Silverdale, Washington's Clear Creek Trail 5k Volksmarch - Tuesday, August 11, 2020

This morning it was chilly! We started walking at 7:45 a.m. with our lightweight jackets on. They stayed on until we got to the meadow areas of the walk at which time we were in full sun and the jackets came off.

A walk like this one was a bit like a treasure hunt. We had to figure out which trails to take in wetlands and meadows with multiple choices. Yes, we had our written directions with us, but read on to see our dilemmas.

We entered Silverdale Rotary Gateway Park and found the three yellow metal posts where we were to turn left. Following the paved path was not a problem. We had some interpretive signs to read that taught us about beavers as builders, the path of salmon, Puget Sound starts here, and ephemeral wetlands. We also learned about the wingspan of birds.

Beavers build a lodge (their home) out of small trees, sticks, and branches that they have gnawed. Some sticks and twigs will become their food, but most goes into building a lodge or dam. Once their lodge is built, a dam is built downstream which will back up the water to cover the entrances to their lodge. They enter the lodge underwater which helps keep predators at bay when they have young to protect.

Salmon are other inhabitants of the Clear Creek area. Each year, they come to spawn in the fall, following their instincts to return to the same place they were born.

We follow the salmon across the bridge.

A bird's wingspan. What is your wingspan?

You have the opportunity at this bird display to find out which bird's wingspan is similar in size to your outstretched arms. All you have to do is put your nose on the bird's beak and spread your arms to the side. Where your fingertips end, you read which type of bird has a wingspan as wide as your arms reach.

Wildflowers are in bloom today and there are fresh, ripe blackberries on the trails. Yum! We found some that were ripe which hadn't been taken by birds, people, or other animals.

Free for all. 

Warm from the sun, straight
from the vine to my mouth.

Our first "treasure-hunt-for-trail" moment was a direction that read, "Walk straight through the center of a meadow. Continue straight on a small foot trail through a small section of woods to a paved path." Well now, the meadow was pretty large and we headed straight across it as directed. When we got to the other side, the grasses were tall and there was no sign of a path. We searched around and finally found a small foot path about 50-75' to the left. If they would have just said to "go straight and veer left as you approach the trees on the opposite side of the meadow," we would have found it just fine.

Here are a couple wildflowers we saw today. 

Fireweed.

Possibly purple loosestrife?

Bittersweet nightshade.

The paved path was easy to follow. But then we came to the next directions which asked us to veer right at a "Y" before the red barn. Well, neither of us saw a red barn. We saw a green metal roof deep within a stand of trees, but no red barn. We took a wild guess that since it was the only building we saw in the vicinity that it must be a red barn amidst the trees. Only after we were far past that intersection did we get a glimpse of the red barn behind us.

Dirt trails and boardwalks were our next challenge. The directions asked us to count wooden posts to find our next direction. We had to be careful not to talk too much or get distracted in our counting.

A nice walking surface.

Oooh, a tree tunnel!

A lot of these paths are not named.

You had to be careful where you went because there is a huge wetlands! We were on a boardwalk for a long time and we couldn't get lost on that unless we got in the water. LOL. 

Does primordial soup look like this?
Or is this just duck soup?

Now we're back on dry land through meadows and we'll finally get a good glimpse of that red barn from earlier. The trails were moderately busy for a Tuesday morning. There were friends walking together, and young mothers out pushing strollers together.

From this direction, there is no mistaking
the big red barn from the early part
of the directions.

Meadows and hills. 

Diane Evans checking out the scarecrow.

A politically correct scarecrow.

Back on the Clear Creek Trail.

Fall colors already.

Making a beeline back to the car. 

Once we finished the trails on our route, we took a dead-end road back to the start point. The road ended, but we could walk through some bollards to our parking lot.

After Diane and I finished the 5k walk, I wanted a break in 10k walks. She stayed and did the 5k walk a second time to document confusing instructions and took photos of the areas in question. Sometimes it helps when people who are not from your area give suggestions on the walk instructions. We are not familiar with places that you may walk every week or every day, and we get lost in places that you might not even think twice about writing clearer instructions for. 

Another suggestion for clubs who maintain trail instructions in their walk boxes: Please walk your trails frequently or have someone else walk them using your instructions. Many times, construction closes a trail or a place you mention as a good place to visit is closed. When we walk in different areas around the country, up-to-date walk instructions are much appreciated!

Thank you to the Olympic Peninsula Explorers Volkssport Club for this walk in an area I probably never would have known about. This is one of the reasons Volksmarching is so fun, we're always seeing or learning about something new.

That's all for today.