State of Washington 4

Monday, August 28—John needed to drive to SeaTac airport to pick-up Don and Ann-Marie Coleman, whom we knew from their time with Campus Ministries at the U of M, and now lived near John in Claremont, CA. Don was in the last stages of terminal stomach cancer and John was unsure if they would make the trip right up until he went to get them. We assured John we would be fine on our own, exploring Fort Townsend State Park, which borders the neighborhood in which we were staying. We packed a lunch to carry and readied ourselves to head-out although my left leg was really hurting a lot and I wondered if I could actually do another day of hiking. I walked around the house to loosen up and went downstairs and felt like I’d be okay. I turned to go back upstairs to tell Marv, stepped on the first stair, something went “pop” in my left knee, and with a yelp of pain I went down in a heap. Now I had a real dilemma. But I couldn’t imagine what we would do in a strange house all day with no car. I found a leg wrap and took some Tylenol and, after resting the leg a bit, I resolved to go ahead and hike. At the top of the hill I found a sturdy branch I could use for a walking stick and we went down, down, down a lovely, loamy trail through soaring Douglas firs, Western hemlock, cedar trees and a rich understory of ferns. Built in 1856, Fort Townsend operated as a US Army site on and off until a fire destroyed its barracks in 1895. Little remains except a couple of little garages used by park rangers who were nowhere in sight, and the small campground had very few sites taken so we had the area virtually to ourselves. We followed a “Trail” through the parade lawn lined with a few old, faded interpretive plaques and back into the woods down to the high bluff which afforded us views of Port Townsend Bay. We ate our lunch high above and overlooking the water and opted not to try to find our way down to the beach, because going down hurt much more than going up. When we had had our fill of the quiet scenery we walked through another, more wooded loop of the campground and headed back up the hill to the house. All told, we hiked 5.5 miles. (I saw an orthopedic surgeon back at home and I found out I had a torn meniscus and a stress fracture in the left leg. I told you my leg hurt!) When John returned with the Colemans we all relaxed on the back, second-story deck over some wine and cheese as the sun set. After dark, Ann-Marie was so exhausted she opted to go to bed and Don, John, Marv and I went into town to find someplace still open for a very late dinner. 

Marv is getting pretty good at selfies! This was supposed to show the
steep, steep hill we were descending but you just can't get the perspective.

Again, you can't see the hill but you can see the rich understory.

Looking towards Port Townsend across the bay.

The old parade grounds. The Officers' Quarters used line the other side.

We saw evocative shapes in the growth here like what we saw a few
years ago when we hiked on the west side of  the Olympic Peninsula.
It's easy to see how Sasquatch became legendary here.