August 25. Hikeathon Day 5. A Bouquet of Trails

Saturday, August 25. Hikeathon Day 5. A Bouquet of Trails.

• Eastsound Town Walk   6.91 miles,  177 ft
• Deer Harbor                   4.87 miles,  321 ft
• Killebrew Lake              1.66 miles,    80 ft
• Obstruction Pass            2.48 miles,  481 ft
• Coho Preserve                  .95 miles,  168 ft
• BOUQUET TOTAL     16.87 miles, 1227 ft

Dear Trail Friends,

Today's walk took me to five different trails all around the island. The first was a walk around the town of Eastsound. One of the highlights of that walk was walking the labyrinth at the episcopal church, shown in photo 1.

As I walked the labryrinth I reflected on the pilgrimage aspect of the hike. I decided as I walked all around and in and out and finally to the center, that this was a pilgrimage into the heart of kindness. Walking toward center, I though of the obstacles to kindness: how anger and fear (and the unkind thought and impulses they give rise to) have to be struggled with - like taking that next step no matter how tired I am - to get to kindness. As I walked away from the center, I thought about releasing and Angel's balloons and how part of kindness is releasing the outcome, not needing to have kindness feel as good as I want it to, or lead to gratitude, or intimacy, or anything. That walk and those reflections felt very important. I felt a shift away from the sense of failure and regret with Angel (I didn't love her well enough, I wasn't able to make enough difference in her life, I rarely was able to engage with with her in ways that gave joy to us both.) Instead there was a dawning recognition that I learned from our relationship to practice kindness and to persist and detach from outcome. Part of the beauty in this is that it allows me to see the gift I was able to give her, and the gift she was able to give me, instead of focusing on the ways we missed.

But back to the hike. Photo 2 is a very disappointing photo of a map, but the best I could do after wrestling with the Gaia app for quite awhile.

Now I need a lot of help from you to make this work. We are looking at Orcas Island. On the west wing, please mentally erase the big blue squiggle toward the middle of that wing. And on the east wing, please erase the whole tangle in the middle. That leaves five trails: the purple in the far west of the west wing is the Deer Harbor hike. The little blue in the east part of the west wing is Lake Killebrew.  The black track, in the narrow little body between the two wings, is the Eastsound town hike. Way out toward the tip of the East wing, the red is the Obstruction Pass hike, and the blue just a short way above it is the Coho Preserve hike. 

Now you see a map with just five hikes - my bouquet. The largest two as you can see are the town walk and Deer Harbor. But just as in a a bouquet of flowers, sometimes the small blossoms are the most beautiful.

I want you to know I loved this hike. Each hike was so different, and I was in awe of the variety and beauty.

Photos 3, 4, and 5 are from the Eastsound walk: a shared community garden, a private garden in front of an affordable housing apartment, and the view from North Beach (the top of the black line and the northernmost point of my hike)

The town walk was special because it reminded me of the human community that makes up so much of the beauty of the island. Another very special aspect was being able to see the ocean both on the exposed north side of the ocean, and on the south side where it is part of the long sheltered body of water called Eastsound. That makes me want to include a photo of Eastsound - so photo 6 is looking at the pier at Eastsound through a Madrona Tree.

My next hike was way out on the west wing at Deer Harbor. I had planned the walk to get a view of the Frank Richardson Preserve - a view I tend to find disappointing because it is supposed to be a bird preserve and I never see birds there. It was a road walk, but when I got to the end of the public part of the road, I noticed a trail I hadn't seen before. There were no "no trespassing" signs, so I thought I would try it. It turned out to be a gorgeous trail, around the back of the preserve, with lots of great glimpses of pond and wetlands. Photo 7 is an example. I was thrilled to have discovered a really lovely new trail.

There were also a whole bunch of very sweet blackberries along that little travelled trail - all well within reach (photo 8).

Mmm good.

My next hike took me to east side of the west wing of the island to Lake Killebrew. After all the lakes I have been hiking beside, I was struck how unique each lake and each trail is. This trail is a little less manicured, it clearly doesn't get as much attention as the state park trails do. And the woods around it seem much lusher, they make me think of a rain forest. I have a whole lot of photos I want to include from this tiny little trail, but I will limits myself to two (photos 9 and 10).

From Killebrew I drove clear to the tip of the east wing to Obstruction Pass state park. Highlights for me included walking on a pebble beach. The pebbles were so small and so smooth, there was a kind of sensual pleasure in feeling my feet sink down into the pebbles. It slowed me down and made me feel happy. Photo 11 is the pebble beach.

Photo 12 is a view of Obstruction Pass through Madrona Trees (I don't know which I love more, water or trees).

Photo 13 is a fallen tree. I have been fascinated this whole hike by how trees fall into each other's arms and support each other. In this case, it is the tree's own dead branches that it leans on. The dead branches hold up the tree and allow the living branches to survive and thrive. I love that.

My last hike, the smallest flower in the bouquet, was the three quarter mile loop at the Coho Preserve not far from Obstruction Pass. This hike is all about moving water - falling water, rushing water, sliding water. I guess that's what salmon love, water to swim against. I thought about the movement of water, as I rested a moment on a bench and felt my gratitude that the hike was over, and that the hikeathon was almost over. (I reached 87 miles today, not far from my 100 mile goal).

The sliding water in Photo 13 made me think of time, of transience, and also of the balloons and letting go. It was good just to sit and listen and watch the water slide by. I felt the peaceful feeling I experience from exertion and from being in the presence of beauty. Like its alright to let everything come and go, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. Wish you could be there with me. Maybe you are.

Thank you, again and always, for walking with me. I am very very tired, and glad to let this blog slide away too. I hope to see you tomorrow for our last day, hiking Mt. Pickett trail, a zig zag version of the Southeast boundary trail, and an excursion (I hope) to Doe Bay.