Editor’s note: I have started 10 blog posts since the last published one but life seems to have accelerated to a rate I can’t keep up with (including me being hit with nasty viral bug and someone hitting my parked car) so they have piled up without being able to exit draft status. However, I did make it out on a hike yesterday and that makes for an easy write up so we will start there and hope for momentum.
During mid winter break (our school district takes the entire week connected to President’s Day off), I decided to make good on my goal in 2025 to use public transit to get to outdoor adventures.
So for round two (the first time being my trek to Little Mountain in Mount Vernon), I chose to head over the Whidbey Island and wander around the Kettles Trail System and Fort Ebey. The forecast was dreary and predicted to be windy so where else should one be than on the coast?
For me, I needed to get to the ferry terminal at the Mukilteo waterfront and this meant using Everett Transit. Luckily, they have reinstated the route just a block from me that will take me to the Everett Transit Station where I can hop on Route 18 that goes to the ferry terminal. It only runs in the AM for a few runs and then again the PM so I was up early. From my house, it was about an hour to the terminal which is about twice what it would take to drive but about roughly the same time as riding my bike which is what I would normally do if the Edgewater Bridge project didn’t have that route closed.
The ferry was about to start loading cars as I arrived so it was a quick jaunt up the stairs and with my ORCA card I was through the turnstiles and walking across the pedestrian walkway to board the ferry. Easy peasy.
I found a seat near the front of the ferry and munched on some breakfast I had thrown in my pack. Since this was a last minute decision and I set the alarm with only so much time to get out the door, I had grabbed a bag of homemade Paleo Cracklin’ No Bran and a Paleo Valley meat stick to start of my day. Sometimes that is how I roll…
On the Clinton side, Island County Transit was waiting for me to hop on for the trek up the island. Island County Transit is fareless (FREE!) and timed to leave and arrive at the ferry with the sailings. The 1NB runs between Clinton and Oak Harbor about once an hour. I knew it was about an hour to get to my stop so it was time to pull out my knitting and turn on an audio book (Demon Copperhead).
I hadn’t had any projects on needles that were travel ready so I had quickly grabbed a cake of yarn and needles hoping I would find the appropriate project in my library of patterns. This one is called the Hopeful Slouchy Beanie which I am willing to become my current state of mood.
Studying the stops ahead of time online, I knew I had two options for my stop once we left Coupeville. There was one at Sherman Road which is where I could connect with the Kettles Trail and walk about 1 mile north to the first gate into the park. The second stop was closer to Libbey Road where you turn into for Fort Ebey and the map said that would be about .7 miles to get to Kettles. I was more familiar with the first stop area so I thought I would try the second.
The bus stop for “Madrona” dropped me off a short distance from Libbey Road where Madrona Way meets SR 20 as it snakes around Penn Cove, it was a few minutes shy of 9am. From here I had to walk south on a wide shoulder and cross the road without a crosswalk, luckily traffic was not too bad.
There is a gravel parking lot at the corner of Libbey and SR20 and the Kettles Trail System gate was right there, labeled as Kettles Roadside Trail.
Taking this, it was only .3 miles from the bus stop until I hit a gate for the Kettles Trail System. This section is called the Allito Addition and butts up against the rest of the trail system on the northeast corner. I must admit the name made me think of the Lido Deck from Loveboat and imagined some connection but a las, there is not because this addition has no beach and Allito is just the name of the property company the land was purchased from.
Weaving through the forest on the north side, it was about 45 minutes to hit the state park road on the Pigeon Ridge Trail. It was drizzly and the forest was swaying with the force of the wind overhead.
I jogged (as in took a jog, a slight deviation, no running involved) south on the gated Point Partridge Road to Princess Run and continued towards Kyle’s Kettles and Lake Pondilla on the north end of the park. The trails had quite a few muddy spots but no real standing water so one just had to be careful not to slip.
It was true what I had previously written about this section of trail in the Kettles Trail System, you can see evidence of the glacial depressions known as kettles that provide plenty of gentle switchbacks and swales making this area popular with mountain bikes.
Kyle’s Kettles put me out on the Fort Entrance Trail and connected with the Pacific Northwest Trail near Lake Pondilla. At this point the drizzle had stopped and I could see blue skies through the trees!
It was 3.25 miles in when I was able to drop down to the beach at the marine stewardship area and spot the snow crested Olympic Mountains across the Salish Sea.
I attempted walking the beach south but when the wind blasted me as I rounded Point Partridge, I turned around and took shelter in the forest.
After a snack and a few rounds of knitting at the marine trail campsite, I walked the Bluff Trail south and absorbed the salty coastal fragrance and breathtaking landscape. Along the way I stopped at a small installation that I had not seen before (usually hiking the Bluff Trail south of here). I don’t know what it is about old fort hidey holes and seeing the same scenery through a narrow slit of concrete that is so fascinating but well, it is.
Where the Bluff Trail meets the gun battery overlook parking lot, I was delighted to see the bathrooms open and in great shape. Visiting state parks in the winter can be a mixed bag with reduced staffing so I am always appreciative when I don’t have to use my bathroom kit on a hike.
From the other side of the parking lot bathrooms, I took a trail up to the road and across to the Water Tower trail. I hadn’t taken this one before so it was cool to see the remaining timbers of the water tower rising from the forest floor like a post-apocalyptic movie.
Water Tower took me to Braveheart which took me back to Princess Run to retrace my steps back to the bus stop. For entirety of my route there had been white directional arrows, most of which were pointing in the opposite direction I was going. I knew these were probably for regular bike rides in the trail system but I also hoped it was not subliminal messaging of my life choices.
Although I had seen a handful of people in the parking lots of the park, I saw no one on trail the whole time I was there. My trek today would net me 6.7 miles of wandering.
Returning to the bus stop and not waiting forever is probably the trickiest of using public transit. The 1SB leaves Oak Harbor a few minutes after the hour which means it would arrive at Libbey Road 10-15 minutes after that (the online schedule didn’t have a time for this stop). I didn’t do too bad, arriving at the bus stop area about 12:45pm which I guessed gave me about 30 minutes. Time for more knitting.
It also gave me time to notice a flower burdened white cross that was memorializing a teen from Oak Harbor who had recently lost her life in December of 2024. Online news said she missed the road’s curve and hit the power pole and evidence of tire marks and a scorched power pole emphasized the story. I lost a cousin in a similar car-meets-power-pole event when he was in college and I was pregnant with my son almost 30 years ago, such a horrible way to lose someone.
The bus did arrive about 1:20 and it was an hour back down the island as we made stops in Coupeville and Freeland. I contemplated a side route to Langley on Route 60 but it didn’t align well with when the 1SB would get there (I’d be waiting about an hour at Bayview). But Route 60 also goes to the ferry so I will try that one again when the Bayview Market is running so I can put that hour to good use.
The bus dropped me off in Clinton in time for the 2:30 sailing and then it was back on Everett Transit for home. It worked out well, the first PM Route 18 bus is 3:20 so I only had to wait a little bit which I didn’t mind because at this point the sun was out and I could study a Blue Heron perched on the rocks below.
The whole trip was about 10 hours door to door which is about 3 more hours more than if I had driven. Transit fares (including the ferry) came to $10.25 and gas would probably be about 7-8 gallons (150 miles, I drive an old car). Because I was using my ORCA card, I only paid for one Everett Transit bus trip instead of two each way because there is a two hour transfer window. Taking the bus, I had the benefit of noticing all the other stops along Whidbey I might want to use in the future but are not specified online! And I almost knit a complete beanie.
As a side note, as I was riding down towards the Mukilteo Ferry in the morning I noticed that Route 117 of Community Transit is also running to the ferry. It connects with the Lynnwood Transit Station and the light rail making this trip possible for most in the Puget Sound area and beyond.
If you are not familiar, Whidbey Island is a part of the Cascade Loop, the same State Route 20 that runs over the North Cascades runs along its length, connected at Deception Pass. If traveling in the area, it is a can’t miss destination!
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what a great day! I am having more car free days and really liking them. I haven’t ventured out with public transit, just walking everywhere.
It really was a great day. It feels so freeing to be able to slow down and take things at a slower pace. We love walking downtown as much as we can, I’m glad to hear you are doing the same!
That looked like an ambition adventure for someone not feeling 100%! I also have many blog post drafts in various stages of readiness. Like the one about our new hardwood flooring project that I thought was going to be done in December, but it wasn’t, so I can’t finish that one until we get back to MN in April. And the one about the cross stitch Christmas stocking project that I abandoned. And I also have trouble even keeping up on reading blog posts.
I am feeling the same way about reading blog posts, too. And to make matters worse, WordPress is being glitchy and half the time I go to make a comment it says I can’t because I am not signed in when I am.