Western Washington Road Trip – Posted 7-13-07.
Photos by Kilwag, Mark Conahan, Dan Hughes
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DAY FOUR
Kilwag: It had rained overnight. I was worried we would wake to soggy surroundings but it wasn’t bad. We managed to drag our sorry asses out of bed in time to catch breakfast and drive to catch the 11:30 Ferry from Edmunds, WA. Dan, Tony and Nick met us at the ferry. While waiting for the ferry we held up issues of the Seattle weekly paper “The Stranger.” The current issue featured massive full page headlines reading “Don’t be a Stupid Faggot.” They were, believe it or not, in celebration of the Gay Pride parade.
Conahan: The weather was threatening, some guys from Portland who planned to meet us on Sunday decided to bag it. A short ferry ride and some rainy travel got us to Dreamland Skateparks Port Townsend skatepark. Highlights of the park are a three-pocket bowl with pool coping and some great hip lines, a bigger more convoluted bowl with extension and one crazy tight corner and some really interesting and challenging looking street features. We managed to get a short session in before it started to rain. The smaller bowl we skated was perfect and there was a lot more to do. I’ll be back. Thumbs up!
Kilwag: I wasn’t feeling it in Port Townsend. The clover bowl seemed fun but it had so much more of a “skatepark” vibe than the Duvall bowl. I took one run in the other bowl and left dumbfounded. It rode more like an Airspeed creation than a Dreamland park. I liked the look of the street course, but just as I was begining to make an effor to warm up the rain started. Hughes had an interesting tale to tell about this park. I guess Port Townsend was having some difficulties with the process, or major clusterfuck is what it sounded like. The city commissioner in charge basically threw his hands up in the air ( Like he just didn’t care? – MC ) and gave up. Someone (Dan?) mentioned that Dreamland was in nearby Port Angeles and would probably do a bang up job. The end result (according to rumor) is that Dreamland had a blank slate and a bottom dollar amout to do wahtever they wanted, no plans needed. It’s strange because if you compare it to Port Angeles, I think you’d be inclined to guess that Port Townsend was built at a much earlier phase of Dreamland’s history as opposed to concurrently with Port Angeles. I give Port Townsend a wishy washy thumbs up, which is ballsy considering I barely rode it. Maybe it’s because that’s the only park I’ve ever had a hard time giving away stickers at. I actually had a gal refuse them. I mean, who doesn’t like stickers? She doesn’t, apparently.
Conahan: Jeez, talk about throwing your hands up. With the rain, it was looking risky for Dreamland’s Port Angeles skatepark but we decided to give it a try. It rained most of the way there but it was worth the long drive just to see it. It looks amazing. There are three bowl areas of varying depths and endless possibilities. It was wet though. We looked around and took some photos. Half the party decided to get lunch and then check back. Dan, Tony, Nick and MC got out the squeegees and went to work on the biggest bowl. I swear, another two minutes and we would have had it dry but it started to rain again. Dang. Kilwag and MC decided to get an early start back. I’ll definitely be back. Thumbs up without even getting to skate.
Kilwag: While part of the crew was performing synchronized squeegee dancing (seriously, have you ever traveled with a crew that carries that many squeegees?) the rest was stuffing their faces. Port Angeles looked like it would have been my favorite park. Three large bowls connected to each other by spines. Lots of wavy lines and curved coping. A shallow channel near the deep bowl, when is the lst time you saw a channel? That park looked amazing. Dreamland built it, so you know what the finish is like. Walking around on the deck in the rain, some of those spots were treacherous like ice on concrete. In fact, I heard a complain about the surface in Port Townsend being too smooth because it took too long for the rain to dry. I think it was in jest though. As much as you can give a park a review without riding it, I give it an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Conahan: So there are several good skateparks in northern Washington state these days. Stuff is still pretty spread out though and traffic sucks! We missed a few (Milton, Mukilteo, Ballard, Bainbridge) this trip and I would have liked to have checked out Marginal Way. We could concievably have hit 10 or 11 skateparks. It was a good trip with seven visited and six skated. (Eight visited seven skated for Team Corvallis). Thumbs up for terrain, thumbs down for traffic and rain. I think we need to take another trip up to the P.T./P.A. parks picking up the parks we missed on the way. It would be tempting to get back over to Duvall though.
Kilwag: It’s clear that there are a lot of good parks in Washington and the outlying Seattle area. the problem is that they are in the outlying Seattle area and traffic is a bitch. You can almost always count on getting bogged down in traffic molasses every time you try to head up to Seattle, no matter what day of the week or what time it is. Seriously, what is wrong with Tacoma? The massive suspension bridge over the bay is really nice though. They are building a second one right next to it. I hear it will be turned into a toll bridge though. But I digress, Washington has some very nice rides, but I’d still say Oregon has them beat. We have amazing parks and it’s not such a pain in the ass to get to them. Also, there were no Bobcat sightings, which was disappointing.
Let’s recap our ratings then.
Battleground is a thumbs up by all accounts. But it’s so close to Portland that it should almost be considered with the Oregon parks. Also, we both think that the Emerica team should be forced to wear Taiwanese knock off’s of 1986 Airwalk shoes for skipping Klamath falls. Thumbs down for Emerica.
Conahan: Crossroads gets two thumbs up for it’s simple layout and good lines. Just the right size for a session with a few friends and there is something there for everybody. It reminded us both of Carnation but refined and improved.
Kent pleasantly surprised Kilwag with clever street obstacles and banks, both of us found the big vert section disappointing but enjoyed the kidney bowl. Conahan concedes that it is worth visiting if you are in the area.
Kilwag: We both gave mild thumbs up for Carnation. We enjoyed our session but wouldn’t list it amongst our favorite parks. If you are on your way to Duvall yuo might as well stop there, because it will likely be empty. We also both gave enthusiastic thumbs up for Duvall, largely based on the bowl alone. It’s fast, smooth and fun. The unique coping is loud and gnarly looking, but amazingly, the exposed aggregate coping is not a grind stopper. Arlington received two thumbs up as well. Conahan like it’s depth and smoothness, at least that’s what I’m assuming becasue he didn’t go into much detail except to call me out for being lazy at that park.
Conahan: We had high hopes for Sunday and the Olympic peninsula Dreamland twins but weather was against us. Duvall was a tough act for Port Townsend to follow and we only got the preview. A thumbs up from both of us based on a small sampling of what the park has to offer.
Port Angeles looks really good. An enthusiastic thumbs up from both of us and we didn’t even get to skate! After seeing this Dreamland beauty, I wouldn’t be surprised if Washington gets a few more Dreamland parks real soon (another Grindline designed and Dreamland built park is currently under construction in Bellingham).
Kilwag: This concludes the special coverage of our road trip to some of the wonderful skateparks of the great state of Washington. For Conahan and Kilwag At The Skateparks, I’m Kilwag, and save a spot on the coping for me.
Conahan: And stay the fuck out of my way, kids.
( Fade in credits: Guests of Conahan and Kilwag at the Skteparks find their own damn accommodations. Logisitcs and travel arrangements made by Shawn Fendick. Additional photos provided by Dan Hughes at NorthwestSkater.com and math wizard Ryan Hass. Tour guide services provided by Dan Hughes and Tony Davies. Motorcycle escorts and barking coping alarm clock by Steve Betten. Indegestion provided by the overpriced Mongolian Bar-B-Que. Guy riding a Merde board provided by Nick AKA Swervo.)
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