PCT 2007 – Day 160 – Chilliwack – Larrabee State Park

Day 160 9-1-07 Tarp Tent
Chilliwack – Larrabee State Park, WA
60.50 miles; 140.63 (88.96) total miles; 4650.23 trip miles
60-70’s, Mostly cloudy with sun
Days camped alone 32
12.4 avg mph; 26.6 max; 4:50:56

2007 PCT Critter Tour General Category
1- Marmot count is 170
2- Deer count is 135
3- Pika count is 85
4- Elk count is 65
5- Goat count is 21
6- Slug count is 18
7- Bear count is 7
8- Rattlesnake count is 6
9- Martin count is 1
10- Badger count is 1

I stayed up way too late again last night. I got up feeling better than I did yesterday. I enjoyed my share of the continental breakfast before hitting the road. I headed back to Yale Road and followed it until it turned into Vedder Road. I soon left the city entering into farmland. The riding was nice, but it smelled like cow shit. I took various roads to reach Canadian Highway 11 in Abbotsford.

When I got to Rt. 11 the traffic was all backed up. I simply rode right by all the cars and cut in line. When I got to the booth, the officer came out and told me just to leave my bike off to the side and go inside to check into the country. When I got inside I had about 7 Koreans in front of me. The officer at the desk looked past the last Korean who was in front of me and asked if I had papers. I handed him my paper work and said “US, citizen”. He took a brief, and I mean brief, look at my passport and license, and handed them back to me saying I was all set. He never looked at the paperwork I had gotten from Canadian Customs. I couldn’t believe they didn’t search my bag or ask me a ton of questions since I look so scary. I went back outside and off I rode. I stopped at the gas station for a snack. I called my Dad to tell him to use the next crossing west but he was already in line. We made a plan to meet down the road for lunch.

I took off into more farmland and the smell didn’t improve now that I was in the States. I made it to the spot we were to met (Rt. 9 and Rt. 542). Unfortunately there wasn’t much to eat and my parents were still in line at the border. It was only 10 miles to Bellingham so we decided to have lunch there. They finally caught me on the way to Bellingham.
We got to town and looked around and found a Bob’s Brew and Burgers, which my parents had gone to in Sumas on the way up. As we had lunch my Mom talked to a couple of ladies and found a campground down the road for me. Our waitress Rachelle was super cute and had great eyes.

After lunch my folks went back to Seattle and I headed south to Rt. 11 headed for the campground. Just outside of town I realized I needed dinner and breakfast. I stopped to ask some people; but true to my luck, they were from out of town. I luckily found a Haggen’s Market in Fairhaven just south of Bellingham. The store was great and had an awesome selection of food, candy, and beer. I got myself a Duvell beer from Belgium. Unfortunately, it was warm and I still haven’t drank it. Rt. 11 or Chuckanut Drive, as its called, was a great ride and it was beautiful. I had some great views of Bellingham Bay and the islands.

Once to the campground, it was an ordeal trying to determine where they were going to put me. I learned in the earlier portion of the trip while on the bike that a state park will not turn you away if you are a hiker or a biker. The campground was pretty much full so they had to find the best place to put me. I ended up in a trailer site and even had electricity. As I was doing my normal camp chores, I met a guy who raced for Mobile Money and knew my friend Alex Wilson. The guys name was Mike Balinger, and when he went to the store, he got me a bag of ice for my beer and chocolate milk.

The campground was super noisy so I knew it was going to be an earplug night. I stayed up and wrote in my journal to try and catch up; but it didn’t take long for me to run out of steam. I went to bed around 9:30.

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Scatman

Get out there!