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!