Trail Running on Whidbey Island

 I'm not afraid of a lot of mud, hail, or ants.  On my trail run last night I encountered them all, while briefly quick-footing right through the center of an ant hill.  In my barefooting shoes.  All I could think of after I had shaken my foot off in a patch of Salal was that I felt sorry I had wrecked the ant's home.

South Whidbey State Park Trails, November

Trail running on South Whidbey Island is full of incredible sights, sounds, and smells.  Especially this time of the year-Spring!- when the plants and animals are coming alive to the warming temperatures and the call of nature.  We humans certainly hear the call as well.  This is one of the finest times of the year to run in the trails.  All your senses are heightened and there is a feeling of emerging into a brighter more active world.

It is during these emerging moments, that the animals appear.  In the moments of silence.  Running up Brainers Road I stopped to have an energy gel.  Right next to me on the telephone wire was a large owl.  It must have been about 8 or 9 in the morning and there it was, sitting rather conspicuously and  looking ridiculously over-sized on that little wire.

Another time I was waiting to meet friends for a swim at Goss Lake.  I had just run to the lake from my house and the Putney Woods trails.  During my quiet moment of introspection I sensed movement in a small tree to my left.  As I peered closer I saw a young eagle sitting low in the branches of a Douglas Fir.  The eagle didn't mind that I was there or that I walked closer.  It seemed to tell me, we are always here, you just have to slow down and quiet your mind to see us.


Here are some of my favorite trails on the Island.  I do not include any North Whidbey Trails, although if you live up North or are willing to make the trek, there are some AMAZING trails there as well, I am not as familiar with them.   

The Three Girls at Rosario

One of my favorite parks to visit is Rosario, just past Deception Pass (off island).  It is incredibly beautiful in a 'other worldly' sense. It feels like there is a history there.  Like ancient people are still walking around gathering shellfish and burning fires. It is hard to explain without showing you, but I will try...

There  are incredible water views as you walk from the parking toward the beach.  On the left is a harbor with rolling treed hills in the background and an old wooden dock in the distance.   Little coves  are cut off from each other by jutting rocks that are bigger than a house, and make it look like there are several small beaches.  A trail winds past a giant carved wood statue of a half-girl, half-mermaid, and if you look a bit closer you will see that there are four placards that tell the story of how the girl turned into a mermaid, set on this very beach.  On the right is another beach with huge logs and small smooth flat stones.  A large rocky island fills up the view and several small rocks jut out off the beach making tide pools to explore. 

If you pass the beach and follow the trail up the hill through the madrona trees, you will come to a vast lookout toward Whidbey Island and another smaller island with a few trees on it.  The lookout drops off abruptly  toward the water and if you dare peer over the edge, you will see kelp beds that undulate with the waves. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Surrounded by Water

I'm surprised how many people who live on Whidbey Island don't know where Goss Lake is located. Well, I won't tell you! It is my secret and I won't share it, go find your own lake.

Yes, it's that good.

We spent played there Thursday and Friday of last week and I swam there Sunday morning too. The lake is great for swimmers, kids, non-motorized boaters, sunbathers and apparently trout fishermen, as I see them there occasionally in the early morning.

Goss Lake is the site of the swimming portion of the Whidbey Island triathlon. So you will often see people swimming in the summer months to prepare for the race.

Here on Whidbey Island we have many lakes and are of course surrounded by the calm, cool sea. The Island is well protected from the big ocean waves by the Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island.

During the summer we really appreciate our island setting as the weather is warm enough to enjoy frequent outdoor swimming and play time at the beach or lake, young or old.

Throwing rocks at the lake

View from the shore, public side

The Best Beach on the Island is . . .

. . . Double Bluff! How can you beat this? Soft & abundant sandy beach, great hiking, off leash dog park, shallow water, tide pools, climbing bluff. Alright so maybe you have a better beach, if so, let me know. But this is my all-time favorite beach on Whidbey Island. For several reasons it is my favorite: close proximity to where I live, sugary-soft sand, lots of interesting dried out logs, and when the tide is out, long long expanses of sandy beach for exploring.

For parents and small kids the beach is great because the water doesn't get very deep, it just stays about the same depth for who-knows-how-far. I have tried walking for quite a long while though the water and still not gotten above my head, just tummy or chest level. Plus, the sand makes great sand castles and is easy to dig into. Older kids and adults will appreciate skim boarding, Frisbee, or hiking.

For people who love a good walk: try following the beach until you reach "the second point" where the land levels out with the beach. It is about a 45 minute walk from the double bluff parking area. As you walk you will turn the corner around the first point, where the bluff is quite high. You can see this first point from the parking area. To get to where I am talking about you have to keep walking past this point to the next one you can see, the second point. It is beautiful and well worth the walk

Have dogs? The beach is also an off leash park for dogs, provided you clean up after you dog and wait until you reach the flag (about 700 feet from the parking lot) to let them off leash. My kids and I love "dog watching."

Sunshine, what's that again? Oh yeah! And how to make a Beach-Inspired Fairy Garden

Double Bluff beach on a warm day in April. Hello Sunshine, Welcome Back! I took these pics last week and there were actually a few days of sunshine and warm enough temperatures for me to consider going to the beach.

. . . and back again

The Beach Inspired Fairy Garden:

Making a fairy garden in a bucket: Collect anything small and interesting from the beach and put it all together in sand and voila, fairy garden.

Baby has serious shovel work to do!

It's still too cold for swimming for most people. And I needed a jacket for the wind.

okay, so there is something seriously strange about seeing a kid swimming for an hour in April in the ocean. A hour really. Brrrrr!

Sand! Rediscovering the joys of the beach.

Rhodie Hill Farm

The Fruit Orchard

Revisiting Coupeville's "Town Park": playground, concerts, cookhouse, bbq, tennis, and more

Left: Luc holding Stella on the slide with Marina behind them Right: the Pavilion

This is the best slide around. It is tall, metal, and steep. Great for a adventurous four-year old and a one-year old who thinks she is invincible (with a parent of course). Yesterday I revisited a park form my past: Town Park in Coupeville (at NW Coveland and Colburn Streets). The park is located on 3.8 acres above (to the north-west) of downtown Coupeville. When I visited it was an idyllic sunny day with fluffy clouds gently sailing overhead. My husband and I brought our take-out lunch to the park with our two kids and enjoyed the water view through the trees, the little daisies covering the field and the slide. Mostly, the slide. Marina loved it. She climbed up the stairs and slid down the slide over and over. Then she began, as kids always do, to climb up the slide and slide back down, forget the stairs.

The park has an open grassy field, an outdoor pavilion for concerts and other social events, a large cookhouse, BBQ, picnic tables, tennis courts, bathrooms, and a playground with a climbing dome, slide, and big kids swings (sorry no baby swings). Much of the park overlooks Penn Cove and there is a trail that goes to the beach.

I remember this park when I was a kid, visiting it with my parents to see the "Concerts on the Cove" series. We would play hard and walk down to town and get ice cream at the local ice cream parlor, Kapaw's Iskreme, which by the way is wonderful! Try it out sometime: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3T7D

L: Picnic and BBQ with a view L: Primitive Trail to the beach

L: the slide R: Tennis & bathrooms

L: Stella picks daisies for daddy R: NW Coveland Street & Coupeville Town Park

L: More playing R: great big fun field= endless possibilities

L: Very big tree slice on display R: Pavilion for concerts and social events

L: Swings aren't just for kids R: little daisy flowers, daisy chain anyone?

Map for Coupeville Town Park

View Larger Map