First, I want to thank all of you who are staying home and only going out when absolutely necessary. I’m glad it’s spring when many of us want to spend time at home preparing a garden or working in the yard after a winter of neglect. And I’m so happy to live in a rural community with a little elbow room between us. I hope you're all staying safe and healthy. So far I’ve made it through one week of self-isolation, took my temperature daily and show no virus symptoms. Except I’m going stir-crazy, which is a symptom of the cure, not the disease. I’ve heard many others complain of this side effect. By the end of the week, I needed some relief. So I called my friends, Liz and Gary. They agreed to meet me at the Smugglers Cove trailhead of Trillium Community Forest and go for a walk, while observing the social distancing guidelines, of course. Even the few cars in the parking lot seemed to be social distancing. This Land Trust property with over 700 acres and seven miles of trails has plenty of room to spread out. If you stay on the main trail, Patrick’s Way, it’s wide enough for people to pass six feet apart. Some side trails get soggy this time of year so we stayed on the main trail. I brought a bag of paper hearts I’d cut out with pictures of birds from an old calendar. I asked Liz and Gary to help write messages on the back and hang them from tree limbs. There was one with a mother Merganser giving her chicks a ride across the water and I wrote, “Be nice to Mom” on the back. Gary took one of a hummingbird and wrote, “Listen for me, I’m virus free!” We hoped they'd liven up a walk for others on the trail. It was good to get out of my near surroundings, visit friends, breathe in the damp, green forest air and get away from the news. I noticed red flowering currant, salmonberry blossoms, and fragrant skunk cabbage in full bloom. We glimpsed Juncos and Chickadees, heard Kinglets and the melodic Pacific Wren. We were scolded by a Douglas squirrel sitting with it's tail curled up over it's back. As we walked we passed people with dogs, a family with kids, and other people walking alone or together. Equestrians often use this trail, as well. If you meet someone on horseback, speak calmly and step aside to put the horse at ease. There’s room for everyone here. Trillium Woods is a treasure for people and wildlife. We passed a restoration area with newly planted young trees collared to give them a safe start. We all need to be safe to thrive. The weather has been changing about as rapidly as the Covid-19 numbers on the news. Still we managed to get a good walk in between showers. That night the rain came thundering down on my roof. I wondered how our paper hearts held up. I’ve been working from home this week. I like my new office window and enjoy watching the big, fat, bunny clouds hopping by. At the end of the day when I turn off my laptop, I rush outside for a walk. My neighbors wave from their gardens. We talk as they walk their dogs on the far side of the street. Out on the beach someone has built some cairns at low tide that are now getting splashed by the rising water. “Hold on!” I say, “We’ll get through this!” As long as we stay home, stay safe, and stay sane! For details and a map of this site visit: www.wclt.org/projects/trillium-community-forest/ Directions:
There are 3 entrances to Trillium Community Forest. 1) To reach the ADA trail head, take Highway 525 north of Freeland 2.5 miles. Turn left onto Mutiny Bay Road. Take the next right onto Bounty Loop Road. The trail head is at the bottom of the hill. 2) The Smuggler's Cove Road entrance is five miles north of Freeland. Coming from south Whidbey, take Highway 525 north to Bush Point Road which turns into Smuggler's Cove Road. Coming from Greenbank, take Smugger's Cove Road south. The trail head is one mile south of South Whidbey State Park. Look carefully for the small signs and gravel parking area. 3) Or start from the trail head off Highway 525 at Pacific Dogwood, just under a mile south of the phone booth at Classic Road.
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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
April 2024
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