After exploring Port Townsend and riding a ferry to Coupeville - both being quite a fun - I detoured to my favorite Ebey’s Landing trail. Did a lollipop loop from the cemetery parking lot. Trail is in great condition, all dry and easy to navigate. Winds are strong on the bluffs. Took me about 1 h 20 min to complete the entire loop. 

Started around 11 a.m. from the Prairie Overlook trailhead by the Sunnyside Cemetery. Hiked toward the water and then up over the bluff. 

I do this hike several times a year, and this was the first time I felt it was somewhat treacherous in spots. From the beginning, even though it pretty flat leading up to the bluff the mud made the trail super slick. Up on the bluff, we saw skid marks where people before us had slid. My hiking partner fell several times before we decided to put on our micro spikes because we were entering the section where there wasn’t a lot of room for error. If you fell to the left, you were tumbling straight down the bluff. This where we put on our micro spikes and it made all the difference to get us over the bluff and down to the beach.

While it was a cold and cloudy day, we still had views of the Olympics and Mt. Rainier faintly in the distance.

We rewarded ourselves with Thai-style Mussels and a lager at Toby’s in Coupeville.

Excellent snow-free hike for a winter's day.  Easy access to this gorgeous hike mid-week from Seattle with no ferry lines.  Walked the Bluff Trail one way and the shoreline the other.  A fascinating look into early Whidbey Island settlers and how the use of the property has evolved over past 160 years.  Hooray for Nature Conservancy activists who bought the land and provided public access.  

  A very windy day for a hike. Whidbey had 60 mph winds last night and they have died down some but they are still strong. The sun finally came out today so I head out to get a much need hike in. Have been much busy the last 3 to 4 months so hiking has taken a back seat but I am trying to get my groove back on. No rain but plenty of wind and it was cold but I soon warmed up once I got in my rythm of the hike.

  The trail was very empty since I only passed a half a dozen people but I did make a mistake by going when the tide was way up so the beach was gone except for the big rocks and logs up high on the beach so I chose to turn around and hike back on the bluff trail instead of going down on the beach for my normal return. All and all it was a nice day to get out of the house. Cabin fever has hit me hard the last three months. 

Checkout my video of this hike or some 350 other hikes I have done on my Vimeo Channel https://vimeo.com/mikemorrison or just click on the video link below for this hike.

As always get out there and enjoy this beautiful state!!

Take Care,

Mike

Beautiful day at Ebey's landing. Left the trailhead around 11am and got back around 1pm - give or take. Beautiful trail. However, there were a few down hill muddy sections that were very slick. I never fell, but I did slip a couple times. Wasn't enough to make me turn around, but a couple that was older than me chose to turn around because the risk of falling wasn't worth it.