Oyster Dome

Oyster Dome has been on my list of must-do hikes for awhile. When I saw the date of July 16th, I realized that it was the year anniversary of my love affair with the Pacific Northwest Trail, and I decided to head back over to Blanchard Mountain to where it all began. 

A year ago, I decided to go for a hike on Blanchard Mountain, and drove up to the Samish Overlook. When I started hiking, I saw some signs for the Pacific Northwest Trail, and realized that it was the same trail that I had been curious about in Fort Ebey State Park, a park near my house that I hike frequently during the winter. I'd seen PNT signage there, but couldn't figure out the trail route. When I returned home from the hike on Blanchard Mountain, I googled the PNT (what did we do before Google?!) and realized that the route went less than a mile from my house. I'd wanted to hike a National Scenic Trail for a long time but was only familiar with the Pacific Crest Trail and the Applachian Trail . I'd never heard of the Pacific Northwest Trail (not surprising since it was only designated a National Scenic Trail in 2009) but since it was so accessible and close to my house, I started last summer to day hike the PNT on Whidbey Island.

Part of the trail to the Oyster Dome is on the PNT. Oyster Dome has intimidated me because it is supposed to be a pretty difficult hike, although with amazing views once you get to the top. I wasn't sure if my fitness level was up to this hike, but in celebration of my one year anniversary of hiking I decided to go for it. I packed up some water in the pack, lightened it up of anything unnecessary and headed to the trail head at the mile 10 sign on Chuckanut Drive. A short ways up the trail was an information kiosk with this map. I usually try to take a picture of any maps for future reference, although I did have a paper map in my pocket as well, which came in handy further up the trail.

The trail climbed up and up through shady trees. It was supposed to be 87 degrees so the shade was very welcome. Eventually I reached a wooden bench at a wonderful view point and I sat to enjoy the scenery and rest for a few minutes. Three other hikers came up and the one girl who'd hiked it before said we were about 1/3 of the way there. They continued on ahead and after a few more minutes I hit the trail again. 

The trail wasn't too bad, although steadily climbing, until I reached the Samish Connection Trail. At this point, the PNT continued up to Samish Overlook, so I said goodbye to the PNT and went to the left on the Samish Connector. The bugs were starting to annoy me, so I paused to get out a little Deet wipe and applied it to my legs and arms. It wasn't so much the mosquitoes as the flies. This part of the trail was extremely steep, with lots of roots and uneven terrain. I was very thankful to have my hiking poles. I labored up the steep trail, pausing to catch my breath every so often. Sadie helped pull me up a few places as she strained ahead while attached to my waist belt. 

A young man came up behind me and I asked if we were almost to the top. He didn't know since he'd never hiked it before, and I pulled over to the side to let him pass me. That was kind of the story of the day, as I was passed by probably 10 hikers.  A few minutes later a woman came down the trail and said I was almost over the worst of it, although there was a bit more of steep terrain ahead. I thanked her for the information and just put my head down and one foot in front of another until I reached the top of that section. Then the trail curved to the left, and went down to a little creek.

By now I was pretty tired and I could feel a hot spot starting on my right heel. I found a log, took off my boots and soaked my feet in the cool water for a few minutes. I was realizing that I hadn't packed myself enough water and so I took the water bottle I was going to use for Sadie and refilled my hydration bag and let Sadie just drink out of the creek. I pulled out my spare set of wool socks from my pack, dried my feet, applied a bandaid to the hot spot on my heel, and continued on.

There was just a short jaunt up and then I was on Oyster Dome. As promised, the views were spectacular. I found myself wondering which islands I was looking at as I ate my Luna Bar for lunch. Several other hikers were there and we exchanged cameras and took pictures of our triumphal conquest of the Dome.

 

After enjoying the views and eating my lunch, it was time to head back down. As hard was it had been going up, it was almost as hard going down and I was carefully using my poles and watching my footing on the steep slopes. It actually seemed steeper going down than I remembered coming up! I sucked through all the water I had and was out of water before I got all the way down. I had some water treatment tablets in my backpack in case of emergency, but figured I'd be back to the car by the time the water had been treated. Hindsight being 20/20, this would have been a good hike to bring my steripen.

Eventually we returned to the PNT and the welcome sight of the rectangular white blazes. The trees kept us shaded and I found myself enjoying the glimpses of sunlight through the trees.

Happy one year anniversary, Pacific Northwest Trail!