Dan at Saratoga Woods with his three “girls”

Marina and Stella are very much like me.  They are “girly” girls, but they also like to be out in the wilderness and rough it, just like me.  They are up for any adventure.  Today we mentioned taking a hike at Saratoga Woods.  They arrived with their hiking shoes and were excited to go!







For the past eight years, Dan and I have hiked many times, countless miles, and every trail in Saratoga Woods, but my history with these woods goes back decades.

My favorite thing as a child and a young teenager was my horse.  I loved everything about horses: riding, grooming, feeding, cleaning stalls, and even the sounds and smell of a horse.  I was one of those girls who had a horse to take care of and love, and so I didn’t have time for or need a boyfriend.

In 1983, my first year living on Whidbey Island I went to an auction, and while nursing my new baby boy, Owen, made a winning bid on a seven year old gelding. I named him Cromwell.  This was my first horse in 17 years!  Cromwell and I discovered all the hidden trails through huge tracts of forests on Whidbey Island.

This included the forests that are now called Saratoga Woods. They are part of  the Whidbey Camano Land Trust, which Dan and I have donated to.  I had horses as an adult for over 25 years and often rode in these woods.  After my back surgery I spent hours running in Saratoga Woods.

When Owen was a senior in high school, he took me to the “Big Rock.”  This is an enormous glacial rock from the Ice Age that had been moved by a glacier over fifty miles south (from the Deception Pass area) and was left here when the ice melted.  I had never seen this rock and at the time the rock was hidden and not part of the Woods.  Only the kids who roamed freely in the forests knew about the “Big Rock”, the name they had given it.

Owen climbed up the rock, threw me a rope, and helped me climb to the top of the rock.  It was beautiful, covered with moss, ferns, and flowers growing in all the cracks.  This was a special day.

The “Big Rock” is now part of Saratoga Woods thanks to the Waterman family who donated 40 acres that included the rock to the Woods.  The Waterman family at one time were loggers, owned a lumber mill, and about half the forests in South Whidbey.

So today Dan and his three “girls” hiked in our beloved Saratoga Woods and to the “Big Rock.”

Here we are at the “Big Rock”.  Marina has her right hand on the rock and Stella is trying to see the top of the rock:





There used to be a privately owned airstrip here. Owen told me (much later) that when he was in high school they used to race cars on the strip.  It is now overgrown with new trees.  Here we are on the airstrip:

 





Stella is pointing to an old notch that was made about a hundred years ago in this old cedar stump.      The notch was used to hold a springboard for two men to stand on as they used a gigantic 2-man hand saw to cut down these old growth trees that were hundreds of years old.

There are several of these notches throughout Saratoga Wood if you take the time to look.  This one is on the Springboard Alley Trail:



Marina is sitting on a “tree” on the Bent Tree Trail.



We had a wonderful day hiking Saratoga Woods with our Granddaughters.

Every good hiker deserves a trip to DQ and to indulge in whatever special treat they want.  So off to get ice cream we went.  Although this picture shows only Marina and Stella enjoying their yummy treat, you can bet the Grandma and Grandpa had our share of ice cream too.



We have sold our lovely Whidbey Island home, the moving truck will be arriving in a few days, and we will be leaving our island paradise.  We love these trails these and have hiked them with all our grandchildren. This may be the last time we will be deep in our woods.  We are sad to leave and excited and happy to move and make our home at Nuestra Casa deep in our deserts.



.






.