Anacortes Community Forest Lands - Mount Erie — Tuesday, Jun. 26, 2018

In recent weeks we had been to other high points, and a few lakes, in the Anacortes Community Forest Lands (ACFL.) Today, my hiking buddy Marin and I elected to head back to Mt. Erie.

We consulted the map Principal Trails of the ACFL (Whistle Lake Area) available at local bookstores and other businesses, or from City Hall and the Visitor’s Information Center (also available as a PDF download from
https://www.cityofanacortes.org/DocumentCenter/Index/175 )
Because the ACFL has a complex network of trails use of a map is essential.

We parked at the trailhead along Heart Lake Road and set out on Trail 215, passing the swampy area before bending right and heading steeply uphill.

We stayed on Trail 215, passing over the western shoulder of Sugarloaf and enjoying the viewpoint with views out to the west.

Our trail then switchbacked down some 250 feet to reach the Mt. Erie road, where we turned left. In 0.1 mi we headed left on Trail 26 and, in another 0.21 mi, headed right on Trail 216. That trail took us up a steep, meandering route eventually reaching the road at the summit of Mt. Erie.

We enjoyed the views from the different viewpoints, snapped a few photos and headed back down. To add interest we varied our route somewhat.

At the lower end of Trail 216 we headed right on Trail 207 and, in a quarter mile, headed left on Trail 230. In 0.32 mi we turned left onto Trail 226 and, very soon, turned right onto Trail 225. That trail brought us back to our incoming route on Trail 215.

It was a very pleasant day to be out on the trails. A few of the earlier wildflowers remain (miner's lettuce, buttercups, camas, paintbrush, et al) and the tall flowered stems of foxglove are starting to appear.

At the summit we saw the usual crowd: mostly folks who had arrived by vehicle. But we had many of the hiking trails all to ourselves, and encountered only a handful of other hikers.