Hiking on Vashon Island, I

    When the weather is good, no place is more beautiful than the Puget Sound, and last week while I was on Vashon Island visiting my son, Ela, and family, the weather was perfect: warm air that settled gently on the skin, a slight breeze that lifted a smile to the face, a blue sky that absolutely sang. And then, of course, there were the birds with their own songs ringing through the air, and the madrone blossoms perfuming it.

    It was perfect weather for hiking, which I like to do, and mountain biking, which Ela likes to do. The first day I was there, we drove across the isthmus Vashon shares with Maury Island to Dockton Forest, twenty-three acres, mostly woodlands, with twelve miles of trails for mountain biking, hiking, and horseback riding. Ela gave me trail directions for my hike: go straight, take the first right, etc., to the overlook, then etc. back to the car. Meanwhile he would be on his bicycle on a different trail.

    The woods of the Dockton Forest flow from one micro-ecosystem to another: an overstory of Douglas fir, with sword ferns underneath; an overstory of madrones with their long red trunks rising from a rising skirt of huckleberry; alders and salal; maples and salmonberry. The combinations vary, but the enchantment is unending. 

    The trails wind through the forest, intersecting, running parallel, up and around, but if you keep going uphill you'll eventually arrive at an old road around a deep gravel pit, far below you, at sea level. The history is complicated, but essentially this is an old gravel pit that was bought a number of years ago by Glacier Northwest, who wanted to revitalize it for extraction of gravel again. But the inhabitants of Dockton, Maury Island, and Vashon, including hikers and mountain bikers, raised a ruckus of a protest. The issue went to court, and the judge eventually decided in favor of the preservationists, and Dockton Forest, including the gravel pit, was protected from environmental destruction and extraction of both gravel and timber. Now the gravel pit and its large rusted steel trestle, a bridge to nowhere, are historical artifacts. The steep hills rising out of the former gravel operation are green with vegetation. 

  

   From the top of the gravel pit and, a short hike farther up the road, from the overlook at the highest point of the park, the view is stunning: snow-blanketed Mt. Rainier shimmering over the dark blue water of the Puget Sound and dominating the Cascade peaks below it and, below them, the buildings of Tacoma made beautiful by distance. A few sailboats and fishing boats dotted the water. I sat on the bench at the overlook, absorbing the beauty of the scene, until time to hike back through the forest to meet Ela at the car.

    The next day Ela and I returned to Dockton Forest. This time Ela walked with me so he could show me the mountain biking trails he had built. They were beautiful. One was called "Eee-la-la!" for its exciting up and down route, the interesting natural features it passed—a large rock formation here, a beautiful tree there—its perilous ride along the top of a cliff, the sudden awesome view of Mt. Rainier over the sound, the steep descent. Even walking it was beautiful, and I could imagine the fun of testing your riding skill on it. 

    There was, however, one test of skill that Ela had not counted on. Earlier in the spring he discovered that the bare vines he had built the trail through on one section last winter had leafed into poison oak that now overhung the trail with a treacherous reach. To eliminate that danger, he had brought loppers, clippers, heavy gloves, and a small saw with him on this hike. We worked cutting back the poison oak until we had a trail safe for riders. 

    It was another beautiful day on the island, and another beautiful walk in Dockton Park. The next day we would return, Ela to ride with a friend and I to walk more trails. For this adventure, see next week's post.