 This weekend I took two hikes. On Saturday, I met some friends and walked with them and their dog in Saratoga Woods to the big glacial erratic. They’d been hibernating all winter to stay safe and comfortable. After being vaccinated their only complaint was a touch of cabin fever, a common ailment this time of year. We had a good walk catching up and meeting others along the trail. On Sunday I felt like having a quiet, solitary experience so I walked alone from Putney Woods to the same glacial erratic in Saratoga Woods. I wanted to see how these trails were connected. Miles and miles of trails looping and lacing through the woods between Langley and Freeland. There are many reasons to take a walk, for the fresh air and exercise, for mental and emotional relief, to look for birds and wildlife, to meet friends and socialize, or to get some quiet time alone. Between my two walks I’d covered all the bases. And I got a surprise bonus. I got lost! I love the feeling of being lost for a few minutes or a few hours. Not knowing where I am, or which way to turn. It makes me smile. Having explored Whidbey for decades I have a pretty good idea of where I am most of the time. Some trails I’ve traveled so many times that I could walk them in the dark. But Putney and Saratoga Woods are not that familiar to me. I’d taken a photo of the map at the trailhead, and another on a sign post along the way, but some trails are unmarked so I followed my sense of direction. Still, on grey days it’s easy to get turned around. I was able to find my way to the glacial erratic, but finding my way back was a challenge. I’d met people as I entered Putney Woods and pet their dogs. There were families with kids that were visiting from off-island. One family didn’t know about the glacial erratic so I showed them pictures from the day before. I hadn’t seen anyone since meeting them on the trail that connected the two trail systems. I wondered if they were lost, too. I recalled David Wagoner’s poem, Lost. He said, if you’re lost, stand still, the forest knows where you are, you must let it find you. Lost Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here, And you must treat it as a powerful stranger, Must ask permission to know it and be known. The forest breathes. Listen. It answers, I have made this place around you. If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here. No two trees are the same to Raven. No two branches are the same to Wren. If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you, You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows Where you are. You must let it find you. -- David Wagoner I sat down and listened. Kinglets and chickadees chattered high up in the tree tops. A raven called in the distance. A nuthatch blew its tiny horn. Taking photos on my solo walk had focused my attention on details along the way. Finding these landmarks on my way back was reassuring. Here a couple of downed trees just overhead, there someone had left a cairn, and this muddy spot with the tree in the middle was familiar. I took a few wrong turns but then realized my error and slowly made my way back to familiar well-marked trails. When someone asked Daniel Boone if he’d ever been lost, he answered, “No, but I’ve been a might bit confused for three or four days.” Maribeth Click here for a video of the erratic. Directions: To Saratoga Woods from Langley, take Saratoga Road 3 miles northwest. The trailhead will be on the left.
To Putney Woods from Highway 525, turn north on Bayview Road, left on Andreason Road and right on Lone Lake Road to the trailhead on the right. For a map click the link below. www.islandcountywa.gov/PublicWorks/Parks/Pages/putney-woods.aspx These trails are popular with equestrians and mountain bikers as well as hikers. They are not accessible by bus.
0 Comments
 With our highways nearly shut down with snow this last weekend, I hiked close to home by going to Hoypus Point in Deception Pass, knowing the trail there was flat, wide open, and seldom used in inclement weather. This day was not a usual day for a hike, however. The trail was buried in over a foot of snow. No one was on the trail except me. Someone, or several folks, had been here the day before, leaving a well-plowed trail down the middle of the road. The forest was quiet, with only the soft whisper of a sea breeze in the tops of the trees and the even softer whisper of snow falling on cedar. https://youtu.be/2vknX91YHpU I first came here 18 years ago before I interviewed for the manager job. I had seen the busy hubbub of the main park areas for years. I had never wandered down this part of Deception Pass before. On that long-ago September day, the busyness of the park faded out as I walked east from the boat launch, eventually getting all the way out to the point. Eagles talked with each other in the treetops above. Mt. Baker beckoned, as did Kiket and Skagit Islands. I was entranced. I resolved to get the job. https://youtu.be/muLmyDXK_3c This week, as I started out on the trail, I shot and shared a video with friends to show where I was and what I was experiencing. One friend was busy at home working on taxes and chores, and took the video as a nudge to also get outside and hike a nearby trail in this rare, beautiful, cold, transformed world of white, a rare opportunity around here. As my winter day unfolded, my heart grew warmer with the cold. The still air was well below freezing. Siskins or something fluttered and twittered high overhead; waterfowl prowled the waters just offshore. An eagle and a raven took turns croaking their echoing songs high above me. Gray green shapes offshore hinted that there were nearby islands, but the sky was lowering, so my views focused on where I walked. Animal movements became obvious with the tracks they left behind. Several trees had recently fallen, one leaving behind a record of the past couple of centuries in the span of my hand. ... nor heat nor gloom of night… A couple days later I was back, the snow half-melted, and the sun half-shining through the trees and dancing on the water. This time there were a half dozen people out too, one pulling fallen branches to the side; one seemingly lost in thought or reverie or sadness, beyond the end of the trail on the beach; one oblivious to the sounds of the natural world as a podcast blared from his earbuds; and a couple trying to walk hand in hand but slipping on the icy slush. A red flowering-currant flower braved the weather to show its first colors of the spring. Snow on the beach logs had been washed away by the tides and warming temperature. The air was warmer, the skies mostly blue, the views stunning. The trail still transformed my thoughts, giving me peace in my heart, and building strength in my life. The average American adult spent 11 and a half hours a day consuming media last year. On the other hand, participants in one study reported significantly better health and well-being when they spent two hours or more in nature every week. We have choices every day. We have weather every day: snow, rain, heat, sleet, or rainbows and sunshine. Feel the nudge. You are being called outside. Take a hike. “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” jack Directions:
From Highway 20 take Cornet Bay Road east to its very end. Parking and restrooms are available at the boat launch, unless filled with boaters on a summer weekend or opening day of fishing. Be sure to have a valid parking permit for your vehicle. Accessibility: Okay, on a snowy week like this, access is limited. Otherwise the trail is flat and inviting, with the only limitation being a gate at the very beginning that requires careful negotiation around a sharp and narrow corner Transit Access: Take Island Transit 411W bus. The northbound stop is at the Deception Pass store on Highway 20. It is then a mile walk east on Cornet Bay Road. The southbound stop is on the south side of Cornet Bay Road intersection, again with a mile long walk ahead of you.  Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather, whatever, together, Whether we like it or not. Anon I saw a few flakes of snow this week. Rain and wind played tag last week. When the sun took a turn a friend invited me to venture outside. At the end of the driveway, I hesitated. Left or right? My mind spun through all the nearby options. I’d turned right last time, so this time, I turned left and headed for South Whidbey State Park. Leaving the car parked by the restrooms I looked up. A gust of wind stirred the treetops and I remembered why the campground had been closed. I wouldn’t sleep well under those giants in a wind storm. But that is the first place we walked. The campground loop would provide an opportunity for someone with mobility challenges to experience the forest. A gate blocks the road access but on the left side of the restrooms there's plenty of room for a wheelchair or mobility scooter to enter. We walked down a hill on the paved road now closed to traffic, kicking small branches aside as we went. Last spring I’d found a bright beautiful Western Tanager among these trees. They’re still south of us now in February, but kinglets, juncos and chickadees sang out from the shrubs. A raven cried out from the tall trees. A Pacific wren played hide and seek around a stump. We’re impatient for the early signs of spring, for the first blossoms of red flowering current, salmonberry, or even the golden glow of skunk cabbage in the wetlands. There were small, cheery, pink flowers, though they were the non-native invasive Herb Robert, also known as Stinky Bob. I looked around for downed trees but the campground loops were clear for wheelchairs or kids on bikes. A picnic shelter in the old group camping area would be a welcome sight on a damp day. But the sun was out so we walked on. We took the Hobbit Trail downhill passing under some huge maples with their chartreuse moss blankets and arms laden with licorice ferns. Each gust of wind set the hillside of sword ferns waving. A few small branches fell at our feet and made us a little anxious about something bigger coming down. At the overlook the blue expanse was choppy with white caps. Fort Flagler stood out on the far shore. We could see from Bush Point to Lagoon Point and all points in between. Climbing back up the hill to the campground loop we made our way toward the Wilbert Trail across the road. Just before the crosswalk is a cavernous maple tree. I envisioned Keebler elves inside baking cookies. No such luck. Still, it was fun to explore. Crossing the road we visited the Ancient Cedar standing tall and straight for centuries. We continued on the trail heading north, then turning south. I was grateful for the boardwalk through the wetland with its lush green sedges. A magnificent log lay on the ground almost shoulder high providing nutrients for a community of new growth on the forest floor. We noticed more trees with broken tops and others leaning into each other, but we didn’t linger beneath them. Beefy Douglas firs stood on the hillside with charred bark from a fire hundreds of years ago. Its deep, corky bark acted as armor against the flames. There were a few puddles but most of the trails were dry, We passed a few people walking a dog or exploring intersecting trails, but it was mostly a quiet walk in the woods. What a treasure. As we returned to the park entrance we passed an interpretive sign that reminded me of how this forest was saved. People who still live in our community literally stood in front of bulldozers to protect these great elders of the forest. Some of them are still Friends of Whidbey State Parks. You could be a friend, too. https://www.friendsofwhidbeystateparks.org/ Maribeth Directions: From Highway 525 in Greenbank take Smugglers Cove Road south 4.8 miles. Or from just north of Freeland, take Bush Point Road north 6 miles. (Bush Point Road turns into Smugglers Cove Road.) You'll need a parking pass to park inside the gate. Or park at the crosswalk to the north of the park entrance. The shoulder is wide for this purpose. By Bus: Monday-Friday, take Route 1 to the park entrance. www.islandtransit.org All Island Transit buses can take 1-2 wheelchairs and 2-3 bikes. Take a wild walk in the windy woods of South Whidbey in this seven second video below: https://youtu.be/MHhzhAI0LBo  After a week of dank, dark and dreary weather, the brilliant sunshine suggested to me a hike to the top of Goose Rock. A friend named Judi, relatively new to the area, had never been so she asked if she could join up. Sure, I said. I enjoy seeing people’s reactions the first time they experience the view from the top. Memories flooded through me as we passed Pass lake, crossed the bridge, and drove onto Whidbey. My experiences here still hover around like old friends. The places we live and work carry the evidences of our time there, sometimes in tangible results but also in subtler ways: the relationships, or a conversation, or an idea that changed the direction of a life, of history. Those legacies follow us throughout our lives, our hand-print on the world. This park is a reflection of ancient leaders setting it aside to help protect our communities from some enemy. And here we now protect it from the dangers of habitat destruction, an overcrowded planet, a changing climate, and a culture out of touch with the earth and our ancestors. But this is today, to make new stories to treasure. We started from Cornet Bay Road near the Retreat Center exit gate. The trail crosses a very wet wetland this time of year, dances through an open forest, then hugs Cornet Bay before turning its attention to the steep south slope of Goose Rock. The Rhody forest here is cool, but the trail soon climbs into the rockier, higher hillside. We peeled off a layer of coats as we climbed, stopping to catch our breath occasionally, me with the pretense to take pictures. It was a good excuse, I thought. At the top the views opened up in every direction, as you know. They did not disappoint, and the look on Judi’s face was worth every step of the climb. It truly is a magnificent place to be any time of the year, but especially while basking in sunlight and warmth, absent for so long. Okay, so it wasn’t all that warm, really. We put our coats back on. The brown-tinged Skagit River water coming out of the pass collided with the deep blue of the Straits, forming a visible line between the two. Navy jets pierced the peace, then gave way to the far more friendly P-3 Orions practicing maneuvers. Eventually we headed down the Northwest Trail, then angled over to the Perimeter Trail. Along the way we found old-growth trees thrown like matchsticks into each other, some ripped out of the ground, some knocked down by their neighbors. That must have been one wild night up here. That trail circles around the south side of Goose Rock, climbing a short distance, switch-backing down to Cornet Bay, then back to the dense forest, the wetland bridge, and Cornet Bay Road. This route is just under three miles of hiking, with a nearly five-hundred-foot ascent and descent in the middle, and a couple other ups and downs along the way. From the earliest days when a human left a hand-print on the wall of a cave somewhere, people have left behind a little legacy of ourselves wherever we have been. It may be a work of art or craftsmanship, or food or clothing, or maybe just a word spoken at the right time to a relative, a friend, or even a stranger. We often don’t know the impact we have on others, on our culture, on our planet. It’s hubris to think that only people leave a legacy. All the life around us lives their stories in the ever-evolving balance of the history and future of this earth. The echoes and shadows of our ancestors are reflected in the landscape we inhabit today. In the reflection of their lives we live, and move, and have our being, creating hand-prints for the generations to come. Directions: From Highway 20, park at the bridge, the park office, or on Cornet Bay Road.
Accessible by Island Transit 411W bus. The northbound stop is the store just north of Cornet Bay Road. The southbound stop is on the south side of Cornet Bay Road. Cross at the signal and walk to the park office to begin your hike. The trail is steep, rocky in places with slick rocks when wet, uneven in footing and slope, and muddy near the wetland and occasionally elsewhere too. Most of the trail is dry year round, however. |
Authors
Maribeth Crandell has been a hiking guide in the Pacific NW for over 20 years. She's lived on Whidbey and Fidalgo Island for decades. As a frequent bus rider she easily makes connections between trails and transit. Archives by date
September 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
