 10 am the weather was changing mood every 5 minutes. Today we left Wenatchee and Josh with his amazing family. Thank you again for everything. Biked down from Pitcher canyon in sunny but cold day. Up in the mountains is already snow... After some grocery and gear shopping (Baška bought new zipper for her camera case), we left Wenatchee first on nice, but short bike trail, then on the Hwy #28, heading south following the Columbia river. Very soon behind Wenatchee, the Hwy #28 entered to the huge, wide canyon. Above us were high cliffs and rocks and because Columbia River cut through lava flows, everything here is from huge basalt columns. Strange thing, east side of canyon is dry and yellowish, but further down to the south the west side is bright green, like if it spring. Still passing through orchards with apples, which is good, they left so many apples on the ground that it isn't problem to find nice and good ones. Is nice to have fresh fruit... More we got south, more the Columbia river canyon is amazing and bigger. For night we camp at Quincy lakes. Night was pretty cold (not in our sleeping bags), full of stars and coyotes hauling.