Made a wrong turn early in the day and ended up 8 miles out of my way in Skokomish. As best as I can remember, that was the first and only time I had to backtrack a significant distance due to taking a wrong turn. The day was spent on bucolic 2-lane roads twisting through fields of flowers and farmland. I think this was the most beautiful region, maybe because I'm a biased Washingtonian or because it was so early in the trip, but I do consider this the area with the greatest natural beauty.

The roads here were all named in the same way. For instance, Matlock Brady Road was a road that went between the towns of (shocker!!) Matlock and Brady. I thought that was cute, if a little unimaginative.

Spent the night in Montesano, a town Kurt Cobain lived in as a child and where grunge band The Melvins are from. It got its name from a notably pious settler who wanted to name it Mount Zion. Another settler thought that was a little extra so they went with Montesano because it sounded better.

From my journal:

Today, I hit my groove. My legs were tired but never exhausted.

I saw a man with no legs lying on the side of the highway. I didn't know if he was taking a nap or dead. I think I would have stopped, but there was a cop there already.