Trillium Community Forest — Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019

Puget Sound and Islands > Whidbey Island

Goal Today: to hike all trails in Trillium Forest. Result: Accomplished all trails except a small section of "Crossroads", hiked some sections twice (in both directions), hiked from 4pm-9pm and logged 11.25 miles. My favorite trails are "Raven" and "Smugglers", the latter being a brand new trail in the system. No cars in North lot when I arrived; one car with two mountain bikes when I returned to car. I rate this trail system 2.5 stars for uniqueness and variety, and 3 stars for privacy, organization, and bird activity. I enjoyed it very much and the map provided by Whidbey Camano Land Trust website appears to be accurate. Posts identify trails with names but sometimes only with color code. A few posts are blank. "Happy Trails" is not marked at south end but is marked at north end. Not surprisingly all wetland areas are dried up. There is a bench on "Patricks Way" near intersection with "Dragonfly Glades". There was an equestrian tie-up area near "Uncle Buck" and "Burkholder". "Wild Berry" does not have huckleberries nor blackberries, but I saw possibly some native cherry. I counted 750 steps on "Dragonfly Glades" between "Patricks Way" and "Crossroads." Hard to believe but there really was a big frog on the trail called "Tree Frog". Hwy 525 noise was noticeable until the dogleg in "Crossroads" just before "Bounty"; rest of trail system quiet except for squirrels, birds, and occasional airplane. By 8:30 pm "Smugglers" was very dark, but what a beautiful section of the trail system! The dog poop baggie stations are there, but people are not always using them!--so weird and disrespectful. I saw one person on the trail today and we had a nice conversation which eventually led to his learning about WTA and the hike-a-thon. This was a great place for me to rack up some miles and discover a new trail system mostly in the shade and not too hot, but had to constantly look out for equine dung. The last 0.7 miles or more was on asphalt.