Lummi Island exploration! We've had our eye on the short Baker Preserve trail (1000 feet, 3.2 miles RT) to the big viewpoint on Lummi for a while. Then the day before we were finally heading there we discovered that no dogs are permitted.
On to Plan B: trails in and around Aiston Preserve, which we hoped would bring us to a similar viewpoint by a sort of backdoor route. After following google maps to the Inati Trail parking area, we followed that (an old road) mainly downhill to a collection of abandoned logging trucks and an old trailer. Just past these we turned right onto a trail/road that takes off uphill. At two miles from the car and an elevation of 1000, there are some large, also apparently abandoned, logging machinery/loader, as well as a decent if partially obstructed view back to the east towards Bellingham. After passing this and a wrecked RV, the road/trail got more overgrown and we needed to weave back and forth on the track to avoid most (not all) of the thorns and burrs. Not at all impenetrable, just a bit annoying and less relaxing than unobstructed striding.
About a mile after that my husband kept saying "we're almost there!" to which I asked (picking more burrs off my gloves) "almost where?" and he said "I'm not sure where, I've never been here." I think he meant the crest of the island, where we might get a view west. Dodging vines and thorns, we found that the trail did cross to the west side of the island but mainly did not change character.
Finally, about four miles from the car, the trail, by this time single track, turned open and more pleasant and less brushy, traversing the steep and forested west flank of Lummi Island. Through the trees we managed to get a glimpse of Sucia, Matia, and a couple other islands to the west but never an open view. We turned around (about a mile from where this trail would have reached the no-dogs viewpoint in Baker Preserve). As we climbed back up to the crest we noticed a small brushy side trail marked in blue flagging and just past a pile of picnic garbage and apparently landscape painting debris, there was a slightly better view where we ate our lunch, then retraced our steps to the car, detouring into a clearing to see an abandoned SUV/camp and wondering why and how these vehicles and equipment got left up here. Total mileage,8 with just under 2000 feet of elevation gain with the down and up.
Although this isn't the most pleasant trail we thought it would nice to return sometime and make it a one-way from Baker Preserve (without the forbidden dog) to the Inati parking area or other access points.
Comments