Ebey's Landing, 3.19.17
After returning from our Switzerland trip last fall, job duties beckoned and I found little time to get outside. Skiing on the weekends can be a test of patience. Years of being just self-employed had spoiled me and I found myself not even skiing at all this year. I missed it but was concerned about injury being so badly out of shape. With hiking season upon us, I couldn’t imagine doing nothing all summer and I knew I had to get out and start moving more.
Winter is also hibernation time for the RV so it was time to get it out and get back on the road. Today was one of the first days in several centuries that it hasn’t rained. With a forecast calling for mostly sunny and 50, Bob and Dana hopped into their RV, Bridgit and I hopped into ours and we headed up I-5 to go to Ebey’s Landing for a day picnic and a hike.
Ebey’s Landing is on Whidbey Island, the largest of the San Juan Islands. It can be reached by ferry from Mukilteo but for an RV it would cost more than we make in a year so we drove up and around by going towards Anacortes, driving over the lovely Deception Pass bridge, south past Oak Harbor to near the quaint little town of Coupeville. The road ends at a beach on Admiralty Inlet.
We had no trouble parking the RVs since we had arrived early. From the parking lot, a trail climbs gently up above the water and follows a bluff for roughly two miles before dropping down to the beach where we hiked the beach back to the parking lot.
Trailhead at Ebey’s Landing State Park. The trail climbs up to the high point in the trees and then follows the top of the bluff for a long way.
As we climbed we had ever expanding views of Admiralty Inlet. Container ships, ferries, barges all use this as a major shipping lane.
Climbing higher gave us a nice look back to the trailhead.
Part of the trail crosses the edge of one of the working farms on the island.
The weather was absolutely beautiful. We soon shed our jackets in the warm sun.
High on the bluff, many windswept trees were twisted into interesting shapes. There is a bald eagle aerie up there and we saw eagles flying overhead.
As we approached the far end of the bluff we looked down on Perego’s Lagoon. After dropping down at the far end of the lagoon, we hiked back to the parking lot along the spit.
Across the inlet, the Olympic Mountains struggled to shake loose from the clouds but never quite cleared off enough to get a great view.
Oftentimes you can see whales out in the inlet but none today. We did catch sight of a rare, ruby throated, Pterodactyl perched on some driftwood.
All in all it was a very nice day and it felt good to get out and do some hiking again. With the snowpack well above normal, we may be seeking other coastal hikes until the higher country melts out.