[Elvis]

With renewed interest brought on by Lookout Bob and Captain Jack reports from March, this place hit the mark on a beautiful sunny day. The logical no-nonsense trail up the bluff and the hands-on diversity of the beach made this a perfect trek for us. The kids literally ooh'd & aah'd at the views and the countless unique articles they managed to find on the beach. We had one report of 'There's sand in my shoe!' before we reached the trailhead, four complaints of 'It's MY turn to lead!' and it took less than one lecture and four minutes before I witnessed someone in the water up to their ankles. I am pleased to report there were no complaints of cold feet. A few comments were made in prior trip reports about a homeless person living here... while no such person stood out during our adventure, we did happen upon a nice driftwood hut. This looked fairly well built, but no tarp roof and it was only maybe 4 feet high on the inside. The kids had an absolute blast, with one episode of tears upon learning an unopened bottle of apple juice somehow displaced itself from a little pack along the beach. Our sincerest apologies to whomever sees it. We tried to save Karma by picking up any litter we found (which was minimal).

We didn't take the time to stop at the 'Viewpoint' since we were on a pretty tight agenda - it gives me another excuse to head back some day soon. Anyone know how long of a spur trail that is? Surprisingly, there were very few people along this route today. We didn't encounter any others on the trail, and we only saw one person on the beach... until we reached the parking lot area where there were quite a few people all of a sudden. From there we went straight to a baseball game in LaConner and then took the wrong route to a birthday party in Mt. Vernon. The wrong route put us in the heart of Tulip Country... 1.25hrs to do what probably normally takes 15 minutes. It was pretty, though.

[captain jack]

The viewpoint is about 1 minute up from the junction to the beach, nice grassy knoll, good for lunching and sunning This pic is from said viewpoint, looking southwest, I have marked the trail on it.

ebey viewpoint mod

[sarbar]

If you go back, walk the beach to Ft. Ebey from the lagoon- the views are great, and there is rarely anyone on that section.

[captain jack]

Spindy and I did the whole stretch of beach from Fort Casey to Fort Ebey a month ago. I think the most deserted stretch was the portion south of Ebeys landing about halfway between there and Fort Casey, but the section north of the lagoon certainly gives you that "Robinson Crusoe" sense of isolation. C.J.

[l]

Elvis, I like those sinuous contours in the 2nd pic. As for the tulips... whoa wow!

[Elvis]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and comments. I poked around Fort Casey for an hour or so, too many years ago, but have never been to Fort Ebey. I recall enjoying the views and the remaining bunkers (or whatever those concrete structure were). Is Fort Ebey similar? Generally speaking, how long (time &/or distance) of a trek is it to go from one to the other and back again? Thanks ~E

[sarbar]

Ft. Ebey is very small, but what it does have is less people, and 30 miles or so of trails in the Kettles (half state park, half Island County land). A weekend there car camping is very fun indeed!

[Malachai Constant]

Trails are great for kids who like to MTB

[sarbar]

And excellent for parents with young kids in jogger strollers too!

[captain jack]