A few months ago I started a hiking group with people that I work with, reasoning that although I might not get outside just for myself, if I knew people were meeting and expecting me to be there that I would go. I started this last summer with co-workers, but once school started it seemed overwhelming to try to plan weekly hikes. Then I discovered Maribeth Crandell's weekly blog, Hiking Close to Home.
Each week Maribeth blogs about a hike on Whidby, Fidalgo and Guemes Islands. Now I don't have to try to figure it out myself! I just take her hike and announce it to my Hike Together group and include a link to her blog if they want more information. Usually my group hikes on Sunday afternoons. This week we did a Saturday hike because I reached out to Maribeth with a question about a hike and she volunteered to organize a bus tour for us. She works for Island Transit and part of her job is to educate the community about how to ride the local bus system. She planned out a trip and I put the word out.
Saturday we met at Walmart in Oak Harbor at 9:00am and took the bus down to Greenbank Farms. Maribeth showed us how to read the bus schedule and we won prizes as she quizzed us. I have used Island Transit before, although this was the first time since Covid began. One of our group had never ridden Island Transit before and we enjoyed teaching her how to pull the cord to signal a stop. We arrived at Greenbank Farms about 45 minutes later and began our hike.
Greenbank Farm has 4 miles of trails through the forest and on a grassy hillside with stellar views of the water on both sides of the island. It is an off-leash dog park. The 1904 barns house a wine shop, cheese shop, art gallery, restrooms and Old Spot Bistro with espresso where Whidbey Pies are sold by the slice or whole pie. Outside there is a section maintained as a Master Gardener demonstration garden.
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| Braving the wind and wet at Greenbank Farms |
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| Ms. Chelly |
We wandered the trails discovering wild camas blossoming and then took a trail into the forest. We discovered some new signs, old tractor pieces, a peace sign out of rocks and we hopped logs through boggy areas. I saw my first wild rhododendron of the spring in full pink bloom.
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| Wild camas. The bulb was a staple food for indigenous people. |
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| New signage provides clarification |
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| Peace! |
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| Alin navigates the strategically placed logs |
After hiking for about an hour we meandered over to the barns to peek in the shops and get some pie at the Bistro. Delicious! Afterward we strolled through the gardens looking at the plants and I even tried a leaf of a plant called Ox Alice (not sure of spelling) that had a delightful sour taste to it. I liked it but others in the group did not.
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| Fun hippo in the garden |
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| Garden gnome |
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| The bees loved this plant |
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| The Bistro and gardens |
After we explored the gardens we headed back to the bus stop and caught the bus into Coupeville, where we said goodbye to Maribeth and went to the Penn Cove Taproom for some food and drink. The Shifty Sailors serenaded us while we ate and afterwards some of us caught a bus back to Oak Harbor and some of us walked down the street to the Coupeville Water Festival.
The combination of hiking, riding the bus and having a pint at the local tap room was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who came on this adventure with me and especially Maribeth for doing the planning. I think a bus and brew trip might just need to become a monthly event!
