Swift Creek Trail Work Party

I just got back from my first work party with WTA, or Washington Trails Association. For my 50th birthday I came up with a list of 50 random acts of kindness and asked people to choose one thing from my list to do instead of buying me birthday presents. Number one on the list was to do trail maintenance with WTA or PNTA. The work at Swift Creek benefited both WTA and PNTA, so it was a two-for-one special! Amy, a teacher from my school, signed up to do it with me. Our task for the weekend was to build wooden walkways across a boggy area.


We met Saturday morning at the trailhead, went over safety precautions and then carried shovels and other equipment down to our work area about a half mile down the trail. At one time there was a wooden walkway but only fragments of it remain. Earlier this year a Whatcom County Prisoner Work Release Crew cut and peeled the logs we used to start building.


Tools of our trade

The trail before. Lots of mud.

Using straps and groups of 8 to 10 people, we moved the 16 to 24 foot split logs along the trail, and then placed sills, the round logs that support the walkways, about every 6 to 8 feet. We buried the sills about halfway down and then placed the split logs on top the them, carefully leveling and using string to guide our work. It doesn't sound like much, but it was a lot of work. It was also a lot of fun!

Strapping the split log to move it down the trail

Sills line the trail. I dug in several of these.

These split logs are heavy!

Checking to make sure the sill is level

Lots of ripe berries made this work a lot sweeter!

WTA has three rules. 1. Safety first. 2. Have fun. 3. Do some work. I was with a varied and fun group. Arlen, the group leader, was an experienced trail boss, and his assistants Carol and Jon kept us on track. Out of our group of 14, 6 of us were newbies. One man, Jonathan, received his green WTA hard hat because he'd completed 5 previous work days, and Carol received a very nice black vest with the WTA logo for completing 25 work days. It is always nice to have your volunteer work appreciated. I got a free NW Forest Pass for doing 2 days work (a $30 value).

A Pacific Northwest Trail marker

Despite the drenching rains that continued off and on for the day and the hoards of hungry mosquitoes, we worked cheerfully until 3:30 and then hid our tools and headed back to the trailhead. Several of us had never seen Baker Hot Springs so we took the other path and hiked up to see what the spring was like. It was pretty nice except for the trash piles, bras and underwear. Baker Hot Springs is apparently a well known party spot. I don't quite get how you can just leave your leopard print bra and underwear in the woods, but I suppose if you're drunk or stoned enough, maybe you really wouldn't notice.

Baker Lake Hot Spring

We then headed back down to Baker Lake to a private Forest Service camp site where we enjoyed a potluck dinner. Arlen made some amazing cast iron stove potatoes and grilled hamburgers. Afterwards we cooked s'mores over the camp fire or huddled under the canopies trying to keep dry.


Our private campsite at Baker Lake

Most people set up tents at the edge of the lake, but I decided to sleep in the back of my car to avoid dealing with a wet tent. At 8:00 pm I called it a night and headed to the car. A couple guys stayed up late drinking and one ended up falling in the lake at midnight! I missed all the drama, snug as a bug in my nice dry car. The rain pounded down the entire night and several people ended up having to move their tents in the middle of the night as the lake rose at least a foot and flooded them out.


Here's the lake in the morning. Notice the dry land has almost completely disappeared compared to the previous picture.

In the morning we made breakfast, packed up camp and headed back up to Swift Creek. We were tired and I suspect at least one person was a bit hung over, but we made great progress and by the end of the day we completed 108 feet!

Amy and Anna dig sills.

Amy, Jonathan and I haul another sill down the trail



Amy pounds in the 10 inch nails

Most of Sunday I helped move split logs and sill rounds and dug in the sills

Jon makes us all Jiffy Pop popcorn during our lunch break

Jonathan, Joe, Jen, Anna and Amy work together to roll the split logs onto the sills

Now for the second log. Next they will be notched to fit snuggly on the sills.

Final step, pound in the nails with a mallet or sledge hammer.

I am one dirty girl!

The Sunday crew

We knocked off around 2:30 since most people had to drive home and get ready for work the following day, but many of us took the opportunity before leaving to hike down to the creek, which was a raging river with all the rain run off. We hiked back up, grabbed the tools and our day packs and headed back up to our cars. I was a muddy mess from head to toe and had to strip off my coat, rain skirt, gators and boots before signing out on the clipboard. We enjoyed some cookies and sodas before we hopped in our cars to head back to civilization. I'm sure that I'll be doing this again. I haven't had this much fun since belonging to Search and Rescue!

Fragrance Lake

Wanting a bit of a challenge, I head to the Fragrance Lake Trailhead off Chuckanut Drive across from Larrabee State Park. It is been a hike I've wanted to do for several months. I am facing a 1,000 foot elevation gain in 1.9 miles and I load the backpack with 3 liters water and my camp chair and head up. It starts off with short switchbacks, crosses over the Interurban Trail and continues on up. My heart rate increases but I persevere. Eventually I reach a sign where the trail split off to some viewpoints. Fragrance Lake is still 1.1 miles away. Mentally, I give a little groan. I'm already getting tired. Am I trying to overdo it?

I give myself some encouragement. You can do this, just keep going and take some little short breaks when you need to. You didn't get out of shape overnight and you won't get in shape overnight. Fortunately there are some strategically located log benches that I take advantage of occasionally. I consider dumping some of my water weight, but decide not to. I am trying to increase my leg strength, after all.

I pass through a log bicycle gate and the trail slopes down to the lake. Suddenly I can see it, and I stop at a little clearing next to the water and pull out my camp chair. I sit and eat my almonds and look at the water.


Fragrance Lake

It is a pretty little lake, but honestly, not as pretty as I expect from such a popular hike. And this is a popular hike. I've passed and been passed by many hikers. Eventually I pack up my camp chair, put on a bit of mosquito repellent and continue around the lake. I actually enjoy this part quite a lot. I love big interesting rock formations, and there are several I admire on my trek around the lake.

Cool rock formations

I start back up the trail but when I get to the log bike gate I turn left and take the Interurban Trail down. I'm not exactly sure where I will come out, but some friends suggested taking this trail down and I trust their advice. It is a steady downhill all the way, but a gentler grade than the trail I came up.

I'm probably not a whole lot faster than this snail

Interurban Trail

I turn a corner and get a pleasant surprise. A small waterfall splashes down and cools the air. Very refreshing!

Refreshing waterfall

Eventually I end up at a parking lot and I cross the road and go north until I see the Interurban Trail again and I take that until I see where the original Fragrance Lake Trailhead is and my car parked below. I made it! My legs are a bit sore but I'm glad to cross another hike off my list.

Ebey's Landing

Normally I try to avoid a popular hiking place like Ebey's Landing on a Saturday. But today I'm thirsty, frantic, for ocean views and there is no other place like the views you can get from the top of Ebey's Landing.

Snow capped Olympics across the Strait of Juan de Fuca

The parking lot is full and I snag a place along the road, trying hard to keep my wheels off the white line. A park ranger is down in the parking lot checking for Discovery Passes in vehicles and although I don't need one parked on the road, I hang mine from the rear view mirror anyways. I'm a little worried my left rear tire is straddling the white line. Maybe seeing that I'm a good Discovery Pass payer will get me a little grace.

I see several men with huge backpacks sitting and eating lunch at one of the picnic tables and I stop to ask them how far they're hiking. They're training for upcoming hikes and are going from Fort Ebey to Fort Casey to camp. I wish them good hiking and continue up the stairs and up the hill.


Wildflowers bloom on the edge of an Ebey barley field with Mt. Baker in the distance

Heading up. Go high for the views.

I continue up to the top of the bluff, pausing a couple times to catch my breath and drink in the views. The hillsides are a riotous blend of purple and yellow wildflowers and the blue water far below glistens in the sun. Across the sound I can see the snow capped Olympic Mountains.

Purple covered hills

Before I know it I'm at the end of the trail and heading down the switchbacks. I take the longer gentler switchbacks to save my knees and pause at the bottom to give Sadie a drink. She is panting, tongue lolling out, and drains the bowl of water quickly, lapping it up in great gulps. Normally I skip as much of the beach walk as I can by taking the trail along Perego Lake, but today I'm Sadie-thirsty for the ocean and I don't care if I have to hike in the soft sand. I need the blue ocean and I drink in the views greedily as I continue down the beach, gulping in the sand and the waves and the kelp and the soothing lap of the waves on the shore.


Heading down the switchbacks. Perego Lake in front.

The Earth laughs in flowers - Ralph Waldo Emerson "Hamatreya"

I pass a few other hikers and watch as some boys try to skip rocks in the water. Sadie acts like she's going to drink the ocean water and I stop and give her another drink. Thirsty, we are both so thirsty.

Kelp decorates the beach

In the distance a black sailed sailboat cruises across the sea

My thirst slacks a bit as I continue on the beach. By the time I return to my car my thirst has been satisfied. For today.

The Beach Walk

School ended two days ago and this was the first chance I had to get out and do some hiking. My two week Pacific Crest Trail backpacking trip is less than a month away and I definitely will be trying to get as much hiking in as possible to build up my leg strength and stamina. With that in mind, I fill up my 3 liter water bladder to add 6.6 pounds of weight, and stick a small folding chair in my backpack as well. Last year I just added a 10 pound bag of flour, but my savvy husband said, "Why not take stuff you can actually use, like a chair?" Duh, why didn't I think of that?

I drive down the road to the beach after checking the tide table. The tide is coming in, but will only be a high tide of 5.2. That is a pretty low high tide. I generally wouldn't try to walk the beach along the Whidbey Island cliffs with an incoming tide of 6 or higher, simply because there are some places where you could be blocked by the sea.

I park at Ebey's Landing and start walking the beach to the south. A friend had taken my dog for a walk a few weeks earlier on the beach, had let her off the leash, and she had run up a hill and gotten stuck on the top of the cliff. He found a path to the top of the cliff and went up to get her and I am curious to see where this path is.



Ebey's Landing

I fill my lungs with the briny salt air and as I hike along the beach listening to the waves pounding the shore, my soul fills up just a bit. Hiking fills up my soul. I've discovered as I've taught more and more years that summer break is no longer a luxury for me, but a necessity. It gives me time to fill up my soul again. I am a much better teacher when I'm a happy human being.

I love teaching when I can shut my door and talk with my kids and share the excitement of learning about other cultures. It is all the other stuff that sucks the joy out of me. Things like new teacher evaluation systems and new Smarter Balanced Tests and new administrators who are in our rooms every week observing us (instead of twice a year) and who don't understand the importance of recognizing all the great things we're doing with our kids and instead focus on the hoops we're expected to jump through, like making sure our Bloom's taxonomy poster is displayed on the wall somewhere in our room. Yes, Sir, my poster is actually up. It has been up for two weeks on the side of my cabinet facing my desk. Sorry you didn't see it from the back of the room as you typed madly on your ipad during your 5 minute observation.

A large tree stump juts out of the beach

I continue down the beach, Sadie firmly leashed, and after awhile I see the sign that says that I'm entering a private beach area at my own risk. I can see the saddle on the hill ahead and then the path up it. A yellow no trespassing sign warns against taking the path to the Sherwill Community above so I continue down the beach to a large green rock where I pause to give Sadie a drink on a flat log.

 

This green rock marks my turn around point

 

We turn around here and I pull out a small black bag and pick up the trash I find on the beach as we return to the car. A plastic bottle, an empty yogurt container. Shortly before we get back to the car it starts to rain. Its not much more than a light mist, really, and I don't bother to pull out my rain coat since we're almost back.

Once again I fill my lungs with that wonderful salty sea air. I'm grateful for that beautiful fragrance, for the sight of footprints in the sand and the sound of the waves beating against the rocky shore. Ah, thank God for summer.