Monday being Labor day and a day off for my husband, we chose to go walk the Ebey landing trail. We parked at the trailhead parking lot by the cemetery in Coupeville, and noticed 2 things that were new to us. There was a sign posted showing "Pratt loop". An addition to the existing Ebey Landing trail & we noticed a sign stating that the Ebey house and the blockhouse were open for viewing. As many times as we'd been hiking there, I never knew that these buildings were open in the summer. We also learned from the National Park docent that the historical buildings are part of the NATIONAL PARK's system. I knew that Ebey Prairie was a National historic reserve, but I guess I just didn't register the info. about the houses and the National parks. The National park is in charge of the restoration of historic buildings and these buildings are in their care.
We enjoyed going through them and listening to the knowledgeable docent.
They had signboards set up with information about the history of the Ebey family and the Landing inside the house.
We weren't allowed to go up the stairs of the blockhouse to the second floor, but the main floor door was open for us to peek inside.
We then walked from the houses to connect with the trail heading towards the Ebey's Landing trail.
We've hiked the Ebey Landing trail many times. Here's a photo collage taken on a much sunnier day, while hiking with the SENIOR TRAILBLAZERS in February of this year.
On our way back through the upper Prairie ridge trail we decided to take the new Pratt loop trail.
I'm glad we did, it follows the field for a ways and then the trail tucks into the forest.
We sat on this bench for awhile
to enjoy this view.
We then followed the trail into the forest and towards other historic buildings that are in the process of being restored by the National Park's.
We also saw that another trail sign notes that this trail connects with the Kettle trails. Click on this LINK to see a map of the Kettle trails. Wow, this opens up a plethora of connected hiking trail opportunities!
As you can see, they did a great job of posting directional signs.
We really enjoyed our day of historical sightseeing and walking with the bonus "Pratt loop" thrown in to make it just right!
Endomondo stats -
Total miles walked - 5.75
total ascent - 456 feet
total descent - 531 feet
