AWAY with words

Bold. Grand. Wild. Wide open. A world away. Spacious. High. Remote. Quiet. Free. Powerful. Distant views. Room to wander. Big. Big sky, big waters, big beach, big bluffs.

These words come to mind when walking between West Beach and Hastie Lake county park trailheads.
We walked there this past Sunday, on a clearing, warm-ish, sunny afternoon when parks like Deception Pass, Fort Casey, and Ebey’s Bluff are teaming with crowds. We saw a total of eight people walking the length of this beach, other than an additional handful at or near the trailheads.

Whidbey certainly has wonderful places to hike, places that get into guidebooks and travel magazines, and air time on ‘places to visit’ TV shows. You won’t find that here. No, all you will find is two and a half miles of uninterrupted beach, walled away from our everyday world by majestic bluffs two hundred feet high and two miles long. It’s just you and the Strait of Juan de Fuca feeding the Pacific Ocean directly to your feet.

It took me about fifteen minutes after we started walking south from the West Beach parking area before I felt my busy swirling mind fade out and I began to hear the gentle swishing of the waves singing a peaceful song, a background rhythm to a new harmony within me.

My words will be few. This hike is not one to be described but experienced. And not experienced as a hike, a trail to conquer, getting from one place to another, but as a place to be savored, a world separate from daily life, where wild and free are living beings to meet and get to know.

 G o, experience the wild heart of life, explore the tidepools if you can, watch for eagles feeding, otters playing, dunlins banking, the sun and clouds dancing, waters sparkling, or whatever the daylight or shadows bring you when you are there. The tides are in our veins, and we still mirror the stars. Go.
 
jack

Directions: From Highway 20, 4.4 miles south of Oak Harbor or 6.4 miles north of Coupeville, turn onto Hastie Lake Road and drive to Hastie Lake Beach Park. Or, like we did, park at West Beach County Park a mile south of Joseph Whidbey State Park on West Beach Road, accessible via Fort Nugent Road near the south end of Oak Harbor.

By Bus: Take Route 6 between Coupeville and Oak Harbor. It follows West Beach Road.

By bike: See the driving directions above. The roads are mostly narrow, rolling, and relatively little traffic. Please wear bright clothes when riding on these roads. 

Mobility: the beach is sandy, gravelly, and rocky. Views are great from the parking area at either end of the beach.

Tides: Make sure you don't go when the tide is high or rising to be high soon.