Pacific Northwest Trail, Ebey's Landing & Fort Casey State Park — Tuesday, Jul. 17, 2012

Puget Sound and Islands

I recently learned that there is a national scenic trail that practically goes past my house. The Pacific Northwest Trail was designated as a national scenic trail in 2009 and goes from Cape Alava, Washington, to Glacier National Park, Montana. I've decided to try to day hike as much of the Washington part of this trail as possible, starting with the section that crosses Whidbey Island, known as section 8. If you are interested in knowing where the trail is go to www.pnt.org and there are maps you can print out of the trail. The hike today was from map 08-09 and 08-08. I drove to the Coupeville Ferry and parked across the road. I hiked through the Fort Casey campground and took the walking trail up to Fort Casey. The map shows to just follow the beach, but I like the view from the top of the bluff. I continued past the lighthouse and took the trail back down to the beach. From there I followed the beach until I got to Ebey's Landing. I was the only person on the beach from Camp Casey to Ebey's Landing and I saw two bald eagles in this section, one sitting on a large rock on the beach and the other sitting on the bluff. I stopped to eat my lunch at Ebey's Landing. Ebey's Landing is one of the most popular hiking trails on Whidbey Island, and for good reason. As I sat eating I saw almost 20 people start up the bluff trail. I eventually followed them up. There are beautiful wildflowers along the trail right now and the views were stunning. When the trail descended back down to the beach I continued north. Once again I encountered no other hikers until I reached Fort Ebey State Park. This beach section was not as fun as it was mainly rocks, gravel and driftwood and the walking was difficult. You MUST hike this section during low tide ONLY. Be sure to consult a tide chart before doing this hike. At Fort Ebey I refilled my water bottles and gave the dog another drink. There is a very nice restroom facility a short ways up off the beach to the left. After resting awhile on a shady picnic table we set off back down to the beach and continued north up to Libbey Beach. Again, this is a LOW TIDE ONLY hiking section. We took the stairs and walked up to Libbey Beach Park. From there I walked home and dropped off the dog, and then I flagged down the #6 bus (public buses are free on Whidbey) on Libbey Road and rode it back down to the Coupeville Ferry and picked up my car. Estimated mileage today around eight miles. For me this took about six hours. Be sure to allow yourself enough time before the tide changes.