Pig War

Yesterday was my first real day of riding for this trip. I picked up some food in Friday Harbor and headed out for a ride around the island. I went south first, towards American Camp, half of San Juan National Historic Park, which commemorates what is now known as the Pig War.


Right before the Civil War, the US and Britain had an ongoing disagreement about where to draw the border with the US and Canada. There were those on the US side who advocated for the 54th parallel (54-40 or fight) while others were for the 49th parallel. The 49th was settled on but the Islands of Puget Sound didn't work since the 49th parallel goes through Vancouver Island and nobody wanted to divide the island.

So, they swung the border south but the San Juan Islands were still disputed. There were a handful of Brits and Americans living harmoniously on the disputed San Juan Island until an American got fed up with a British pig getting into his potato patch and shot it. Well, the British pig owner was not happy about this and things began to escalate. The pig murderer was arrested by the Brits and the Americans got upset about a US citizen getting arrested by foreigners. The American army was called in and ended up fortifying the south end of the Island with numerous cannon. This is what is left of the redoubt, the cannon battery.


Of course, the Brits came in with their own army and ships and hunkered down on the North end of the Island at what is now known as British Camp.





Pickett of Pickett's Charge fame was here too, helping build the US garrison. Everyone was armed and itching for a fight. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed as both US and British leaders were appalled at the idea of going to war over a pig. Things cooled off though an amicable standoff remained for 12 years until the dispute over the islands was finally resolved in the 1870s with the San Juan Islands going to the US. The final deal was arbitrated over by the German Kaiser, of all people. The best part of the story is that if you look up 'Pig War' on Wikipedia there are two hits. There was a non-violent 'Pig War' between Serbia and The Austo-Hungarians over a tariff on pork.

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Sunshine Alley,Friday Harbor,United States

Finally on my way

Well, after some delay, I'm finally on my way. I took the train to Bellingham yesterday, two days later than I had planned because there wasn't room on the train for my bike before Saturday. So, I had a few extra days of relaxing at home before starting my ride.

I got a bunch of work done to prepare for school in the fall. I re-wrote all the advanced bio experiments and the protein modeling project. Now, I get to put school out of my mind for the rest of the summer because the open road calls.

The train ride to Bellingham was really pleasant with a good part of the trip right running right next to Puget Sound. Amtrak sure beats flying! Everyone is much calmer and friendlier. Yeah, it takes longer but it's so much more humane.

I got into Bellingham and called Tom Caldwell, someone I had contacted through an on line networking site called Warm Showers, which is a group of bicyclists all over the world who sign up to host cyclists traveling through their towns. Tom met me at the train station and we road the mile or so to his house where I met his wife Laurel and their kids Dana and Noah.


Here is Tom and Laurel. Thanks for the hospitality!

I'm now riding a ferry to San Juan Island.


It's cloudy and cool, good cycling weather. I'll spend the day on the island and then will take the Anacortes ferry and begin heading east. Weeeeee!
-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Boat to SanJuan Island

Uphill forever and ever...

After a breakfast of oatmeal and yogurt, I headed out from Amboy, heading north and passed the dead shoe tree where people hung hundreds of shoes over the years.



After about five miles, the road began to climb pretty relentlessly. I wasn't in my lowest gear so the road wasn't overly steep but it just wouldn't stop climbing. And it went straight up with no curves. I could see the interstate with tiny cars and trucks moving on it from over ten miles away and the dang thing didn't want to get closer.





I finally passed under the freeway and entered the Mojave Preserve.





The road kept climbing for another five or so miles making the day at over 4000 feet of elevation gain. Finally, there was a long, chilly downhill to the ghost town of Kelso where the park service runs a diner in the old train depot.





Unfortunately, they closed the diner on Christmas Eve so I had camp food for dinner with a couple from San Francisco and then made camp behind the post office.

My Route for the Summer

Here is my planned route for the summer! You have to zoom out to see the whole thing.

View Bike Trip 2010 in a larger map
It's a long trip and my success or failure will largely depend on the winds in the Great Plains. If I hit a headwind, I doubt I can make the daily mileage necessary to get to Maine. From what I've read, the wind can blow either way so maybe I'll get a headwind!