In search of Washington's Coastal Mountains

Elusive Olympics

At a Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group meeting the president looks over and says, "Robert's just back from an interesting trip."And perhaps a bit too smugly I begin to sketch the details of my recent tour of Washington's Olympic Peninsula; 700 miles in three days on my 1970 Bonneville. Other members begin to pipe up scornfully: Dan rode his 1952 Vincent to Tierra del Fuego; Ron completed the Vancouver-Daytona-Vancouver circuit on a '47 Knucklehead; and Steve piled up 12,000 miles round trip to Newfoundland on a 1974 Commando...Sheepishly, I reclaim my seat.

No matter the mileage, touring on older iron is challenging. While modern bikes barely get to operating temperature in 700 miles, the Bonnie is due for a valve adjustment and halfway to its scheduled oil change. So it's with some trepidation that I roll her out of the back of my van in Port Townsend, Washington. It's later than I'd planned. I missed my ferry connection, and it's almost 2:00 p.m. before we rumble out of town.

Named by Captain George Vancouver for his friend, the Marquis of Townsend, this charming town was built on logging and mining revenues, its one-time affluence evident in elegant Victorian houses. But in the 1890's, a planned link to the Northern Pacific Railroad in Tacoma was abandoned, precipitating decline. Overlooking the Puget Sound sea-lanes into Seattle, Port Townsend next gained strategic military importance, and nearby Fort Worden subsequently became the movie set for An Officer and a Gentleman.

Around the Sound
We slog uphill from the Port, engine burbling strongly and evenly in the fresh spring air, exhaust echoing off the trees. I'm soon rolling along a miraculous valley, emerald green with early-planted grain. Most of the traffic has turned east for Hood Canal Bridge and the Pugetropolis. The Olympics, just tens of miles east, lurk behind a ridge of dark green trees. Highway 101 soon joins the Hood Canal and follows its rambling shoreline around creeks and gullies, through cheerful beach resorts, still closed but painted and spruced for the holiday season. The perfect cruising road....

For the complete touring article, including facts & information, map(s), and GPS files click on the "Buy Article" button below.