Monroe Landing

Monroe Landing on Whidbey Island was the site of a large permanent settlement of Lower Skagit Native Americans. They called the village Čǝ𝒌ʷ olá (pronounced Chekw-olá). They were displaced from Whidbey Island by the Treaty of Point Elliott with many tribal members joining the Swinomish tribe at La Conner. There is a sign in the parking lot detailing some of the history.

I decided to wander up the beach after parking, picking my way north accompanied by a murder of crows.

This log seemed to be their boundary because once I passed it they stopped watching me. They were still there when I returned.

The trick to beach walking is to not be in a hurry. I took my time as I progressed north, with the terrain bouncing between sand, pebbles, small rocks and larger rocks.

I passed the narrowest point where decaying logs formed a derelict tidal block. I was hiking on a pretty high tide. Low tide was an 8 moving towards a high tide of 10.5. With that small of a tidal exchange the water was fairly calm.

I passed several private stairways down to the beach and had to admire the ingenuity of this one.

A small boat was stuck in the driftwood and ahead a jumble of downed trees formed a beach jungle gym that I had to navigate over, under and around.

There were a myriad of beautiful rocks on this beach and I was struck by the beautiful fire orange of this one. The beach had white quartz as well.

Coupeville was directly across from me as I hiked.

Above me was a tall bluff with interesting layers and strata forms, some with a honeycomb aspect.

I came across this rock which looked like an altar with steps cut into it. It invited me to climb up and sit awhile but I continued on up the beach.

I came upon the rusted remains of an engine and axle. I suspect it was driven over the bluff above and crashed onto the beach. I hope no one was in it when it crashed because that would have been a long drop.

Out in Penn Cove I could see some kind of animal that I thought was a bird at first, but as I got closer I realized it was a pair of harbor seals. They gazed at me warily as I hiked past.

Finally, I came around a bend and could see Klootchman Rock ahead. Klootchman means "Woman" in the Chinook jargon and is a huge rock the size of a house.

Klootchman Rock is believed to have come from the north and been deposited during the Ice Age by a glacier. I tried to see why it was called "Woman" by the Indigenous but I did not see anything that looked like a woman's face or body. As I approached it I could see that it had lines of white quartz running through it that looked almost like roots going down to the beach and water.

Cautiously I clamored over a log jam of driftwood to see the other side.

After studying the large rock for awhile I started the trek back to my car. The tide had come in a bit and I had to creatively climb around a couple places to keep my feet dry.

I passed an odd whirlpool where the waves rolled in concentric circles. I watched, oddly hypnotized, before continuing on.

Back to Altar Rock, and then to the narrow part of the beach. I had to climb behind the post wall for a bit to keep out of the water.

I got back to where I had left the crows and they cawed a welcome. Or maybe it was an alarm; hard to tell.

Water on a stone formed a heart. It felt like a love letter from above just for me.

This hike was about 3.5 miles and took over two hours. I picked up a walking stick from the beach while was helpful on the return trip. This was a great way to get a walk in before the Super Bowl game.