We have been keeping fairly close to our local area for our walking, running and hiking as of late in accordance with the Washington State recommendations. That is until today....
We are members of the Friends of the Forest ACFL or Friends of the Forest Anacortes Community Forest Lands. We got an email notice recently from the Friends of the Forest stating that their forests are open to hiking with limitations as read HERE. I commend groups and departments that are allowing people to still get out on their trails. The city of Bellingham is allowing people to use the parks and the trails as long as people use physical distancing and keep moving while in the park and don't use the areas to congregate or meet up with others. Emphasis on "keep moving" and "physical distancing". You can read the city's guidelines HERE. Our local Whatcom county parks have the same policy, which you can read HERE. I was dismayed to hear that the PCT, CDT and the Appalachian trails have all been closed, but then a bright spot of sanity in the world of current insanity I read that the Arizona trail is indeed open. You can read their guidelines HERE.
The reason I've titled this post "Sanity in a time of Insanity" is because there are so many grey areas in most of the announcements regarding what is allowed and what isn't allowed. What is "essential" to one person, may not be "essential" to another person. Should people in very rural areas be as confined as people that live in very large cities where the person to person contact level is so much greater?
I feel like there should be some middle ground in all of this and common sense used as we go forward. If an activity or business can be performed in a safe way for all involved then I see no problem with allowing those things to be continued. If we all wore masks and gloves and kept our 6 feet of physical distancing, I don't see why some activities can't start in a small scale approach. Test it out and see how effective that would be. The Bellingham Farmers market this past weekend was a wonderful example of this. You can read their standards HERE.
Yes, we drove a ways out of our local area today, We have always considered the Skagit and Island counties as our backyard for hiking etc. This is the procedure we followed for our day: We didn't stop at any business ie coffee shops, stores or gas stations in that county. When we got to Heart Lake we followed the protocol as listed in their guidelines: We made sure there were no more than 10 cars in the lot when we parked, We had hand wipes for touching surfaces in the restroom, I didn't touch any surfaces in or outside of the restroom with my bare hands. We wore our face masks when we came near others. We and all of the other people we saw on the trail made sure that we kept to our physical distancing. We didn't see a huge number of people on the trail, so it wasn't much of an issue anyway.
I just want to put it out there, that I am very appreciative of an area that treats us as if we are thinking adults, that realize that we can be good citizens if given a chance. I'm glad to be a member of such a wonderful group - Thank you Friends of the Forest ACFL❤
Pictures from our day:
Signs posted at the lake
Me hiking with my mask.
A nicer photo of the lake minus me, what a nice reflection on the water.
Hikers allowed❤
Nice to be on a trail again.
Flowers and sights along the trail:
Madrona bark - Macro photo
Close up
stats:
7.26 miles
total ascent - 1043 feet
My Quarantine mantra:
Exercise outdoors is an essential activity.
Movement is Medicine.
