Redmond to Seattle

Day 4 - August 19, 2016

Weather: Very hot and clear.

Trail description: All paved trails today. After leaving the Redmond Inn we retraced our route on the East Lake Sammamish Trail for one kilometer, turned onto the Marymoor Connector Trail, then turned onto the Sammamish River Trail to Bothell, where we were detoured briefly onto 102nd Ave NE and West Riverside Drive (because a trail section was closed for sewer work). The detour routed us onto the Burke-Gilman Trail.

Special concerns: Aggressive and fast commuter cyclists on the Sammamish River Trail and Burke-Gilman Trail, passing dangerously close in crowded trail conditions.

Wildlife: Nothing.

Other trail users: Continuous.

Distance and elevation: Distance travelled on the trail today was 44 kilometers (27.5 miles) from the Redmond Inn to Gas Works Park, Seattle. The ride is primarily flat, with a slight elevation gain of about 40 vertical meters when the Burke-Gilman Trail leaves Lake City along Sand Point Way and crests a low ridge in the Hawthorne Hills area.

Average speed and time on the trail: We left the Redmond Inn at 9:20 AM and reached Kite Hill in Gas Works Park at 2:05 PM. After a short stay we made our way to the Aurora Bridge and visited the Fremont Troll, reaching the Marco Polo Motel at about 3:00 PM—ride done. Our average moving speed was 15 k.p.h. (9.4 m.p.h.) but as an average over our elapsed travel time it was 10.5 k.p.h. (6.5 m.p.h.).

Day 4 overview map with detail insets of start and finish. Map courtesy of Google.

The Sammamish River Trail between Redmond and Woodinville.

The Sammamish River Trail passes under Interstate 405.

We get detoured onto surface streets to bypass sewer work that has closed part of the trail.

After the detour we enter the Burke-Gilman Trail which uses several tunnels to dive under busy streets in Bothell and Kenmore.

We stop at a small park on Lake Washington and the cool water beckons a few of us to take a dip.

Lunch at the Saint Helens Cafe, right on the Burke-Gilman Trail.

We finish our ride at Kite Hill in Gas Works Park.

Descending from Kite Hill, on our way to the motel.

We stop to visit the Fremont Troll, still clutching his Volkswagen Beetle after nearly thirty years under the Aurora Bridge.

On our way back from dinner we take in the view from a pedestrian overpass on Aurora of the sunset sky reflected in the glass towers of downtown Seattle.

Our final night on the road: the Marco Polo Motel.

A little thank you from Dodie to her bike...

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