We decided that we would keep doing outside activities while the weather was forecast to be nice, since the rest of the week doesn't look so favorable. In PNW language that means rain is coming.
We like to walk, run and bike on the Centennial trail. We were excited years ago when the Whitehorse spur had been built off of it near Arlington. We never had the chance to go on it as a slide near the Arlington end of the trail closed it to through traffic. We've gone on several drives that go past the trail near the other end of it at Darrington. We've often talked about biking it, and today was the day. We had a plan to drive on hwy 530, park near the trail and ride our bikes towards Arlington and see just how far we could get until we got to the slide. Then our plan was to turn around and ride as far as we felt comfortable then return to our car. We have a map of the phases of the trail development. There seems to be a halt in the progress. Either the first slide, the OSO SLIDE or Covid have stopped progress. I imagine it is a combination of all three of these issues.
It was chilly when we began, but it was a beautiful day. The first half mile or so was paved then it was gravel.
Beginning our journey on the gravel section towards the Arlington end of the trail.
When we were in the sunny areas it was nice and warm, but the shade left a chill throughout the day.
The fall leaves were like a fluffy carpet to ride through. Not too crunchy sounding.
The bridges were wonderful.
At 4.4 miles from our start we came to the closed (because of the slide) section of the trail. Time to turn around and head towards Darrington.
The view looking down river from the bridge.
The view looking up river from the bridge.
Nearly back to the place where my photo was taken. There was a picnic table near the sign so we stopped and ate part of our lunch in the sunshine!
Now we were on new territory. We passed our car and headed to Darrington or as far as we wanted for the day.
The bridge was very slimey and slick so we walked our bikes across. The river was on our right.
The highway bridge was on our left.
This section of the trail was paved for about two miles. We passed by this pond that had a few ducks in it.
The rest of the way the trail was gravel and goes near the town of Oso. The trail then went through the Oso memorial area.
My husband and I had been riding our bikes on the Centennial trail on the very day and time of the slide. You can read my blog post about that day HERE. It was very sobering to ride through the memorial area and to read about the lives lost.
The date and time of the slide were carved into the entrance on the trail.
We ate the rest of our lunch at the memorial area and spent some time in thought reminiscing about our day back in 2014 and how the day had transpired for this community. Here are some photos I took at the memorial site.
Mailboxes set in place to remember the neighborhood that was there.
The hill that slid away in the distance.
We decided to turn around here and head back to our car. We decided that our next ride on the trail will be to start just south of the memorial and finish at Darrington. Such a beautiful trail. I'm so glad we did our exploring today.
Relive video of our route:
Garmin stats:
total miles - 25.5
total ascent - 295 feet
total ascent - 223 feet
