500-50-5

My goal for 2014 was to hike 500 miles for my 50th birthday year. Over Thanksgiving weekend I realized that I would need to hike 60 miles to hit my goal and I started to try to hike on a more consistent basis. I did well the first week with 14.5 miles but then the rain storms descended and the days shortened and school got busy and it took 2 weeks to get another 16 miles. Once Christmas vacation started I began to hike longer hikes. My trail of choice was the Pacific Northwest Trail. I wanted to finish up all the sections that I'd never done on Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands, which meant I'd be doing a lot of road walking. 

My first Christmas hike I went from the Anacortes Community Forest Land to Deception Pass State Park. It was a cold and rainy day and I did an 8 mile stretch which included a road walk along Sharpe Road.

Two tall trees near trail 247

Trail 247 in the Anacortes Community Forest Lands

A rock climbing wall on Mt. Erie

View  of the lake and ocean from trail 247

The road walk begins near this quaint little store

From the Lake Erie Grocery I continued up Sharpe Road. It had some great views, funky signs and art.

Mt. Erie

Metal coyote howls a welcome

The Garage Mahal. Ha ha ha!!

An ancient sewing machine decorates this auto body shop sign

Eventually I turned onto Ginnett Road from Sharpe Road and then plunged into the forest lands near Pass Lake. Once I got to Pass Lake I took a brief break at the picnic table and then continued on to cross Deception Pass Bridge.

Cool rock formation in Naked Man Valley

Several large blow downs impede my progress

Deception Pass Bridge ahead

Several day later I picked up where I left off at Deception Pass Bridge. I took the Perimeter Trail, cut through the Environmental Learning Center Camp, road walked to Cornet Bay and then took the trail around Hoypus Point, popping out at Angler's Haven Road. It was another rainy cold gray day and 4.5 miles.

Cornet Bay Marina

December 29th I picked up the trail at Angler's Haven Road and headed to Oak Harbor. I left the dog at home since I was doing 8.5 miles of road walking. Fortunately it was a clear cold and sunny day. The views for much of the walk were fabulous. 

High tide has turned Ala Spit into an island. Mt. Baker in distance

One of the best parts was Dike Road. It had fabulous views and I discovered a wild bird and fish preserve there that I never knew existed.

Mt. Baker at Dugually Bay

Facing west towards NAS Whidbey

A preserve? I didn't know this was here!

From Dike Road I continued up the hill to Taylor Road.

A totem pole sign welcomes you to a scenic neighborhood

From here the road turned resolutely towards Oak Harbor. I began to hear the jets from NAS Whidbey and the views declined as the trash along the road increased.

Grassy shoulders make this walk easier on the feet

Quintessential North Whidbey. Patriotic flag, a carved eagle and support for OLF.

Taylor turned into Fakkema Road and then I was on busy Highway 20. My hike ended near the two jets that welcome you to Oak Harbor.

Generally I'm not a procrastinator. I like to get things done early but December 31st I still had several miles to go to hit my 500 mile goal. I had one final road walk section from the jets at Ault Field Road and Highway 20 to Joseph Whidbey State Park. I parked my car at Joseph Whidbey State Park and my husband, John, dropped me at the jets. It was a bitterly cold 23 degree morning and at 7:45 am the sun's first rays were beginning to break through the early twilight.

I walked briskly along, regretting that I'd forgotten to put on my long johns beneath my pants. My rain skirt kept me a little warmer and I snugged my Marmot beanie firmly over my ears. Even walking quickly I could feel the cold oozing in.

Ault Field Road has a nice wide shoulder which is fortunate since this road has a lot of traffic. It goes past the main entrance to Naval Air Station Whidbey and many of the people driving past me wore blue Navy fatigue uniforms.

Looking back towards NAS Whidbey with Mt. Baker

It took a good hour before I began to warm up. In the distance I could hear the roar of jet engines from NAS Whidbey as I turned down the road past a golf course and continued on to Joseph Whidbey State Park. I entered the park and headed down to where I had parked my car. 

Entrance to Joseph Whidbey State Park

Beach at Joseph Whidbey State Park

I drove back where I had walked to see my final mileage and I was surprised to see it was exactly five miles. My final section of the PNT on Whidbey on the final day of 2014 to hit my 500 mile goal for my 50th birthday was a perfect 5 miles. Just Perfect!

Unexpected Discoveries

One of my favorite things about hiking are the unexpected things that I discover along the way. I have been hiking sections of the Pacific Northwest Trail during Christmas break in my quest to hit the 500 mile goal I set for myself this year and I have been doing several road walk sections. I want to walk every part of the PNT on Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands and I saved the road walks for the last because in my mind they were the less desirable parts of the trail. 

But I have been pleasantly surprised. Every time I have hiked a section that I thought I wouldn't like I have discovered something unexpected or unknown during that section. For example:

1. The Dugualla Bay Preserve for birds and fish on Dike Road

2. The little white church off Sharpe Road that took me back to my childhood church, complete with outhouse

3. The cows grazing on March Point 

4. Art work and sculpture on the Tommy Thompson Trail

5. Discovering that what I thought was a bridge over hwy 20 at Deception Pass is actually a walkway under the highway.

6. There is a boat launch and a community of little houses under the huge bridge that connects Fidalgo to the mainland.

7. There is a private campground at Camp Casey 

Although I have driven past many of these places multiple times some things you just can't see from a car. When I hike I love amazing views. But the gift of new discoveries is just as rewarding to me as an amazing view, in fact, it may be more rewarding to me. Because now when I drive past these places I can hug the knowledge to myself of that special discovery that I know about that place that other people driving past don't know, because they have not walked it. So here's to road walks, the good, the bad, the ugly and the unexpected.

Pacific Northwest Trail on Fidalgo Island

The Pacific Northwest has been pounded by wind and rain for the past week and it has been tough to get much hiking in. I decided that Saturday I needed to hike a long hike to make up for this and so I plotted out a hike on the Pacific Northwest Trail. I talked my husband in to helping me drop my car off in the Anacortes Community Forest Land and then dropping me and the dog off at the start of the trestle bridge and the Tommy Thompson trail on March Point. He had to work in Anacortes anyway so it wasn't much out of his way.

Canadian geese at March Point 

He dropped us off at 7:45 am and the sky was just starting to lighten up. A  flock of Canadian honkers greeted us loudly and ahead I could see something orange. The bridge was very clean, probably washed clean of bird droppings and dropped mussels by the previous storm. As I continued on I could see that the orange were orange safety cones and that the walkway had sustained heavy damage during the storms. It looks like the water washed over and undercut the walkway in many places. It is still okay to walk on but will definitely need some repair work.

The orange cones show where the walk way is damaged

In this picture Sadie stands next to one of the original railroad ties

The Tommy Thompson is a rail trail that has beautiful ocean views and wonderful information signs and art work along the trail. The ecology signs are new since the last time I hiked this and I found myself pausing frequently to read about the wildlife and the importance of riparian zones and tidelands.



One of the art pieces along the Trail. Oil refineries in the distance.

I passed a condominium and looked up to see a man and woman sitting in their chairs facing out to the view as they drank their morning coffee. And in the apartment next to them was another man but his lounge chair had its back to the window and all I could see was the back of his head. I was struck by how some people live their lives facing out to others, looking for the beauty and the gifts that each day bring and other people live their lives facing in, concentrating only on their own lives. 

In Anacortes the rail trail runs past a former mill site that is contaminated and slated for clean up. Signs warn that all fishing is closed in that section due to toxins. This section of the trail is a reminder of Anacortes' gritty blue collar past when it was a lumber and fishing community. Now it is a town of big oil and oil refineries and wealthy retirees. The trail continues past boat yards filled with the luxury yachts and sailboats of the new residents.

Art makes even the industrial areas interesting

Just past the skate park I stop at an espresso stand for an eggnog latte, and then I turn up 21st street and hike past the senior center and swimming pool. At "D" Street I turn left and zig zag up to 23rd and enter the Anacortes Community Forest Lands. The ACFL is almost 2,500 acres of trails that are mixed use of walking, biking, horseback riding and motorcycle riding. 

Wearing a crown of moss

Hiking through the forest past quiet lakes and through frothy fern filled dells, I can believe in changelings and fairies. Roots writhe across massive rocks formations and emerald moss covers everything. The trail is carpeted with green boughs ripped from the trees during the previous wind storm.

I take a side trail up to a view point. I suspect that the view point may be overgrown and discover that my suspicions are correct and that the trees have grown up so much that there is no view at all. I come back down and shortly arrive at my car.  It has been a great day of hiking!

Lost Lake to Wahtum Lake on the PCT

Kelley, Tamera and I drove up to Wahtum Lake Veteran's Day weekend. We wanted to hike about 25 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail that we had planned to do this summer but ended up not doing. The sun was bright and Mt. Hood was out in all her glory and I was super excited to hike on Sunday. 

Mt. Hood on the ridge by Wahtum Lake

We ended up getting up to the lake late afternoon and we drove around looking for Indian Springs, but never definitely found it. I had a green trails map but the logging roads were not named on either the map or signed on the road, so it was a bit of a guessing game.

We finally just decided to camp at Wahtum Lake. Oddly enough, you can't even see the lake where you camp, but there was a picnic table, fire ring and pit toilet, so we set up camp there. We decided to sleep in our cars rather than set up the tent. Then we realized we forgot the cook stove! Fortunately I had brought firewood, but now we would have to do all our cooking on the fire.

Kelley heats up water

Kelley's french toast. So yummy!

We were in bed by 7:30pm and I slept great until morning. Kelley was the first up and we got the fire going again. Kelley made French toast and eggs, and Tamera drove us to Lost Lake. It took us almost an hour to get there and we arrived at 10:00am.

Trail angel Tamera drops us at Lost Lake

It started to rain while we were driving but I wasn't too worried. The forecast I'd seen said drizzle in the morning, clearing by early afternoon. Kelley donned her DIY rain gear of black garbage bags, and I put one over my backpack as well. I put on my rain skirt and gators. My coat is Goretex so I figured I'd be fine. Little did I know!

DIY rain gear

Rain coat, rain skirt, gators

Lost Lake was closed for the season so we hiked an extra mile in from the gate, and then started around the lake. It was so nice to hike without our heavy backpacks, and I remembered how hot and miserable I'd been when we were here in July.

A rainy Lost Lake. Swans swim on the other side of the lake.

Soon we started up the hill to connect to the PCT. I had to stop and take off my fleece layer and Kelley also stripped off a layer. After a good hour, we finally arrived at the Pacific Crest Trail from the Huckleberry Trail from Lost Lake. We stopped to filter me some water at Salvation Creek. I had deliberately gone light on water, not wanting to haul a bunch of water up the mountain. It was still raining hard and the wind was gusting strongly up on the ridge. I just know there were some awesome views but we couldn't see them due to the low lying clouds and rain.

Wet, but we've made it to the PCT

By now it was noon and I realized that we had at least 9 more miles to go. We hiked as fast as we could but every time we went up hill we'd slow way down. We had both lost our altitude acclimatization we gained in July, and the wind and unrelenting rain were making everything more difficult. Kelley had brought 4 pairs of gloves but none of them were waterproof. She switched to her second pair of gloves and tried to activate a hand warmer. The problem with hand warmers is they don't work very well when they are wet.

We decided to just hike as fast as we could to try to get back to camp before dark. We hiked through forests, along exposed ridges and up and down mountainsides. At one point shortly before Indian Springs we were on a beautiful ridge and the clouds cleared enough for us to actually have a small view. The winds were so strong that we struggled to keep upright. Then the trail descended and we saw the picnic table that told us we were at Indian Springs.

Strong winds almost blew us over in this section

Best view of the day

I was soaked through from the nonstop rain and had put back on my fleece layer and my water proof ski mittens. We had to decide if we would try hiking the abandoned road or take the trail. Both would take us to Wahtum Lake. By now it was 4:00 and daylight was fading so we decided to take the road which was wider and would give us more light versus being on a dark, rooty trail. I took a glove off and fished around in my pocket until I found my head lamp. Soon we were walking by the light of my head lamp. Kelley was not sure where her light was in her backpack and although I looked in her pockets, I couldn't find it. Putting my mittens on and off was proving to be difficult and I couldn't find my spare headlamp, either. The wind was blowing and the rain was turning to sleet as we hiked the 3.5 miles of road back to camp. We were hoping Tamera would come looking for us, but she didn't know which route we were taking.

By now we were stumbling through the dark with only my headlamp. Fortunately I recognized the road we were on since we'd driven it the previous night looking for Indian Springs. Of course it was down the one little road we didn't drive down! Our original mileage estimate was based on camping at Indian Springs and camping at Wahtum Lake was an extra 3.5 miles I hadn't figured in. Kelley and I agreed that we were not up for the challenge of being dropped off at the bottom of Eagle Creek for a 15 mile a 3,000 foot elevation gain hike the next day back up to Wahtum Lake. 

Then Tamera saw us coming through the dark and turned on the car head lights to guide us in. We stripped off our wet clothes and cranked up the car heaters as we changed in to dry clothes and discussed options. Due to the poor weather we decided to drive down to Hood River and check in to the Comfort Suites for the night. We drove down the mountain in the dark and pounding rain and as soon as we got in cell phone range I got a phone call from my worried husband. The weather forecast had changed due to an arctic blast and freezing rain was expected in the Columbia Gorge the next day. We were happy with our decision to only hike the one day and to save the rest of the trail for better weather.

When I got home I re-figured the miles we hiked and realized that my original estimate of 12 miles was actually almost 16! No wonder we were so exhausted!

Off again

When I went down to Portland for the foreign language teachers conference, Kelley graciously hosted me. While there we began to plot our next PCT hike. I knew I had a 4 day break at Veteran's Day so we made tentative plans to hike from Lost Lake where our hike ended in July to Cascade Locks on the Eagle Creek Alternate. It would all depend on the weather. Snow or even torrential rain would be a deal breaker.

Amazingly, after almost two weeks of rain the weather has cleared and I am typing this on my phone while I wait for the ferry off Whidbey Island. 

Sunrise at the Coupeville Ferry

A fearless seagull hitches a ride

Olympic Mountainsahead off the bow of the ferry

Tamera has agreed to join us as our own personal trail angel again and will camp with us at Whatum Lake tonight, drop us at Lost Lake tomorrow and then camp with us again when we meet her at Whatum Lake at the end of the first day. We are setting up a base camp there so we will be carrying only little day packs when we hike. 

There are no scary river fords on this section and I don't anticipate any real hazards, although the steep drop in elevation to the Columbia Gorge may have my knees screaming for mercy. I am full of excitement for what I will get to see and the awesome company of Kelley and Tamara!

Blueberry Bonanza at Dock Butte

Although I haven't posted anything since my PCT hike ended, that has been due more to a combination of technology challenges and lack of time rather than lack of hiking. I did some great central Oregon hikes while I was working at the Warm Springs Indian Reservation running my brother's hand washing station during the Logging Unit fire (same fire that derailed my original PCT hike plans, ironically enough!) and I've also continued to hike once I returned home. I hope to blog about some of those hikes as well, but I've got to figure out how to do the dates so they post correctly.

Yesterday I took the day off work to go to an early morning doctor's appointment. The weather was beautiful so afterwards I continued up the road to Baker Lake, took the Road 12 turn off and went another 11 miles to the Blue Lake Trailhead. Mt. Baker was out in all her glory and I kept catching glimpses of her as I'd round the corners. I was hoping for some fall colors, and there was a bit, but the trees seem to be going directly from green to brown, maybe because it has been such a warm fall. There was a nice pit toilet and a picnic table at the trailhead. I pulled out my pack leaving my down jacket in the car. It was already a sunny warm morning.

A white haired gentleman, named John, was also preparing to head up the trail and we ended up playing leap frog for most of the day and even picking blueberries together. I started up the trail first, deciding to head up the steep trail to Dock Butte first and hoping to catch Blue Lake (.5 miles off the trail) on the way back down. Dock Butte is not a very long hike at only 1.7 miles (3.4 round trip) but it is strenuous, with a 1,700 foot elevation gain.  However, the views along the way kept me motivated to get to the top.

Mt. Baker

Eventually I could see Dock Butte in the distance and it looked like it was a steep scramble to the top but when I got closer I saw that there were switchbacks that I could take that would make it easier. I paused for awhile and took out my map, trying to identify the various geographical landmarks. I eventually figured out the Twin Sisters Mountains and Mt. Loomis were to my north and northwest.

Twin Sisters Wilderness

I continued up until I got to a challenging rock part where I had to scramble up on my hands and feet and then I was at the top. A look out was built here at one time, but nothing remains except the foundation stone and a pile of rusty nails.

Foundation stone with the names of the builders

Up at the top, John and I snapped pictures and enjoyed lunch while we tried to identify the various peaks and ridges. The views were so stunning that I simply sat and stared. My trail mix may have filled my tummy, but the views of Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan, Glacier Peak, Baker Lake, Loomis Mountain and the Twin Sisters Mountains filled my soul.

Mt. Shuksan and Baker Lake

Glacier Peak in the distance

Eventually I started back down and my knees and quads quickly let me know that this was a STEEP trail. Going up was hard, but even with my hiking poles going down was harder.

The descent begins

I took plenty of breaks, though, as I stopped and picked blueberries, managing to fill a quart Ziploc in only an hour. But I decided to leave Blue Lake for another day since I'd spent so much time at the top enjoying the views and picking blueberries on the way back down.

Hiker John found a geocache by this tarn

 

Blueberry bonanza!

This was really a great hike, but be sure to take hiking poles. The trail was a little muddy in spots with lots of roots and uneven places. But those views. Wow. Just, wow.