We met at the Peace Arch at 8:30, showed our four Nexus cards at the border and headed off to Anacortes. We went into the town itself so that I could call at the Visitor Information to pick up a map of the Anacortes Community Forest Lands. We also enjoyed a coffee stop at the next door Calico Cupboard restaurant.

Going back south on H Avenue and Heart Lake Road, we found the Mount Erie Road and Anke directed us up to a parking spot at a trailhead at the 230m level of the 400m mountain. This trail (26) led us to the summit trail where we turned down to make an initial visit to Whistle Lake. The downward trail (207) had been improved to make its formerly straight-down route into a more pleasant switchback. At the foot of the hill we turned right and soon joined an old road leading in from Whistle Lake Road. Here we met a city official and a companion parking a car for a short walk. We went right along this road (21) until it met another trail coming up from the right. We were now above the southern and western tip of Whistle Lake and this joining trail (22) was to be our return route.


We continued, parallelling above the lake for some way until Trail 233 took us right and we dropped down getting views over and along the large lake. The day was cold and gray, with a wind, but the views were still enjoyable, even though they would have been more so on a fine summer's day. There were Indian paintbrush on a slope below us and, nearby, fawn lilies on both sides of the trail. We followed down to join Trail 204 and stay close to the lake's edge until the northern end. We turned right onto an old spur from Whistle Lake Road (201) until it ended and a Walkers Only route (205) continued. Here we managed to find an acceptable first-lunch spot out of the wind (although there turned out to be a better one a little further on - isn't there always?).


After lunch, we followed the trail up and down as it continued around the lake. Coming along the southern side, the trail came down to a bridge and curved left to follow past Toot Swamp before climbing again and bringing us up to another old road, which we followed (Trail 22) to bring us back to this morning's south west lake junction. Here we paused for a drink and snack to give us the strength to carry on.

We now retraced our steps to our morning access point and continued on to the summit (Trail 216). It twisted and turned up and around rocks, sometimes offering you left-or-right options, but it didn't seem to matter which you chose - you always got to where they rejoined again. The welcome summit arrived about 40 minutes from the access trail.

We faced a cold fierce wind at the top. The car was below us and the prospects for a protected lunch were not great. Doris was past having lunch so the rest of started a hurried eat. However, a car that had been parked turned round to head down and I stopped him to ask for a ride. He was glad to do so and I learned on the way down that he had lived in Anacortes all his life and never been up Mount Erie before. On my return I finished my lunch and went with Doris to see the fantastic views all round. We returned to the car but before we left a palsied girl approached the window and we asked if she wanted a lift down. She declined but said she wanted food. I remembered Doris's uneaten sandwiches in the back and gave them to her. She was munching them happily as we left. Two lucky coincidences - a car for me and food for her!

Return to Further Walks.