This day was beautiful. Apparently the trail is washed out early on, but you’re easily able to access the rest of the trail from the beach. It’s in a state park, so a pass is required to park. I went on a Saturday so it was VERY busy. That being said, there weren’t many people on the trail. Trail was well marked, no huge obstacles, overall a beautiful hike

Brief trip report today. I’m really just here to talk about little dogs. Started at Rosario Beach and Bowman Bay. It was the most crowded I’ve ever seen it, and that is saying something. After a short hike we decided to pick a quieter spot on Whidbey. We didn’t see a single person on the trails at the Pacific Rim Institute. The prairie is all gold with the yellow grass and occasional patch of flowers. Peaceful and quiet and a great spot to watch the clouds go by.
I picked the name Hikingwithlittledogs 9 years ago when I started hiking. The truth is that I was too afraid to go out alone and my little dogs gave me the moral support I needed to head out into the woods. If I got scared, I had someone to talk to. If I got tired, I could pause and “let the little dogs rest”. I really give them credit for helping me have the confidence to hike solo on lots of trails where dogs aren’t allowed. Hiking has changed my life. This week we said goodbye to our little Cookie. She was a good dog. 

Bowman Bay was alive with kayakers, paddleboarders, boaters, hikers, campers, swimmers and picnickers when we arrived at 4:30pm on Saturday. It was surprisingly cool, low 70's with a bit of a wind. Loved it! An escape from the heat.

Parking: We got a spot in the lot on the bay, people were starting to leave at that point. Our family of 4 went in 2 different directions: 2 kayakers, 2 hikers.

Hike: We hiked towards Rosario Beach and around the Headlands loop. All kinds of amazing views from up high. We could even spot our kayakers on their adventures in the water. 2.5+ miles in total. 

Birds: pigeon guillemot, black oystercatchers, pelagic cormorant, belted kingfisher, juvenile common goldeneye. Kayakers saw these on their adventure. They even had a seal right behind them which we saw from up on our return trip and yelled down to them.

The CCC Buildings were almost all in use. The bathrooms at Bowman Bay were fine. The whole place was abuzz!

A beautiful Fourth of July to hike. Weather was nice but the crowds were out in force. I decided to hike the Lottie Bay Loop Trail to start off as I know this travel is rarely ever hiked by anyone but locals. There are some dangerous areas along this way so be careful. The views of Deception Pass Bridge are very nice and this section of the trail is very dense so there is lots of shade. I parked up on Highway 20 on the Fidalgo Island side of the bridge. There is an opening in the logs so finding the start of the trail is easy. Head downhill. At the first signs do not turn left because it will just take you up to the road closer to the bridge.Head further downhill to the second intersection and turn left. Head downhill even further to the next intersection where sign say Lighthouse Point. Do not go right instead go straight ahead and you are now on the Lottie Bay loop Trail heading toward the bridge down by the water. There are some sketchy areas here on the upward climb so be extra cautious especially with any young kids. In time you will get views of the bridge while in the shade through the trees looking up at both spans. From here following trail on around as it heads downhill and reconnects with the trail bypassing the dangerous areas. Head back the way you came. Once you see the Lighthouse Point sign head downhill on to the beach at Bowman Bay on your right and the end of Lotte Bay on you left. Cross over the sandbar and connect with the trail through the woods and out to Lighthouse Point. There is a big rock out when you first see both spans of the bridge you can climb up to see unobstructed view of the entrance to Deception Pass and the the two spans of the bridge. You can do the loop around or head back the way you came. Checkout the video of this hiking by clicking on the link below or checkout my Vimeo Channel https://vimeo.com/user81914660 for over 450 other hikes I have done.

As always get out and see this beautiful state and enjoy your hiking!!

Take Care,

Mike

My partner and I had a lovely hike here on Washington Trails Day and managed to do 7.3 miles, even with a 2.5 hour late start (whoops).

The trail on Goose Rock is great coming up from Highway 20, with quick payoffs and lots of views. Coming down it's much steeper; a group of folks in front of us was having trouble negotiating the trail in places, I think because their shoes didn't have lugs.

The rhodies were blooming, too, which I was so excited for. We stopped to enjoy them and give the group in front of us a little time to get down the hill before continuing on.

Crossed the bridge on the sidewalk, which was crowded with people out enjoying the SP. Walked down to Rosario Head and enjoyed a little loop there...pretty unremarkable in terms of trail condition, but again, plenty to see and a really nice close-up view of the water, which was really moving (I think the tide was coming in).

We'd originally intended to go see the trails on the north side of the cove Rosario Head encloses but there's a washout blocking hikers from accessing it, so instead we just headed straight to Pass Lake via the connector trail just under Hwy 20. That trail is more rolling than I expected, with small climbs and descents. 

Pass Lake had just a handful of people parking in the lot and as far as I could tell no one on trail with us. I loved this section, and wish we'd been able to do the whole thing but we had planned to see a friend's show at the Muse in Conway, and we needed to get back and get food beforehand, so we turned around at the far end of the loop before you can head up  the hill or continue straight on the Ginette Lake trail. It was fun to see an intersection that I've done trail work on though, and to finally see how that part of the state park's trails connect in with the rest of them. 

Unremarkable hike back, except to say the PNT stretches farther than we realized and we were happy to be able to stay on trail for much more of the return hike; we only had to walk maybe 100 yards from where the PNT links back into the highway before we got on the protected sidewalk on the bridge.