“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” -- Aldo Leopold Do you recognize the location of the picture above? It doesn’t look like this anymore, not since the Fifties when it was bulldozed and graveled to become a parking lot. If you build it, they will come, and indeed they came to West Beach in Deception Pass State – so many cars that the lot was soon paved. Now visitors could drive right up to the edge of the beach, swim in Cranberry Lake, and walk to the restroom plopped between the two. I patrolled this parking lot daily for many years, amazed and appalled that we had transformed the dunes habitat into a habitat for cars. But things changed this year. Oh yes. It was only a matter of time. The seashore is a living force. This winter, a storm raised its voice and tore into the lot, breaking up half the pavement and burying it under a driftwood jungle. Before and after pictures from the same place, the first picture in summer 2010, the second in summer 2024. What’s left of the parking lot opened to visitors this weekend, but word of its opening hadn’t gotten out yet. Even on this sunny Sunday afternoon, several parking spaces were still available. Kath and I parked there, and then stepped over and around the log-strewn remnants of the parking lot to walk south to the Dunes Trail. Despite that winter storm, the remaining wild dunes to the south look as they always have for centuries, flowers spreading across the sand, driftwood rearranged as new habitat, trees wind-sculpted but standing firm, a diversity and abundance of wildlife at home here. Waxwings, grosbeaks, various swallows, a yellowthroat, siskins, red-winged blackbirds, song sparrows, fledgling woodpeckers, and an eagle graced our walk with their songs and winged flights. We hiked the half-mile loop slowly, humbled to see the famous ancient tree near the trail, intrigued by the tenacity of bright flowers and microscopic vegetation thriving on hot dry sand, then quieted as we entered the backdune forest, birds preening and feeding all around us, the wetlands beyond a menagerie of plants, insects, birds, and stability. The dunes are a place of refuge and regeneration for its residents, and for visitors like us. We smile knowingly when kids build sand castles in front of a rising tide. The inevitable is humorously obvious. And yet look at what we as adults do. Eventually the trail circles back to civilization: swimmers, picnickers, the beats of music, the restrooms a busy beehive humming with people going in and out. We were back at the beach with its cars, sand castles, strollers, and sunbathers. Near the parking lot, a park interpreter displayed a table of the bleached bones and baleen of a Gray Whale, once endangered here, now recovering in numbers. Humanity has often viewed itself as the sculptor of the world, shaping the environment to its will, even building parking lots on the crest of a beach. The damage we see here is not something to repair but a call to get our attention. Nature is speaking, urging us to harmonize our actions with the rhythms of the Earth. In the end, nature’s final word is a narrative that continues with or without us, that outlasts the ephemeral footprints of human endeavor. As we grapple with climate change, it becomes clear that nature’s dialogue is not one of surrender but of adaptation and cooperation. As stewards of this park and planet, it is our responsibility to listen and respond in harmony, ensuring that the story of nature—and humanity—goes on. Not man apart from, but humanity a part of our natural living planet. jack I dream of seeing the West Beach dunes fully restored someday. It's just an impossible dream, I know. Still, I dream. Directions: Take Highway 20 to the Cornet Bay Road intersection, and enter the park to the west. Drive to West Beach if you wish, or park at the east end of the lake and walk an extra mile to get there.
By Bus: Take bus 411W from Oak Harbor or March's Point to the park entrance one mile south of the Deception Pass bridge. By Bike: Highway 20 is narrow, busy, and high speed, so be careful! Mobility: The Dunes Trail is fully paved, relatively flat, and fully repaired after the storm.
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![]() We all have heroes, right? Have you ever met yours? Have you ever been invited to join them on one of their super-duper-save-the-world-adventures? In my marvel universe, I think Margie is marvelous. She’s my shero. We met up recently, just after I stepped off the bus (and she stepped out of a nearby phone booth) at South Whidbey State Park. Instead of a cape, she wore her volunteer vest and work gloves. I brought mine, too. She led the way into the old campground. The tall trees made her look small. Well, she is pretty small, but she is formidable! She's leading an effort to rid this small corner of the planet of the dreaded Stinky Bob! Aka: Herb Robert, and a few other undesirables that are determined to take over the world. On our walk, she pointed out the pretty pink blossoms of Stinky Bob and shiny geranium as we walked the campground loops. She showed me the developing seed pods that look like a stork’s head. When they mature, they can spit seeds up to fifteen feet! Eventually, we stopped walking and started pulling. I discovered that though there’s a lot of this noxious weed, it comes out easily. The stems point out in all directions from a central core, like spokes on a wheel, so you just find the middle and pull gently. We had a bag full before we knew it. The more you pull, the more you find. And here are Canada thistle and tansy ragwort, too! They all got yanked out and stuffed into the bag. Soon the bag was bursting, and those spots were clear. The bag was so heavy we carried it between us back up the hill. Noxious weeds go in the dumpster, never in the compost pile! Last year I joined a crew pulling Archangel, another noxious weed that grows behind the ranger’s house. With another crew, we removed rotten steps and installed new ones on the Discovery Trail. Different projects in different parks were completed by crews with carpentry skills, some with picks and shovels, and some pulling weeds. Each time, Margie was there orchestrating the projects. She heads the Friends of Central Whidbey State Parks. She coordinates with our overstretched park staff to choose projects, form a plan, gather the tools and materials needed, and muster up the crews for a workday. There’s a separate Friends group at Deception Pass State Park, but the seven other state parks on Whidbey, Possession Point, South Whidbey, Keystone, Fort Casey, Ebey’s Landing, Fort Ebey, and Joseph Whidbey State Park, fall under the Friends of Central Whidbey Parks umbrella. That’s a lot of territory for one super hero to cover! So she recruits volunteers to join her crews or to “adopt” trails. That's her super power. You may have friends that are “Friends”. I adopted the campground loop at South Whidbey State Park. I visit it regularly to do some light maintenance and report anything amiss. The campground was closed to camping several years ago, but the paved road that loops through the forest provides a pathway for anyone with mobility challenges, or someone with a baby stroller, kids on bikes, or anyone who wants an easy walk. Wheelchair users can enter by the restrooms where there’s plenty of room to get around the gate. The slope is gentle and the path is wide enough to walk, or roll, side by side. So when the Wilbert Trail or the Ridge Trail are muddy, you can keep your feet dry walking the old campground loop which, like the other trails, has giant trees filled with the sound of singing birds and a gurgling creek nearby. You may catch a peek of the water to the west, or a glimpse of a caped crusader making her way through the forest. Maribeth To find out more about the Friends of Central Whidbey State Parks click here. Alert: The State Parks bus I wrote about 2 weeks ago will end on July 7th. So if you want to take the bus to Fort Ebey, Fort Casey or Ebey’s Landing, do it now, before it’s too late. Starting July 7th the Route 6 bus will include a stop at the entrance to Fort Casey and at the Coupeville Ferry next to Keystone Spit. Call 360-678-7771 for details. Directions: From the north, take Highway 525 to Greenbank Farm and turn right onto Smuggler’s Cove Road. Drive 5 miles and the park will be on the right. From Freeland, drive north on Highway 525, turn left onto Bush Point Road and drive 5.9 miles. The park will be on your left.
By Bus or Bike: The free Route 1 Island Transit bus goes by South Whidbey State Park on Smuggler’s Cove Road. Some buses use the highway instead, so make sure you pick a time when the bus travels on Smuggler’s Cove Road. The bus bike rack has room for 2 bikes. Smuggler’s Cove Road has wide shoulders, a gentle grade and light traffic most of the way. Please wear something bright and use lights if biking on the road. Mobility: The paved campground loops at South Whidbey State Park are wheelchair accessible if you enter by the restrooms. There are some hills but doable with a power chair. What do a birthday and a glacier have in common? Central Whidbey features some unusual, rugged topography left by the retreating ice-age glacier. Large chunks of ice broke off the melting glacier and became buried in rocky debris. When the chunks of ice melted, they left deep hollows pockmarking the land, called kettles. Today, the kettles are partially hidden by second-growth forests. The western part of the kettle area lies in Fort Ebey State Park, while Island County oversees the eastern kettles. Together they share an extensive trail system into, out of, over, and across these kettles. We celebrated Maribeth’s birthday by camping with several friends at Fort Ebey, sharing a potluck dinner, then finishing with peach pie and strawberry shortcake desserts topped with whipping cream and a birthday candle. Stuffed to the gills, we strolled the bluffs and meadows in the evening hours, then sang campfire songs accompanied by a banjo and guitar before retiring for the night. The break of dawn roused me out of bed to explore the kettles east of Fort Ebey. Walking alone helped me tune in to the morning chorus of birds welcoming the day, and focus on the lay of the land, seeing the width and depth of the kettles. Rhodies bloomed along every trail. Halfway in, sprinkles of rain pattered on the rhody leaves, though sunshine filtered through, promising a dry day ahead. I hiked the northern trails nearly to Highway 20, then returned through the middle trails back to the bluffs, back to sunshine, and back to breakfast. After eating too much (again), several wanted to join me on another hike through the kettles, so out we went, following much of the same route I had taken earlier but shortening it up a bit. This hike was lively with conversations and the songs of different birds. Sunshine made the rhodies bright with beauty. We began at Campground Trail, which drops into a large kettle, then climbs the opposite wall to follow a ridge to a paved roadway. Across the road, Pigeon drops quickly into a kettle, then climbs – and climbs! – back out and up, making people huff and puff a little. Near the top, we found twinflower, a delicate ground cover with two pendulant bell-shaped flowers on each stem. Fisher Trail … I’ll never forget Bob Fisher’s smile. The park manager at Fort Ebey for many years was well-known for his love of being active and for his care of this park. This trail that honors his legacy is a high ridgeline with rhodies seeking the sun through the open forest. Hugh’s Delight Trail makes a long gentle descent, truly a delightful hike. Hugh must have enjoyed it. Ladder drops into another kettle, then rises steeply up the other side to High Traverse, which follows the north and west rims of a very large and deep kettle before coming to Something Trail. I can just see two people looking at this short trail needing a name, and one of them saying, “But we have to call this trail something.” And the other person saying, “Okay, that will be its name.” And so it came to pass. It’s called Something. The Kettles Trail is a major east-west connector route. Heading west, it rocks and rolls over the ridges and down into a kettle or two, finally ascending steeply at its west end. Hokey-Ka-Dodo – with a name like that, you know what you’re in for, a whimsical trail that snakes up a kettle wall, drops down into another, then ends up at the Bluff Trail for a magical surprise. We emerged from the deep forests into an explosion of blue sky above and blue waters below on Whidbey’s westernmost edge. The Bluff Trail is like adding whipping cream to your dessert. We wandered among storm-twisted firs along the steep bluffs, 180-degree views throughout, and felt almost sad it brought us back to our nearby campsites. I could walk this trail every day and never tire of the experience. And so, back together again, we celebrated our Kettles hikes with left-over strawberry shortcake and peach pie, with whipping cream, then hugs and goodbyes. jack Directions: There are several ways to access the Kettles Trails, some along Highway 20, one on Libbey Road, and also through Fort Ebey State Park, which is how we went there.
By Bike: The roads are hilly and narrow, and high speed in places, but it's Whidbey! Accessibility: Some of the trails in the Kettles are wide and firmly packed, but all of them are steep in places. ![]() What do you think of when you hear the word break? I think of grandmother’s cracked china tea cups. But as I laced up my new hiking shoes, I began to think of other meanings. There’s the fast break in basketball. When playing pool you start with a break. There’s taking a break from an activity. And if you hear the words break in, what comes to mind? A burglary? Or a break in the weather, which I took advantage of in order to break in a new pair of shoes at Greenbank Farm. Between “rivers of rain”, between north and south, between Saratoga Passage and Puget Sound, I went birding at the dog park. I was greeted enthusiastically by several bright eyed Brewer’s blackbirds among the Master Gardener’s flowerbeds. Was there a nest nearby? Isn’t there always this time of year? I walked by pink roses climbing neat trellises, beyond the flowering rhodies and bentwood chairs, and through the native plant garden. Red columbine bloomed among the lush oxalis. Coming up toward the barn, a sparrow sang from the top of the archway encouraging visitors to come stroll down the path. I emerged at the pond complete with a family of Canada geese, admired the flowers at the barn and then crossed the parking lot. Entering the dog park, the overcast sky thinned in places with a trace of blue to the north. Circling the hill I found the grassy slopes busy with birds. Swallows swarmed after mosquitoes that rose from the tall grass as I walked. White crowned sparrows sang from every blackberry bramble while savannah sparrows shyly ducked inside. A violet green swallow slipped into a bird house. I sat down to see if I could catch it peeking out. But I was distracted by a killdeer that popped up out of the grass nearby. It stretched its neck up and peered at me, then walked first toward me, then away, calling continuously. Then the swallow peeked out and leapt from the box to join the others circling and swooping all around the field. Climbing the hill, I met dogs and their owners. Black labs, golden retrievers, Australian shepherds and friendly mutts. It’s a real meet and greet here among both species. Tails wag, dogs circle, people smile, stop and talk. Someone said, “This is where my dog became a good citizen.” I’m not sure what they means but I’ve heard the phrase before. I think it’s something like a scout badge, or driver’s license. They took the course and passed the test. Good dog! Good owner! On the north side of the field near the trees, I heard robins, Swainson’s thrush and western tanager. A break in the fence provided access to the forest trails. Wild rhodies bloomed among the evergreen trees. The woods were lush with new growth. Salal hung their tiny bell-like blossoms out toward the trail. Fir trees showed a few inches of bright new growth. Around the corner I found a tree looking at me in surprise. I was surprised as well! Passing through the gate I spied the delicate pink blossoms of wild roses glowing wet with rain. I zigzagged across the field again, meeting more canines and their companions, seeing more sparrows and swallows. Osprey and eagles soared over the tree tops. On the south side I came upon fenced in chickens, turkeys and cows, and a solar array with a Savannah sparrow singing its praises. There’s another meaning of break, taking a lead in a musical concert. I was happy to take a break on my way up the island, to go birding in the dog park and walk the fields and forest. It began to sprinkle as I made my way back to the car. The bus whizzed by reminding me that next time, I could break from the norm and hop on Island Transit. Maribeth PS Dogs must be on a leash from the barns to the kiosk. There are pet waste bags at that kiosk and at the top of the hill on the north end of the park. Please pick-up after your dog. PSS After your walk you may want to visit the cafe', wine shop, cheese shop, art gallery, playground and other attractions at the barns. Directions: Take Highway 525 8 miles north of Freeland or 10.8 miles south of Coupeville to Wonn Road. Turn east toward the red barns and park. The Master Gardener and Native Plant gardens are on the pond side of the parking lot. The dog park is on the hill on the other side.
By Bus or Bike: Take fare-free Island Transit bus Route 1 seven days a week. Tell the driver you want to stop at the Farm, at the bottom of the hill. There is a gate in the fence at the bus stop. Two bikes fit on a bus bike rack. For the new bus schedule click here. Cyclists may ride from Freeland on Smuggler’s Cove Road. It has a wide shoulder with less traffic than the highway. Please wear something bright while riding on the road. Mobility: The trails are mowed through the field and have a gentle grade. Trails through the woods are narrow with some muddy areas. The Master Gardener and Native Plant gardens are more accessible. |
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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
July 2024
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