Craft Island — Wednesday, Mar. 22, 2023

We took the short walk out to Craft Island on a sunny spring Wednesday afternoon.  The drive to the trailhead is straightforward and there is good parking along the roadside below the dike.  Turning around is a bit of an issue, though, as there is no turnaround at the end of the road and the narrow road is flanked by deep ditches. 

There were three cars at the trailhead when we arrived and four others when we returned.  We met two people returning from the island, but the other groups were either birdwatching along the dike or walking on the beach. 

The trailhead is well marked (see photo) but the trail itself is hard to find.  We had to ask a returning hiker.  The trail is just a faint use trail and it is currently flooded almost all the way (see photo).  It leaves perpendicular to the dike, crosses a small channel on a little bridge, and then curves around to the right before curving back toward the island. 

Unless you are wearing tall rain boots, it is not possible to walk along the trail as the water is ankle high or more much of the way.  We were there at low tide, but another hiker told us that the water had been 5 or 6 inches higher earlier in the day.   We were wearing rain boots, but nevertheless, we preferred hopping from hummock to hummock beside the trail to sloshing through the water.  We were also able to make use of somewhat higher ground where the water was only an inch or so deep.  Although the distance is short, the flooding made for slow going, and it took us about a half hour to reach the island. 

The final approach to the island is very muddy, but the trail is good once you start climbing the hillside.  The views from the top are lovely (see photo).  There is an open, rocky bald on top of the island and it made a great spot to sit and enjoy the 360-degree views.  Jets from the Whidbey Island Airbase thundered over a few times, rather shattering our bucolic musings and reminding us that the island is quite close to the airbase, as the jet flies.

Bird life was scarce, but we did have a great view of a bald eagle perching in a tree just below the top of the bald, and we heard a bittern in the reeds below.