Trail report week of June 10

The weather is nicer, but the Port Gamble trails will need four or five days of dry weather before they dry out. There is still lots of mud and muck on the singletrack. Trail encounters this week:

• Sun. hike and beachcombing with my family at the Nature Conservancy Foulweather Preserve in Hansville in glorious, sunny, warm temps. The tide was very low, so we encountered a bed of live sand dollars. I saw one move across the sand for the first time in my life. Amazing to watch!
• Mon. hike with Tia, 110 minutes from PG gate 2, with 20-lb pack. A typical circuit finds me climbing, staying at a fairly constant elevation, and dropping back down. Today, I purposed to choose a route that climbed and dropped several times. This is more typical of some of the hikes in the Olympics and therefore good preparation and conditioning for trips outside Kitsap.
• Wed. hike with Tia, 115 minutes from PG gate 2, with 20-lb pack. After rain last night and this morning, the trails and roads are definitely muddy. I did the hilly route again, for its training benefits.
• Thur. hike with Jason and Tia, 60 minutes from PG gate 2, with 7-lb pack. Jason and I always have such uplifting conversations. He is very successful in business, and I appreciate his insights and positive influence. I hope that I can return something good and encouraging to him.
• Fri. mountain bike ride with Wade, 90 minutes from Stottlemeyer trailhead.