If you don’t like songbirds, wildflowers or expansive views of the Olympic Mountains across the water, don’t come to Admiralty Inlet Preserve. Especially in spring! And by all means DON’T volunteer to help do restoration work with the likes of Kyle from Whidbey Camano Land Trust and his motely crew. Especially on a sunny, beautiful, day in April! You would have an endless supply of little tufts of grass to plant among all the other little tufts of grass, flats and flats of fescue. At the end of the day you’d step back to admire your work and not be able to tell if you were there at all! They call it restoring the native prairie! I went for a walk there and found some honest-to-god flowers at the edge of the bluff. Daffodils! I don't suppose they're native but they are cheery after a long winter. I couldn’t pick them because of the fence between me and the bluff. It’s a long way down and I guess they think some idiot would get too near the edge and just tumble on over never to be seen or heard from again. As I stood there, I could hear a wave rolling down the beach from Ebey’s Bluff all the way to the Coupeville Ferry. But I couldn’t see it because it was straight down! There were swallows shooting straight up from below the bluff, rocketing over my head, turning and dropping back down again. It looked like fun... if you have wings. Of course there’s mud on the trail, here and there. I haven’t been on a trail in months that didn’t have mud somewhere. You just have to toughen up and soldier on. I admit that split rail fence all along the loop trail adds some rustic charm, but it also gives those noisy birds a place to perch and sing their tiny avian hearts out. If you scare them off they just fly up into the nearest tree, or hide in a thicket and pick up right where they left off. The same song over and over and over again! And careful! Those cottontails are constantly zig zagging across the trail when you least expect it. They dart out from under the hedges of wild rose and berry bushes intentionally trying to trip you up. Or those pesky chipmunks that scurry around in the woods. They look so cute until you pull out your camera, then shazzzam! They’re gone! And another thing, the parking lot across the road is blocked with orange cones. Huge earth-moving machines are expanding the parking area, so there’s no place to park right now! Never mind that there’s a fare free Route 6 bus that comes right by the trail every other hour Monday through Friday. If you ask the driver they can stop by that bright blue house across the road from the trailhead kiosk that’s hiding behind the hedge. On Saturdays the Route 1 bus will bring you to the Fort Casey Inn, which is pretty close. But of course, people would rather drive, even though gas is so expensive. Curiously, I saw a group of teenagers riding by on bicycles and they were actually smiling. I stopped to visit with the volunteers for a few minutes, nice enough folks, with their sloppy clothes, sun hats and knee pads. But when they noticed the eagles circling overhead, and then a hawk chasing after them, all work stopped! Hard to find good help these days. Volunteers are adopting trails and cleaning up beaches all over the place for Whidbey Earth and Ocean Month. Some keep at it all year round! I certainly hope they find better places to work than this, on a warm, sunny day, in the spring, with distracting views of the mountains across the water, eagles soaring overhead and songbirds singing from every tree, planting flats and flats of fescue and leaving the place as if no one had been there at all! Maribeth For more Whidbey Earth and Ocean month activities click here. For more about Whidbey Camano Land Trust click here. Directions: From Hwy 20 stop light in Coupeville, turn south on Main Street and go 3 miles. The name of the road changes to Engle Road. The parking area will be on the left and two or three trailheads are across the street on the right (on the water side). Look for the split rail fence. Trail maps are displayed at trailhead kiosks.
By Bus and Bike: The Island Transit fare free route 6 bus passes this Preserve Monday -Friday. The Route 1 comes as close at the Fort Casey Inn a short walk to the south. From the Fort Casey Inn follow the split rail fence up the hill. Look for trailheads with kiosks. There is a bike rack at the trailhead to the southeast end of the Preserve. Biking around nearby Crockett Lake is very popular. The Preserve is 1.5 miles north of the Coupeville ferry terminal on Engle Road. Mobility: This trail is flat and easy to walk except for a few muddy places and some stairs. There are a few benches 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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