Hiking a new trail brings surprises. However, we certainly didn’t expect the variety and size of surprises we encountered this week when we explored the newly opened Strawberry Point trail! News of the trail-opening the previous week encouraged us to explore it for ourselves. As we drove down, I shared with Kath about what we might expect: typical Whidbey, forested habitats of various ages, some meadow and farm fields, rolling terrain, the usual. There would be no shorelines or hilltop vistas, just rambling woods for the most part, I said. Nothing out of the ordinary. I did mention that an elk had been roaming this part of the island for ten years now. “An elk?” she asked. “The only one on the island; quite lonely I am sure,” I said. “But rarely seen.” I was feeling that this hike would be through pretty predictable terrain with familiar forest and feathered friends; I wasn’t expecting much. I like trails with dramatic drop-offs, wild and woolly scenery, majestic mountains or waves crashing on windswept beaches. “My name is Jack,” (“Hello, Jack”) “...and I’m a trail snob.” What would this trail provide? This 208-acre preserve includes rolling topography and a diverse mix of forest, wetland and meadows, preserved because of two generous landowners. In 2018, Donald Borgman donated 88 acres to the Whidbey Camano Land Trust as a nature preserve, and an additional 39 acres having an agricultural conservation easement. Last year, Gretchen Luxenberg donated her adjacent 110 acres, doubling the size of the Strawberry Point Preserve. We parked in the ample parking area and looked at the bulletin board, showing a map of the property and trail. The first four-tenths of a mile were recently completed; more will be built later this year. So it’s not a long trail by any means. As we entered the woods, a light sprinkle of rain began to fall. All was quiet. Soft, light-green new growth graced the tips of spruces, firs and hemlocks. Birds of all kinds flittered around, some familiar faces and tunes, and then some not as well known. The Merlin app helped us identify a few; several poked their heads out long enough for us to identify more, such as a Swainson’s, cedar waxwings, brown creepers, a downy and a pileated, and an eagle high above. The trail twisted and turned, rose and fell, passing through old woods, giants standing tall, many lying on their side hosting new growth, past snags with fungi, insects, and baby birds. Ferns filled hillsides; roots twisted across the trail like snakes seeking sunshine. This was astounding, so alive! Within a hundred yards my senses had come alive, my pulse quickened, my interest heightened. Surprises abounded around almost every corner -- a sweeping flow of lily of the valley, a twisted tree, seeds drilled into a tree trunk, birds fighting in the brush beside us. We entered a deeper, serene forest of maple and swordfern, then broke out into a grassy field surrounded by woods. We felt like we had traveled back in time a hundred years, to a time of rural life, a slower pace, a richer experience. Murphy smelled it before we saw it. We looked where he was looking, and what was that moving out of the trees? A big, solid, regal-looking elk, standing his ground, aware of us but not concerned. We gasped in amazement at his grandeur. He moseyed through the meadow, in no hurry. After several minutes we eventually returned down the trail. The sprinkles became rain. The route back was now a friendly path home. My soul felt full, mesmerized by the magnificence of life here, the life that surrounds us in protected settings such as this, where the human touch is light, where fields and forests can be alive and free. A woman passed us at the beginning, anxious to see what was ahead. I wonder what she found. jack Directions: From Highway 20 north of Oak Harbor, just south of 'the jets', go east on Fakkema Road, turn right at Taylor Road, left at Silver Lake Road, and follow this as it becomes Strawberry Point Road. The preserve will be on your right just past Stick Point Lane, before the road bends back west. It is well signed from the roadway.
By Bus: there is no bus service in this area. By Bike: the roads are quite rolling, lots of ups and downs, with narrow shoulders but very light traffic. Mobility: the trail is full of dips and doodles, roots and slopes and uneven ground of all kinds.
0 Comments
|
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
April 2024
Categories
All
|