 November 17 is our official national “Take a Hike!” Day. You missed it, you say? Then let’s call it the Take a Hike Week, or Month, and get out there when the rain gives a break. Or go hiking in the rain, when the trails have fewer visitors and a more intimate perspective. In this season of renewed Covid concerns, as we stay safe and stay home, remember to also stay sane by getting out, hiking close to home whenever and wherever you can. Exploring a trail expands our awareness and oneness with the life of our planet. And it strengthens our social connections, whether we hike alone or in the company of others. “A good friend listens to your adventures. A best friend makes them with you.” Hiking can inspire us, cleanse our minds, encourage our spirits, and strengthen our hearts, literally and figuratively. The physical benefits are many: lower blood pressure, increased bone density, stronger core, better balance, toned muscles, and improved cardiovascular energy. Did you know being outdoors increases your vitamin D, which combats seasonal affective disorder and depression? People who spend time in nature are less anxious. Researchers describe time outdoors as “restorative experiences,” such as coming into a situation with feelings of heightened stress and fear and leaving with fewer of those feelings. It also increases creativity and helps settle our souls. “If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to you when you go for a walk.” – Raymond Inmon On Monday the weather was wet but my need to get outside was apparent. Rain drizzled steadily as I stopped at A Avenue in Anacortes in the late afternoon, heading toward Little Cranberry. I donned my raincoat, rain pants, boots, and for a new experience, I opened an umbrella! Yes I did. My camera and I stayed dry, mostly. As I walked, songs with the word ‘rain’ in the title kept coming, starting with the obvious as I danced with my umbrella to Singing in the Rain, then John Denver’s I’ll Walk in the Rain by your Side, then Laughter in the Rain, Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on my Head, and since it was a Monday, Rainy Days and Mondays. I could only remember the chorus to Here Comes that Rainy Day Feelin’ Again. November Rain completed and depleted my memory banks, but the title seemed appropriate. My voice was a little scratchy by the time I returned to the parking lot, but my head and heart were lighter and happier after the walk, in spite of, or maybe because of, the rain. On Tuesday the 17th, the official Take a Hike day, I waited until the winds subsided and the sun broke through for a few minutes. I wandered the Lighthouse Point Trail south of Bowman Bay, finding the low pressure of the storm was allowing the high tide to be a king tide, inundating the normal boundaries of the shoreline and even some of the trail. The changed environment disrupted and reconfigured my knowledge of the trail as I scrambled through roses and salal. The actual trail was now a running river. A great blue heron focused on finding dinner in the unsettled waters of the bay. A couple of solo hikers passed by in the distance, and I saw them again later, sitting on the bluff in various places, watching the evening darkness settle over the Strait, thinking their own thoughts, getting their own benefits of being outside. We are surrounded by such a treasure of local trails on our islands. No matter the weather, no matter your life situation, or especially because of your life situation, Take a Hike! Take a friend, take your time, take a camera, make it memorable, but make it happen regardless of the weather. It’s November. Take what you get and make the best of it. Send us a picture we can share here, and your smile. jack And be sure to give thanks.
Look at our book for directions to nearby trails for you. Then look at this list of some of the organizations who design, build, and maintain our local trails. Thanksgiving is next week. Consider the people of these organizations as you give thanks. Or join one of them if you can and give them a hand. City of Anacortes Town of Coupeville City of Oak Harbor Fetch! Island County Backcountry Horsemen Island County Parks National Park Service Pacific Rim Institute Port of Coupeville Port of South Whidbey Rotary Club of Anacortes San Juan Preservation Trust Seattle Pacific University Skagit County Parks Skagit Land Trust Skagit Whatcom Island Trail Maintaining Org South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District South Whidbey School District Swinomish Indian Tribal Community Washington Department of Natural Resources Washington State Parks Washington Trails Association Whidbey Camano Land Trust Whidbey Institute Whidbey Island Bicycle Club Whidbey Watershed Stewards Private landowners who allow passage on their lands: - Deer Lagoon, Earth Sanctuary, Meerkerk Gardens And individuals like you and me. "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough." -Meister Eckhart
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 So there I was, 15 years old on April 22, 1970. My dad had always driven me the two miles to Ballard High School because he drove right past it on his way to work at the UW. Today I told him I would walk. He asked why, and I said because it was Earth Day, a day to stand up for the earth. He said that walking to school for one day wouldn’t make a difference. "It’ll make a difference to me," I said. In honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, this week’s hike of the week is dedicated to encouraging all of us to make a difference, if only for one day. Contribute to changing our society’s auto-centric focus to one that considers walking, hiking, biking, kayaking and skipping to be more earth friendly than burning fossil fuels. Fifty years ago, there was no Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Water Act, or Clean Air Act. Rivers caught on fire from industrial wastes. The air in LA was heavy with particulates. Acid rain threatened east coast states. The ozone layer was dying. Today, our air is far cleaner, our waters much healthier, ozone is replenishing, and we don't hear as much about acid rain. On the other hand, today our CO2 levels have risen from the low 300s to the low 400s, unprecedented since long before the dinosaurs. Glaciers and ice caps are melting at horrendous rates, whole species are dying out by the tens of thousands, seas are rising, temperatures rising, and resources are stretched to the breaking point. How can we make a difference today? Consider a walk instead of a car trip. Pick up litter as you walk. Donate to one of our local land trusts or environmental organizations. Help an organization that you love to survive in these difficult times. Help improve some corner of your neighborhood. Remove some invasives, plant a garden, clean a beach, paint out graffiti. Take an online class to learn something new about our earth, gain a new skill to care for it. Share your story about what you did on April 22, 1970. Share a pic if you have one! And share your story about what you did in April of 2020. Share a photo, and we’ll post that too if you wish.Send us an email or reply to this blog or write us a letter or postcard or say hi if we pass somewhere on a trail or city sidewalk. Happy trails! Hiking is not only good for the earth, it’s good for the health of our bodies, the creative energies of our minds, and our spiritual well being too. Solvitur ambulando, the saying goes: literally, it is solved in the walking. History of Earth Day: Senator Gaylord Nelson, a junior senator from Wisconsin, witnessed the ravages of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, Senator Nelson wanted to infuse the energy of student anti-war protests with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution. He recruited Denis Hayes, a young activist, to organize the campus teach-ins and they choose April 22, a weekday falling between Spring Break and Final Exams. Recognizing its potential to inspire all Americans, Hayes promoted events across the land and the effort soon broadened to include a wide range of organizations, faith groups, and others. They changed the name to Earth Day, which immediately sparked national media attention, and caught on across the country. Earth Day inspired 20 million Americans — at the time, 10% of the total population of the United States — to take to the streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate against the impacts of 150 years of a growing legacy of serious human health impacts. By the end of 1970, the first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Clean Air Act. Two years later Congress passed the Clean Water Act. A year after that, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act and soon after the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. These laws have protected millions of men, women and children from disease and death and have protected hundreds of species from extinction. The following thoughts are courtesy of our local RE Sources’ group from an online lesson about Earth Day: We live on the traditional and ancestral lands of the Coast Salish People. They are the original stewards of this land and have been living here since time immemorial, taking great care of the land, the waters, and beings in this place we all now call home. Their cultures are deeply intertwined with the earth and suffer greater losses due to the degradation of the environment. Let’s remember the importance of our collective power to TAKE ACTION. Walk, bike, skateboard, rollerblade, moondance, kayak, swim or run. Participate in a march (but not right now!) Support our local farmworkers Grow a garden Think before you buy Be mindful of water use Shop locally to support our community Compost food scraps or feed them to goats, pigs, or chickens Save leftover food Reduce the amount of single-use plastics we use Pick up litter around your neighborhood Be good to bees and butterflies Help educate others about the environmental concerns you are most passionate about. And here are some photos to spark more imagination about what others are doing this month: Check out the Zoom presentation on April 28 at 7 pm, with Maribeth Crandell and Jack Hartt sharing about Hiking VERY Close to Home: hiking in the days of Covid-19. Presented in cooperation with Transition Fidalgo & Friends. Details at https://www.transitionfidalgo.org
 Last Saturday I caught the Route 1 bus to the Coupeville Ferry and went for a walk at Keystone Spit. I walked past a few houses, and on to the old road that runs just off the beach the length of the Spit. It’s pitted and gravelly and difficult to drive, but flat and easy to walk. Interpretive signs tell how the Spit was plotted for development in the 1890s. Those plans fell through. Again, in the 1970s a couple of model homes were built with a plan to build 200 more. But the community fought long and hard for this stretch of beach, and in the end, prevailed. Now Keystone Spit is open to the public as part of Fort Casey State Park. I worked for the State Park in the late 1980s when the model homes were torched by the Fire Department for practice. We watched the blaze take hold and put an end to those plans to develop the Spit. But every ending is a new beginning. Now Keystone Spit, on the Pacific Flyway, offers nesting sites and a rest stop to over 230 species of birds. It's an official Important Bird Area monitored almost daily by Whidbey Audubon. In recent years the Whidbey Camano Land Trust secured 423 acres on the north and east side of Crockett Lake as a preserve. Now most of the lake shore is closed to hunting. Stop here even briefly and you could see shorebirds, waterfowl, raptors, and songbirds. In summer you could even see White Pelicans. On my walk I watched Cormorants, Buffleheads, Scoters, Mallards, Eagles, Red Tail Hawks and Great Blue Herons. If I’d brought binoculars, or a spotting scope, I might have seen much more. The observation deck is often occupied by serious bird watchers. As I walked the 1.7 miles from one end to the other, what struck me was the human creativity on display. People don’t come here just to walk. There’s an amazing mass of materials and driftwood huts had been constructed all down the beach. Stick animals guarded the bird houses on Crockett Lake. Picnic sites were set up with log benches and tables. With a south facing beach, even in the cool months there’s warmth from the sun, though there is often a brisk wind, too. At the east end of the spit I saw a few divers entering the water rocking with the waves. Clearly, the key to Keystone is much more than walking. As I headed back, I came upon a couple collecting plastics from the driftwood. I looked down around my feet and noticed the assorted shapes and colors, like so much detritus. Stinger Anderson, the WSU Extension Community Beach Litter Volunteer Coordinator, leads regular clean-up efforts here. You can join him at the east end of Keystone Spit on March 25, 1:30-3:30, or on the west end of Keystone Spit on March 26, 1:30-3:30. He’ll bring the bags and gloves. You just need to dress for the weather. If you can make it, let him know. Email: stinger.anderson@wsu.edu or call his Office: (360) 639-6060 or Cell: (360) 941-3171. Or get more information here: extension.wsu.edu/island/nrs/beachlitter/ Maribeth Directions:
Take the Route 1 bus on Saturday or the Route 6 bus on weekdays to the Coupeville Ferry and walk east along the beach to Keystone Spit. Or drive from South Whidbey on Highway 525 north, or from North Whidbey south, and follow the signs toward the Coupeville Ferry. Keystone Spit is just east of the ferry landing. Bring a Discover Pass to park on the old road in the middle of the Spit, or park at the east end at Driftwood Park where the road makes a 90 degree turn.  This Hike of the Week is well known to cyclists, dog walkers, leg stretchers, skate boarders, skaters and baby strollers. However, until recently it has been a stranger to wheelchairs or hand-powered bikes. I was told the bollards were too close together to allow access for mobility devices. Fortunately, Island County Public Works were about to resurface this trail when they found out. Timing is everything. The work was done this summer and the bollards were moved to 48 inches apart. To celebrate, we're having a party Saturday, 2:15-3:00 starting at the corner by Coupeville Elementary School. You can get there by bus which has room for 2-3 bikes and 2 wheelchairs. I'll bring cider. You can bring snacks. We should also bring an umbrella, just in case. Stroll or Roll as far as you like. This trail goes west from Main Street toward Sherman Road with wonderful views of Ebey's Prairie and if the clouds clear, the Olympic Mountains. The trail crosses Sherman Road and continues toward Winterhawk Lane. It is hilly between the two, but if you continue west, it levels out. There are many hiking, mountain biking and equestrian trails that connect with this bike path. To explore those trails I would strongly recommend getting a good map available online www.islandcountywa.gov/PublicWorks/Parks/Pages/Home.aspx National Take a Hike Day is Sunday, Nov. 17, however, to make use of the bus which doesn't run on Sundays, we're celebrating on Saturday, Nov. 16. Meet us on the corner by Coupeville Elementary Saturday, 2:15-3:00 and Stroll or Roll the Kettles Trail! |
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