First, a thank you. We went quiet after the spring issue and stayed gone through most of the summer, longer than we ever meant to. If you're still here reading this, that means a lot. Thanks for waiting us out. We're glad to be back.

Thursday is the only gray day on the board. A few showers move through this morning, then the peninsula settles into actual summer: sun and low 80s from Friday through at least the middle of next week. Which is convenient, because the Olympics just hit peak wildflower.

So this issue is the Summer Trail Guide. Six hikes, laid out above, from a beach stroll on Hood Canal to the best wildflower walk in the state, sorted by how hard you want to work for the view. Trip reports from the last two weeks say the high country is snow-free and blooming. A few notes before you go:

Marmot Pass (Quilcene) is the headliner. Hikers on July 10 called the meadows at or near peak bloom, all larkspur, paintbrush, and lupine. It costs you 11.5 miles and 3,489 feet to see it. Bears have been out along the ridge above the pass, so keep the snacks zipped.

Hurricane Hill (Port Angeles) is the show without the sweat: 3.2 paved miles above the meadows at Hurricane Ridge. $30 a car, cashless only. Two things the park wants you to know: the Ridge is a construction zone through August, with portable toilets, no indoor anything, and asphalt work that could close the road for a day, so check nps.gov the morning you go. And there is no drinking water up there, so fill bottles in town.

Lena Lake (Hamma Hamma) is the hot-day pick: 7.2 shaded miles to a lake you can actually swim in.

Guillemot Cove (Seabeck) is the free local: 2.5 miles down to a quiet Hood Canal beach, past 200-year-old mossy maples, ending near a stump you can stand inside.

Green Mountain and Mount Townsend round out the six. Distances, passes, and drive times are all listed above.

🌸  A fun fact before you lace up: those wild rhododendrons you will pass on half of these trails are Washington's state flower, the Pacific rhododendron. We kept running into them on a recent trip through Asia too, which tracks, much of the genus grows wild across the Himalayas and the rhododendron is Nepal's national flower. Ours just wandered a long way from home.

The Rundown

The World Cup Ends This Weekend, and Bremerton Has the Best Seat

Quincy Square has spent the tournament as one of nine official Seattle host-committee fan zones: every match free on a 20-foot LED screen on the bandstand, 4th Street closed to cars, food trucks and a beer garden. Two chances left. Saturday is Rock Fest & Watch Party, 10am to 9pm, live bands plus the third-place match on the screen. Then the final itself goes up Sunday at 11am. If you never made it down, this is last call.

Poulsbo's Free Waterfront Parking Era Is Ending

The 223 spots at Anderson Parkway next to Waterfront Park are expected to go paid around August 1. Summer rate is $3 an hour, 10am to 6pm, paid through ParkMobile. Tuesdays stay free. Consider this your two-week warning.

The Exclusion Memorial Visitor Center Is Nearly Done

Construction at the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial reaches substantial completion at the end of August, exhibits go in through September, and the grand opening is planned for October. The nonprofit behind it is within $500,000 of its $6.5 million goal. One heads-up if you visit this summer: the memorial's parking lot stays closed until September.

On the Calendar

Kitsap Pride Festival  |  July 18

Gordon Fields, Kitsap County Fairgrounds, Bremerton  ·  3-8pm  ·  Free

The peninsula's annual LGBTQIA+ celebration, volunteer-run and all ages.

Arm Wrestling Tournament at Rainy Daze  |  July 18

Rainy Daze Brewing, Poulsbo  ·  2-6pm  ·  No cover

A benefit for the Pink Boots Society with food trucks and vendors. Watching arm wrestling at a brewery on a Saturday afternoon is a complete plan.

Rock Fest & Watch Party  |  July 18

Quincy Square, Bremerton  ·  10am-9pm  ·  Free  ·  quincy-square.com

Downtown Bremerton's send-off for the fan zone: live bands through the afternoon with the third-place match on the big screen. The final goes up on the same screen Sunday at 11am.

Olalla Lavender Festival  |  July 18-19

Olalla Grange & farm venues, Olalla  ·  10am-5pm both days  ·  $10 adults, under 16 free  ·  olalla-lavender-festival.com

Lavender farms, makers, live music, and food, with one admission good for both days. Olalla in mid-July smells exactly like you hope it does.

Art on the Green  |  July 19

Winslow Green, Bainbridge Island  ·  11am-6pm  ·  Free

Local artists, live music, and kids' activities in the middle of Winslow.

Jazz Port Townsend  |  July 22-26

Fort Worden, Port Townsend  ·  Mainstage Fri 7pm, Sat 1pm & 6pm  ·  From $28  ·  centrum.org

Centrum's annual festival brings national-caliber players to McCurdy Pavilion, with late-night sets in the clubs Wednesday and Thursday.

Whaling Days  |  July 24-26

Silverdale Waterfront Park & Old Town, Silverdale  ·  Fri evening-Sun afternoon  ·  Free  ·  whalingdays.com

Silverdale's big one: fireworks Friday at dusk, the Grand Parade Saturday at 10am, a Star Wars themed drone show Saturday around 10pm, and the Rotary Duck Race Sunday at 3pm.

Oliver! at Kitsap Forest Theater  |  July 25-26, runs through Aug 16

Kitsap Forest Theater, 3000 Seabeck Hwy, Bremerton  ·  2pm  ·  Ticketed  ·  foresttheater.com

The Mountaineers Players stage the Dickens musical in a 460-acre rhododendron preserve, the first Oliver! there since 2004. An outdoor matinee in the woods. Bring a blanket.

Farmers Markets  |  Every weekend

Poulsbo & Bainbridge, Sat 10am-2pm  ·  Port Townsend, Sat 9am-2pm  ·  Kingston, Sun 10am-3pm  ·  Free

Berries, bread, and cut flowers, take your pick of towns. Poulsbo on 8th Ave is the hometown one, Bainbridge sets up at Town Square, and Kingston runs Sundays right by the ferry.

Live Music

THU 7/16  ·  The Kimball Superstars (Concerts on the Dock)

Pope Marine Plaza, Port Townsend  ·  5-7pm  ·  Free

THU 7/16  ·  Peppino D'Agostino

Rainshadow Recording (Fort Worden), Port Townsend  ·  7:30pm  ·  $25 adv / $30 door

FRI 7/17  ·  Chris Switzer

Bushel & Barrel, Poulsbo  ·  6-8pm  ·  Free

FRI 7/17  ·  Dead Bars, Eep-Oop! & Just Barely

The Charleston, Bremerton  ·  Doors 8pm, music 8:30pm  ·  $10

SAT 7/18  ·  Queensrÿche

Clearwater Resort Event Lawn, Suquamish  ·  Doors 5pm, show 7pm  ·  From $54  ·  18+

SUN 7/19  ·  Mark Lewis & David Friesen (Jazz)

Remedy Speakeasy, Bremerton  ·  4:30-7pm  ·  Free

TUE 7/21  ·  Great American Trainwreck (Summer Nights at the Bay)

Waterfront Park, Poulsbo  ·  6-8pm  ·  Free

THU 7/23  ·  The Backwoods Hucksters (Concerts on the Dock)

Pope Marine Plaza, Port Townsend  ·  5-7pm  ·  Free

FRI 7/24  ·  Flutewood Mac

Bushel & Barrel, Poulsbo  ·  6-8pm  ·  Free

FRI 7/24  ·  Jenny Don't & The Spurs

Tracyton Movie House, Bremerton  ·  Doors 8pm  ·  From $18  ·  21+

TUE 7/28  ·  Deseo Carmin (Summer Nights at the Bay)

Waterfront Park, Poulsbo  ·  6-8pm  ·  Free

THU 7/30  ·  Daring Greatly (Concerts on the Dock)

Pope Marine Plaza, Port Townsend  ·  5-7pm  ·  Free

This is what we'd go to. There's more out there. Reply and tell us what we missed.

Spotted

· Waldo is hiding in 25 downtown Winslow storefronts all month. Grab a passport at participating shops, collect stamps, and prize drawings happen August 1.

· The Coffee Oasis in Poulsbo quietly reopened after a month-plus closure, now weekdays only, 8am to 2pm, with bagel sandwiches on the menu. Same Bremerton-roasted beans, same youth-services mission.

· Island Volunteer Caregivers is collecting garden flowers at Eagle Harbor Church on weekday mornings this month and turning them into about 100 bouquets a week for homebound islanders. Your dahlias could have a second career.

· Verse & Vine just opened in downtown Poulsbo, a romance bookstore and wine bar in one, where the novel comes paired with a wine flight, a cider, or a charcuterie board. Run by a Kitsap mother-daughter team.

· FAFO Kitchen in Silverdale is the newcomer people keep bringing up. The name stands for exactly what you think, and the weekend prix fixe has diners carving a tomahawk steak at the table.

· Kingston keeps sprouting storefronts. Saltwater Bookshop, a new independent bookstore, opened next to Borrowed Kitchen Bakery, and Argensol nearby is turning out Argentine alfajores.

Hidden Gem: Dungeness Spit at Low Tide

One of the longest natural sand spits in the world is also the flattest long walk on the peninsula: 11 miles round trip to the New Dungeness Lighthouse with 130 feet of gain, total. The trick is the tide. Go on a falling tide and you walk firm wet sand instead of churning through the soft stuff. The lighthouse at mile 5.5 has a small museum, restrooms, and running water to refill a bottle, and you can turn around anywhere before that and still call it a good day. Entry is $3 per group, cash or check, exact change. Your Discover Pass does not cover it, because this is a federal refuge. Leave the dog home for this one.

The Tides

So: no bucket. But a minus tide is still the best time to walk a beach, and these are the good windows.

Thu Jul 16 · 12:56pm · -2.89 ft  ·  Seabeck

Fri Jul 17 · 1:41pm · -1.64 ft  ·  Seabeck

Sun Jul 26 · 9:41am · -0.73 ft  ·  Seabeck

Wed Jul 29 · 11:34am · -1.43 ft  ·  Seabeck

Predictions from NOAA station 9445303 (Seabeck, Seabeck Bay). Guillemot Cove sits on this same stretch of water, so time that hike to the bottom of one of these and you get twice the beach.

Ferry Watch

Hood Canal Bridge: the drawspan is unpredictable again. Since early June, boat openings were locked to 10am and 2pm for World Cup traffic. That variance expired July 15. Through September 30, recreational vessels can request an opening any time outside 3 to 6:15pm, and openings run 10 to 45 minutes. If you're headed to the trails above, check the bridge status before you cross.

Kingston terminal: get your boarding pass. If you're driving on at Kingston, you need a boarding pass before you reach the ticket booth. The system runs daily 8am to 8pm through October 12 and exists to keep ferry traffic from stacking up through town. This is a Kingston-side thing only. Coming back from Edmonds, just get in line.

Everything else is just busy. WSF carried 9.4 million riders through June 28, about 425,000 more than the same stretch last year. No sailing cancellations on Bainbridge, Kingston, or Bremerton, just summer volume. Walk on if you can, or aim early or late. Two accessibility notes: the passenger elevator on the Chimacum is out of service, as are elevators 1 and 2 at Colman Dock.

Full schedules and real-time alerts: wsdot.com/ferries  ·  Bridge status: wsdot.com/hoodcanalbridge

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