Sequim Gazette Editorial and Letters to the Editor

Over the past two weeks, I had the privilege of paddling and pedaling my way through a couple adventurous activities.

First, I did nearly 25 miles of mountain biking on the Olympic Discovery Trail Adventure Route with Clallam County transportation program manager Rich James and a dozen trail volunteers and county employees.

Second, my girlfriend Cass and I took a five-mile kayak trip west out of Freshwater Bay, very close in proximity to the Adventure Route.

Cass and I agreed the west is where adventures are won.

Both activities left me with a healthy appetite for Thai food and a long night's sleep.

The Adventure Trail especially left me worn-out. I haven't kept up with my biking since moving to the peninsula and it showed. Lee Bowen, a 68-year-old trail crew volunteer, can attest, as he tried to converse with me at rest areas along the trail with little success.

"So how are you enjoying the trail?" he would ask me after having rested for several minutes before I arrived, much later and slower than he.

"It looks great," was usually all I could muster after 10 miles.

Great was an understatement. I was tired. The trail itself was immaculate and the views were incredible, even on that overcast August afternoon.

Rich said it takes a person in pretty good shape to ride the whole trail but each segment should be no problem for anyone above a novice level.

The most difficult parts are the uphill climbs on the single-track trail, especially through switchbacks. Yet, the challenge makes them that much more enjoyable. I applaud the county in its efforts to complete the trail.

I will ride it again on a clear day to see the peaks of Mount Baker and Mount Olympus and as far north into Canada as my eyes will allow. But as Rich suggested, I probably won't ride alone without pepper spray.

I wouldn't say I'm scared of cougars. I'm just scared of cougars eating me. I am a little stringy though, so maybe they would take a pass on this

Mc "lean" guy for a nice deer or a plump marmot.

Speaking of wildlife, I saw my "power animal" while kayaking just north of the trail, on the opposite side of state Route 112.

In some cultural beliefs, all people have an animal spirit within them, guiding them, empowering them and even protecting them.

Mine is an otter.

I told Peter Alexander, our kayak guide, if I didn't see otters I would demand my money back. He laughed because I won the trip in an Acupuncturists Without Borders benefit auction.

Yet, much to my delight, in the last 10 minutes of the four-hour trip, we saw a family of five otters.

It was a fun, relaxing trip. Alexander taught us which seaweeds are edible, that Freshwater Bay is actually filled with salt water and Salt Creek with fresh water.

I've been fortunate to have so many adventurous experiences on the North Olympic Peninsula.

I haven't even begun to write about the ones I'm not proud of, such as getting stuck in snow on Mount Zion or running down the Dungeness Spit, late for a photo for the paper, on the day before I was supposed to be there.

But they are all fond memories of one of the best places I have lived.

Evan McLean is a

Sequim Gazette reporter. He can be reached at emclean@

sequimgazette.com.