"When you know the fourfoil in all its seasons, root and leaf and flower, by sight and scent and seed, then you may learn its true name, knowing its being: which is more than its use. What after all is the use of you? Or of myself?” Ursula Le Guin, Earth Sea Trilogy It was a cloudy day, edging toward evening when I stopped for a walk at Pacific Rim Institute last Sunday. A man smiled as he headed for the fenced in beds. I went in the other direction. Older island residents know it as the Pheasant Farm with its rows of white sheds that used to house the fancy feathered game birds. The Department of Fish and Wildlife still release pheasants nearby each fall for sport. We see them taking shelter inside the fence at Island Transit. But PRI uses the sheds for storage now. Whenever I walk there on the gravel farm road between the sheds, it reminds me of my grandparents’ farm. There are piles of firewood, stacked lumber, wire fencing, towers of plant pots, and other stuff in the sheds and barns. Like a working farm there are workers, sometimes in trucks or driving tractors. But it was quiet on my walk. I made my way between the sheds and followed the farm road left around the barn, and then right alongside a lane of pines. Birds flitted about, singing from the fence line. Oregon grape bloomed and buttercups blossomed in a sea of green. When I came to a sign saying Prairie Remnant I left the bending farm road and stepped lightly along a narrow trail. There were the tall blue stalks of camas, surrounded by yellow wildflowers. Behind a deer fence the rare Golden Paintbrush spread with abandon. This was called Smith Prairie for a time. Over the years the prairie had been overgrown with blackberries and wild rose. It has taken years of hard work cutting back the bushes and using controlled burns to reveal the precious prairie beneath. It’s a bit like restoring an old house, tearing away the shag carpet to find hard wood floors beneath. Only 3% of Washington State is prairie, our most threatened ecosystem. The Pacific Rim Institute is restoring this 175-acre patch with many eager helpers. One five-acre piece had been relatively undisturbed since colonization and contained the precious biodiversity of several rare native plant species. Taking a turn around the fenced Golden Paintbrush I saw a tree had been girdled so as to create a snag, good for bird and bug habitat. A Goldfinch sang from a wood pile where I saw rabbit sized tunnels at the base. A wren chatted from a bird box nearby as I made my last turn in the loop back to the farm road. From there I spied a cluster of pink shooting stars through the wire fence. Heading back by the pines I turned toward the forest passing a grove of newly planted native Garry Oaks fenced to protect them from the deer. A kestrel sped off as I neared. An old barn marks the entrance to forest trails. I was looking for my favorite woodland flower, the Calypso Orchid. I’d seen it here the week before and pointed it out to a friend who lives nearby. She said they’d found someone picking these tiny treasures to make miniature bouquets. My mother was a naturalist and taught me early on, “Don’t pick the first flower. It may be the last.” I searched for the tiny pink blossoms but found none. Instead, I was cheered by the lush green of miners’ lettuce in bloom and fiddleheads unfurling like a slow motion dance. Leaving the woods, I took the path back up toward my car as three deer crossed ahead of me. I passed the greenhouses and raised beds where volunteers work to propagate the native plants from seed. It’s like my loop trail brought me full circle, from flower to seed to flower again. Visit Pacific Rim Institute for Prairie Days May 5 & 6 with talks, tours, and plants for sale, or for Native American Storytelling next week. For details click here. Directions: From the stop light at Highway 20 and Main Street in Coupeville, go south 2.8 miles and turn left onto Morris Road. Then take the next left onto Parker Road. Pacific Rim Institute is less than a half mile on the right at 180 Parker Road, Coupeville.
Bike and Bus: Fare-Free Island Transit Route 1 will stop at Morris Road Monday - Friday. From there it's a half mile walk or bike ride on Parker Road which has light traffic. Two bikes fit on a bus bike rack. Please wear bright clothes while biking on the road. Mobility: The old farm road around the site is mostly smooth and flat, though not paved.
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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
May 2024
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