Hike Report – Ft Casey to Ft Ebey

Day 1:
The day started out a little flustering. David and Mrs G hardly slept the night before and it showed. We missed the first Pt. Townsend ferry, and waited another 1 hr 45 mins for the next. That was okay, though, because we were able to eat a good breakfast. We left the car in the Safeway parking lot (with permission) because the Park-n-Ride said no overnight parking. What good is a Park-n-Ride to Whidbey Island if you can’t leave the car overnight? The ferry ride over was short, but fun. When we got to Keystone, we walked up the hill to the Ft. Casey Ranger Station (camping is literally next to the ferry, but the ranger station is up the hill). Our initial plans were to hike the beach from Ft. Casey to Ft. Ebey, approximately 6.5 miles according to the map. The ranger let us know that there was no beach access at Ft. Ebey, and that we’d need to come in through the road or the Kettles Trail. There was a bluff trail marked on the map that stretched from Ebey’s Landing seemingly to Ft. Ebey. It had a small break in it; she said she didn’t know why, but that maybe this was someone’s fence line or private property. We voted on meadow vs. beach. Tie. Since Mrs. G is older than all the rest of us put together (gee, thanks, Alex!), she broke the tie and chose the beach. [This is important to remember.]

The hike along the beach was great. It was a beautiful day with no rain in sight. The tide was out, so much of the hike was on packed, grainy sand. A few hours into the hike, the tide moved in somewhat and pushed us to rocks. That was okay except for the person *cough*adult*cough* who equated “beach” with “soft sand” and wore tennis shoes instead of boots. Along the way, we identified a lot of different birds, animals, weird creatures, and rocks. We passed Ebey’s Landing, Pratt’s Preserve, and Perego’s Lake. 200′ up to the Bluff Trail. On a skinny switchbacked path. Halfway up, Duane informs us that he’s afraid of heights. He managed. Whew. Finally up at the top. Remember that little break in the line that the ranger wasn’t sure of? It was the END OF THE TRAIL, an impassable gorge. Augggh!

That meant backtracking all the way back to Ebey’s Landing, to where we would have been in the first place if we had taken the other route (not that I’m saying “I told you so”). We hiked through the incredibly beautiful Ebey’s Landing, through some neat-as-a-pin farms, past a very cool cemetery, and on to the Kettles Bike Path. A few miles up the road, and everyone’s feet were feeling it. “Only two more miles… oh, wait; those are whole miles, not half miles.” We found the Kettles Trailhead and felt that we were on the home stretch. By the end of the two miles (two real miles) to the other end of the trail, it was getting dark. Which way? Without going into details, let’s just say we got a little turned around and made a big circle. We were on a road, so not too terribly concerned about staying lost, but we gained some practical experience about hiking close in the dark, keeping the smaller people in the middle, and making noise as we went. When we were nearing the end of our pleasant moods, we got to a sign that read, “Falling can be deadly!” — the bluff trail that would lead to our campsite. That wouldn’t do. Lakeside Middle School was camping out nearby and gave us a bus ride to the camp (roundabout, would’ve added another 1.5 miles). Bless them! [$21 cash-only for camping. Same with Casey.]

By now it was 10 pm, we were all tired. Forget a lengthy prep for dinner. Cup o’ Noodles to the rescue. We cooked up the meat that had to be eaten that night, and otherwise ate noodles. Into bed for a well-earned sleep!

Mileage: conservatively 11 miles. That doesn’t count any “lost” mileage. My feet say closer to 13.

Day 2:
7:00 is NOT sleeping in. Go back to bed, Caleb! We were all finally up by 9:00. Breakfast, then breaking camp. Ready to go by 11:00. The park host told us there was beach access near the bunkers. She lied. She was misinformed. It was a nice walk and certainly was interesting, but we ended up backtracking (again) to Kettles Trail. Out to the road; the two miles seemed much faster in the daylight. We followed Kettles Bike Path into the town of Coupeville. By now, the familiar call of teen-aged boys (”I’m hungry”) could be heard with regular frequency. There’s a Pizza Factory on Main Street, and it was a welcomed sight! Hmmmm… and a bus stop. We’d already hiked 5.5 miles (at least) today plus the 11 (at least!) yesterday, so mileage wasn’t an issue. Did we want to hike down the road and get to camp in time for dinner and sleep, or did we want to take the bus and have some time to explore Ft. Casey? It was a unanimous decision. Made even better when we found out the bus was FREE.

Ft. Casey is great! What a wonderful place to explore. We set up our tents across the street from the ocean, then headed to the Fort to play. Came back to fix a late dinner, Caleb built a huge fire, then we stayed up and talked. 5.5 miles meant that we weren’t very tired, but we all slept pretty well.

Day 3:
We headed out for a nature walk where Duane helped us with plant identification. Then it was off to the beach for shells and rocks for our Nature merit badges. We skipped breakfast because we were less than an hour from getting on the ferry, and knew we could have a big lunch back in Pt. Townsend. Packed up and headed out.

Conclusions:
Absolutely beautiful!
Next time, we will go with the map as written rather than with unknowns.
Would be a blast to go cycling here.
The trip was fun except that it took so long for us to find our campsite the first night.

~Alex, Caleb, David, Duane, Patrick