Ice crunched underfoot as I stepped lightly through the mud. Turning down the trail between the first ponds, I startled a pair of buffleheads that suddenly took flight with a flapping of wings. Then silence. Well, the stones were silent. The wind was silent. The rain and snow had ceased. But the birds were singing in every shrub. Spotted towhee called back and forth sounding like two cats on either side of a fence. Golden crowned kinglets hopped restlessly chittering from branch to branch. Brown creepers spiraled up the trunks scouring for insects. A nuthatch sounded its tiny horn in the distance. A chestnut-backed chickadee investigated a cavity. Red-winged blackbirds called from the cattails. And song sparrows provided the background music of the Earth Sanctuary’s forested wetlands. “It must be spring,” they called. “It must be spring!” The bufflehead was back! Speeding by in a blur, it dove into the pond just as an eagle banked upward. A near miss. Then, a hush. It was a little warmer than the day before with its mix of rain, hail and snow. Low clouds still clung to the wetlands, while above a blue tint shown through. March, they say, comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb. Three weeks from the equinox, the days are already much longer than the month before, and growing still. I try not to get anxious, but I am more than ready for spring! Walking east on the trail, I noticed a nesting box for wood ducks up in a tree. I scanned the wetland below. No wood ducks in sight. But what was that large white thing on the water? A plastic bag blown off the road? A chunk of Styrofoam? Oh! It has a head! And a long neck! Lifting my binoculars I was surprised and delighted to find a swan! This was a first for me, to find a wild swan at the Earth Sanctuary. It was all alone. Two Canada Geese flew in and landed across the water, but they showed little interest in this stranger. I watched it feeding off the bottom and turning elegantly this way and that. It dwarfed the mallards and hooded mergansers nearby. I wondered if it had become lost and separated or decided to leave its own kind up in Dugualla Bay or the Skagit Valley. It added to the peaceful feel of the place. This is such a unique place for bird watching. While there I walked the labyrinth, spun the prayer wheel and sounded the gong. Passing cairns and benches, prayer flags and peace posts, I made my way to the standing stones. My favorite is the dolmen near the entrance. It has a feeling of shelter, like a small stone house. I’d visited one in Ireland many years ago. The Stonehenge at the far end of the trail has a more ominous presence. Basalt pillars up to twenty feet high arranged along lei lines, upright in a circle. I walked it twice, in a sun wise direction, offering prayers as I went. On my way back I stopped at a smaller cairn and whispered more prayers for peace. So much unrest in the world, in my own family, in my workplace, in our country. I spun the prayer wheel as I had in Bhutan twenty years ago. Good to bring these traditions together for mindfulness and meditation. Good to have a walk around these wooded wetlands, chairs and benches at every turn, medicine wheels, prayer flags, standing stones, trees, water, birds. Good to have these places of peace for our exploration and prayers of gratitude. Maribeth The Earth Sanctuary is privately owned and lovingly maintained. There is a $7 entrance fee. For more info click here. Directions: From Highway 525 at the stop light in Freeland, take Main Street east to Newman Road. Turn left and it will be less than a mile, after passing a row of large maple trees, on your left. Or coming from Highway 525 just south of Freeland, turn right on Newman Road for just under a mile. Look for the sign on your right. Address: 2059 Newman Road, Freeland, WA.
By Bus and Bike: Island Transit’s Route 1 bus stops are at each end of Newman Road, 1 mile from the trailhead. A bus can carry 2 bikes. Newman Road has little traffic but no shoulder in places. Please wear bright clothes if walking or biking along Newman Road. Mobility: Trails are narrow with some hills, roots and muddy places along the way.
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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
March 2024
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