Winter Wonderland

Snow started falling on Whidbey Island on Sunday night and by Tuesday morning we had over six inches at my home in Coupeville.

Around noon I pulled on my new lined Eddie Bauer pants from Costco, laced up my snow boots and headed down the road to Kettles Trails. Almost no traffic was out along Libbey and I cut across the road and into the forest. 

The woods were eerily quiet and besides the deer, bunnies and birds, mine were the only human footprints. I stopped and filled my mouth with the snow off a bush, the crisp taste taking me back to my childhood. Occasionally a tree would shiver and then snow would rain down on me as the trees playfully threw snowballs from their branches.

A snow covered mound on top of a trail marker revealed itself to be a small hand saw after I brushed the snow away. It looked like a gun. This section of the trails used to have a homeless encampment here and the trail name, Breaking Bad, is perhaps a tongue in check reference to that history. The land was donated to Island County a few years ago and the homeless have moved out as the trails were constructed and the local mountain bikers and hikers took the area over.

I gazed upwards, enjoying the view of the snow covered trees. Occasionally the red bark of a madrona tree wending its way towards the sun broke the monochromatic view of brown and white. 

Hiking through six inches of snow is hard work. I wished I'd thought to bring my hiking poles with me when I approached a steeper part of the trail, and then I reluctantly turned to begin circling back home.

As I popped out onto the old road I saw that several large trees had fallen. They had been cut off the trail and I was appreciative that I did not have to try to go over or around them. Island County, along with the local bike group, has done a fairly good job of stewarding these trails. I'd love to see a better clean up of the homeless encampment occur. Old wood pallets and detritus still scar the land in places.

Downed trees

I trudged through the snow, eventually rejoining my original footsteps, and I saw a chipmunk scurry around a tree trunk and birds began to flit through the trees and shrubs. The snow crunched beneath my boots as I hiked down Libbey Road towards my house and as I arrived, John opened the door for me, welcoming me back into the warmth of home.