Nancy Hilliard
Around the Island

Seeking the best escape from the Island by foot, we took the 17-minute walk across the East Channel Bridge. Not for the faint-hearted. Traffic screams toward you at 60 mph on one side, gives you a vertigo-view of the channel on the other, and the ground beneath you vibrates. I was glad to exit to Enatai Beach, a beautiful park that looks right back on Mercer Island.

Here you may rent a canoe or kayak to explore the 400-acre Mercer Slough Nature Reserve, or fish off a dock that goes 50 feet into the lake, or sit on a bench that has been carved by lovers as “The Makeout Bench.” From there we explored the pathways under the freeway and across the wetlands that hook into Lake Washington Blvd., going south to Renton’s Gene Coulon Park.

Walkers may instead choose to go north toward Bellevue from Enatai Beach. You take the trails past the blueberry farm on to Bellevue Way, past Winter’s Historic House, ending at the Park and Ride, where you can catch a 550 headed to Seattle and transfer at MI’s Park and Ride to your local bus. Either walk takes just two to three hours, depending on your pace.

Brad Fowler, who led the Jan. 5 winter walk from the Island to the Seattle waterfront, says the one-mile walk across the floating bridge was also somewhat daunting. “A gusty rain squall hit us about a third of the way across and the traffic was loud and unpleasant, as expected. We decided not to grit our teeth by walking another mile in a dark tunnel, so we hiked up the hill from the bridge to the Mount Baker ridge.”

The weather then cleared, was pleasant and provided good sightseeing of old homes and trees, the International District and Pioneer Square. Back to the Island by bus. Total time: three hours. His next winter walk is Feb. 2, following the beach walk along Alki from the Seacrest Marina to the lighthouse, and back over the top of West Seattle. Distance: about four miles, great views.

So much for $2! Solemates walk on Wednesdays, 8:30-11:30 a.m., meeting at CCMV with outdoor fitness guru Fran Call as leader. Last week, 31 participants (55- to 85-year-olds and one younger visitor from Baghdad) trooped over three miles around Newport Hills, ending at Factoria for coffee. No strenuous hiking, just good conversation and brisk walks in such neighborhoods as Queen Anne, West Seattle, Beacon Hill, Madison Park and even an occasional ferry ride to another island. (The $2 pays for city vehicles to drive walkers to their route.)

We met 30-year-old Raghad Al Saadi, an immigrant from Iraq who now stays with Ginger and Woody Howse on Mercer Island, and seeks employment. She is a translator by trade, so speaks impeccable English. It is an exhilarating new freedom for her to walk out in public, which would not have been OK in Iraq, she says.

Fran Call and five other Solemates are off to the Argentine Andes for a few weeks for a level-five trek. Three of the Solemates took the Polar Bear Swim on New Year’s Day with Nile Clarke’s regulars. And 64 of them enjoyed a Christmas dinner together with spouses at a hotel in Bellevue this year. They also bought Albertsons gift cards for the needy and two matching contributions parlayed the gift into $1,400+. They plan a several-day gathering in Leavenworth in the summer to walk, tube the river and enjoy outdoor theater.

While most of their walks are three to five miles, the group plans a 10-miler in May to celebrate Solemates’ 10th year on the road. “My first Solemates group was eight middle-aged Outdoor Fitness moms who trained for and ran the NYC Marathon together in 1987,” says the leader. Solemates now draws around 30 hoofers each week. Fran, as MIHS kids know from Outdoor Fitness boot camp, cross-country skiing and Cycle Mate days, is infectious.

Other local Volkswalking events can be found online at www.ava.org. Check out Northwest Striders, Interlaken Trailblazers and Emerald City Walkers.

Terri Hildebrandt, counseling therapist, triathlon completer and daredevil of sorts, pulls out all the stops. She says she has “one more death-defying course” to complete for King County Search & Rescue, Wilderness Navigation Training. She and another “mature adult” joined 16 other participants under age 19.

“Wilderness navigation (that means ‘are-you-kidding-me’ word and calculation problems) is followed by 48 hours of carrying a 40-pound pack with immediate failure if the pack is put down,” says Terri. Then, it’s traversing steep mountainsides, running rivers, creeks, swamps and forest, sleeping on the ground, on the snow, in the rain, in the wilderness, under nothing but a tarp shelter, filtering water and eating meals out of a bag.”

The two “elders” carefully navigated the forested wilderness in frigid cold daylight and the deep pitch of darkness while the younger “contestants” ran up the steep mountain, jumped the creeks and leapt over behemoth logs. The 50-somethings credit their mindfulness, wisdom, and careful pacing to passing several groups of “young’uns.”

David Wolter, retired obstetrician and Air Force colonel who lives at Covenant Shores, is determined not to bring up the rear.

The octogenarian is often seen riding his bike up and down Gallagher Hill, then up and down again, up to five loops — just for the fun of it, while we walkers huff and puff up once. He says his maximum repeat on any one day was 10 times.

Why do it, we ask?

“I just like to sniff the fresh air and freedom,” he says, having biked on MI for 35 years. Many of the fitness walkers add, “Because we can.”

To contact Nancy Hilliard, e-mail her at nancybobhilliard@msn.com.