Bainbridge Island's Bloedel Reserve: What a Way to Walk

When we walk, we naturally go to the fields and woods: What would become of us if we only walked in a garden or mall?  - Henry David Thoreau

Up on the northeastern side of Bainbridge Island, the 150-acre Bloedel Reserve offers it all:  A lovely stretch of trail that meanders through a forest-fringed field, Northwest woods dense with undergrowth, an elegant Japanese garden, European manor-style gardens, and a moss garden, with grand views of Puget Sound.


To quote their brochure:

The parts, so very different from the other, work together to create a whole, just as the movements of a symphony, which may very dramatically in mood, still create a single work of art.
 
While I enjoy walking briskly along the trail for a good workout, really, it's so wonderful here that it's hard not to stop along the way and contemplate the beauty of the surroundings. Which, after all, is what a great garden is all about.

A friend of mine who grew up on Bainbridge remembers the estate and country manor being inhabited by the Bloedel family. Since then this Northwest timber family has vacated the premises and turned it into the current reserve open to the public. Creating the reserve became a lifelong passion for Prentice Bloedel after his retirement.

It's a landscape full of contrasts, with an underlying purpose: for walking and appreciating nature, whether it's in the form of the bird refuge along the wooded trail, or in the Japanese garden, where moss-covered rocks lie still, surrounded by carefully raked gravel.

In the moss garden

Japanese garden

On my first trip to the reserve some years ago, a group of us helped a friend's mom celebrate her 60th birthday by taking our bicycles onto the Bainbridge ferry from Seattle, then bicycling up island to explore the reserve's grounds and gardens. A great way to get plenty of exercise and the nourishment of all that cultivated and natural beauty. 

But today the trail and paths beckon: Just walk. 

 When You Go
 The Bloedel Reserve is open every day except Mondays, with an admission fee of $13 for adults. Click here for location and directions. Besides being a fabulous place to walk, they hold concerts in the field, lectures, classes, and occasional special events. Check out their event calendar here.

Fall Colors in the Pacific Northwest

Autumn is my favorite time of year, when deciduous trees look like they're all dressed up for a pre-winter party. While we don't get quite the showy fall colors here in the Pacific Northwest that New England does, we do get some spectacular displays. 

It's still early in the season, but many trees are already starting to turn.  Here are some general suggestions of where to see leaves turning here in the Northwest, but I'd love to hear your suggestions too.

Ornamental maples planted around Portland, Seattle, Eugene, Spokane, and other Northwest cities can be brilliant.  For example, at the peak of color in later October, just drive down Holman Road from Greenwood Avenue to Crown Hill in Seattle when the trees lining the street are crimson red. Stunning!

Ornamental maple leaves, Joseph, Oregon

In Seattle's Carkeek Park in late October, these two trees pictured below near the salmon slide are at their peak. You'll no doubt find other colorful trees around our cities and towns.

In Seattle's Carkeek Park

 
Our formal Japanese gardens are splendid  in the fall when the Japanese maples turn:  Try the Seattle Japanese Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum, the Portland Japanese Garden in Washington Park above downtown, and the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.

Bloedel Reserve

Big-leaf maples (the "king of the Northwest woodland") predominate here west of the Cascade Mountains. I remember driving past what looked like a wall of brilliant gold big-leaf maples on a crisp fall day in the Columbia River Gorge east of Portland on I-84.

There's a reason this tree is named big leaf.  Some of the leaves can get huge, upwards 10 inches in diameter.  When they fall, they really carpet a trail.

Big-leaf maples along a trail in Carkeek Park

On another trip along the Columbia River on State Route 4,  part of the Lewis and Clark Scenic Byway, the abundant big-leaf maples made an otherwise gray Northwest day bright with hues of yellow and gold. This route in southwest Washington just across the river from Oregon is lovely any time of year as it winds past charming and historic places like sea kayaking destination Skamokawa.

Big-leaf maples, Joseph, Oregon

Where our fall color really shines is at higher elevations in the mountains.  Native vine maples are a highlight, turning scarlet orange in late September into October.

Along the Snow Lake Trail, Alpine Lakes Wilderness

If you can catch a dry day in the fall, go hiking in the Cascades or Olympics for brilliant fall color at shrub level.  Native huckleberry plants leave slashes of vivid gold, scarlet, and orange all over meadows and slopes.  A particular favorite hike of mine (and many others) is the stunning Naches Peak Loop Trail at Chinook Pass in Washington, which also offers breathtaking views of Mt. Rainier just to the south.



Along the Naches Loop Trail

For a uniquely Northwest twist on fall colors, continue east of the Cascade crest for spectacular views of golden larches in mid to late October.  According to trail guide book author Craig Romano, who grew up in New Hampshire, "The larches are the next best thing to New England hardwoods when it comes to autumn foliage.”


Golden larches along the road to Hell's Canyon overlook, Wallowa Mountains, OR

Alpine Lakes Wilderness is a great place to see these deciduous conifers from the trail, but you can also enjoy them from the car on a drive over Chinook Pass and other parts of the region, such as in the Blue and Wallowa Mountains of southeast Washington and northeast Oregon.

Golden larches starting to turn, east of Chinook Pass

In the eastern crest of the Cascades and high and dry country of eastern Oregon and Washington, quaking aspen also turn shimmery gold in the fall.  If you can take the time, try heading to the remote Steens Mountain area in southeast Oregon for a good aspen show. I've also enjoyed seeing them in the Pasayten Wilderness in northern Washington.




Along the Naches River, late October

These are just a few of many, many places to enjoy our fall color here in the Northwest.  Where are your favorite places or hikes to enjoy the peak of autumn as the leaves turn? Jump in with a Comment below!

Happy Trails and thanks for visiting Pacific Northwest Seasons.

Fall is here! September 26, 2013, in Seattle.

  

So Long 2017: Another Year of Pacific Northwest Adventures

As the year turns, here we are again. Yes, the seasons do seem to fly by more quickly with each passing year.

While I had a good, busy year, the blog has lagged. I can't say exactly why. Social media burnout? Work overload spilling into evenings and weekends? New distractions in life? Probably a combination of all.

Regardless, sharing annual Pacific Northwest highlights is a tradition here at Pacific NW Seasons.  I hope you enjoy, and I'd love to hear about your 2017 highlights, too, in a comment below.

January
When I'm not skiing on weekends, I've been hiking lowland forests in the winter the last couple years. It's getting harder to find forests to hike near Seattle or Portland that aren't overly crowded or threatened by logging and development. 

I spent several hours on a January day walking the sometimes confusing trails of the lush Port Gamble Forest, which sits on a northern finger of the Kitsap Peninsula, across Puget Sound from Seattle, Washington.

Save for a few mountain bikers, we saw no one else.  I'm happy to report that several thousand acres of this forest, which was slated for continued logging, has been permanently protected as of late December 2017.


February
Continuing the lowland hiking theme, I enjoyed a lovely day hiking windswept Ebey's Landing on the western edge of Whidbey Island with the Alpine Trails Book Club. This is a perennial favorite hike any time of the year, but it's quieter in the winter.

This trail offers a nice combination of upland and beach walking. The views up the Strait of Juan de Fuca are spectacular.

March
In March 2017 it rained. A lot. We had a record-breaking rainfall last winter.

On one of those rainy, mucky days, I joined some friends from Blue Heron Zen Community to team up with the Friends of Jackson Park Trail and Thornton Creek Alliance and pull invasive weeds along the Jackson Park Trail in north Seattle. 

It was wet and muddy, sometimes it felt like an exercise in futility, but it felt good to be out there with other civic-minded people. We smiled and laughed a lot, then ate pizza together huddled under a tarp.

I highly recommend taking a few days each year to volunteer.

April
Indeed we had April showers in 2017 as our wet spell continued into spring. Rain be damned, I went to the University of Washington Quad to catch the cherry blossoms in bloom. This has become a tourist pilgrimage now, so the rainy day kept the crowds down.

Another destination that's especially brilliant in the spring around here is the Bloedel Garden on Bainbridge Island. On the way there in April, we stopped and visited the grave of Chief Seattle (Sealth, Suiat'l) in Suquamish on the Kitsap Peninsula.

I was moved thinking about what this region was like in his lifetime and how it has changed. I felt connected in a small, not-so-nice way, as I've been told that his daughter worked as a maid for my great-grandparents on Alki in West Seattle.

May
Our heavy rains abated, and May brought beautiful weather for some great hiking in western Washington. Besides another hike with the Alpine Trails Book Club to Boulder Creek, rich with waterfalls, I rambled along the Mid-Fork Snoqualmie River Trail outside North Bend east of Seattle.

Years ago this was harder to reach with miles of dirt road; today much more is paved. But the reward is still great. You can walk miles through a lovely forest with occasional views like below.

June
To help a longtime friend celebrate a milestone birthday, a group of us journeyed south to the central Oregon coast for a weekend. When I moved from Portland to Seattle for college, I used to miss what I called "real beaches," the dramatic Pacific coast beaches along the Oregon coast.

I snuck out for a hike at Cape Perpetua Scenic Area just south of Yachats, where the views southward are stunning. Well worth a visit, and if you go, plan to spent a whole day exploring if you like to hike.

July
With snow retreating from the higher elevations, I joined a friend for an exhilarating hike up to Third Burroughs on Mt. Rainier. If you do this hike, you must go on a clear day for the brilliant views.

 
At about 10 miles round-trip from the Sunrise parking lot, this hike is a great workout. As always, go early!

Several friends joined me for a fantastic hike up Beckler Peak on Fourth of July, just below Stevens Pass.  En route below the summit, we passed this little guy.

August
I used to say that August was my favorite month, although these days I trend toward October. But ah August, the rich, well-seasoned later summer, is a great time here in the Northwest.

We were plagued by intensely smokey days from forest fires raging throughout the region, but on early morning of the total solar eclipse day, skies cleared for perfect viewing in western Oregon. What an absolutely awesomely amazing thing to witness!

We were camped at a farm near Silverton, Oregon, and also got in a lovely hike in Silver Falls State Park. Go if you can...early.
 
September
Some say September is the shining star month here in the Pacific Northwest. Often we have Indian summer conditions, the pesky summer bugs have mostly gone away for the year, and it's a fantastic time to hike, kayak, or whatever outdoors pursuit you like.

A highlight for me was a gorgeous, invigorating hike up Mt. Townsend on the northeastern edge of the Olympic Mountains. 

On a sad note, the Eagle Creek Fire engulfed large swaths of our treasured Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area forests.


October
A nice day in October is a treasure. I now claim October as my favorite month for the fall colors, the touch of winter sometimes creeping into the air (skiing!), the end of the fall harvest (Washington apples!), and much more. 

In 2017 I got over to the Leavenworth area and beyond to Stehekin on the upper end of Lake Chelan. I love north-central Washington for its drier climate but beautiful rugged mountains. Great hiking too.

November
Usually our first snow in the mountains comes in November, and 2017 was on target as usual.

On a chilly clear November day, the Snow Lakes Trail above Icicle Creek outside Leavenworth was pretty much all ours. In the summer this trail is full of hikers and climbers, some en route to the Enchantments or just the Snow Lakes above. But again, off season is the time to go for more solitude. (If that's what you like.)

 
December
And here we are as I write this. It has been a hectic, whirlwind of a month with the holidays. 

I've not gotten out much except for a few good walks in Seattle's Discovery Park. Not a bad place to walk, really. In fact, I'll get more enthusiastic and call it an urban treasure featuring a lowland forest, prairie bluffs, beaches, and stunning views.

It's time to think about skiing, which I hope to be doing over New Year's. But also, for me,  the turning of the year is a time to take stock of the year past and the year ahead. 

What will 2018 bring? Stay tuned for more Pacific Northwest (and beyond) adventures.  Wishing you and yours a happy, fulfilling, fun, and peaceful new year.


Happy trails and thanks for visiting Pacific Northwest Seasons! In between blog posts, visit Pacific NW Seasons on FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram for more Northwest photos and outdoors news.