Sehome Hill Arboretum

Wading in shallow pools of the Umpqua River in southern Oregon, backpacking the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Area, setting up tents and cooking on campfires… Pacific Northwest forests have nurtured me all my life. So finding 180-acres of natural forest habitat in the middle of Bellingham, is like giving bread to a starving child. Western Washington University and the City of Bellingham manage this preserve on Sehome Hill, and its six-miles of hiking trails. Conifers dominate the arboretum’s forested surroundings; primarily Douglas firs together with lesser numbers of western hemlocks and western red cedars. In open areas that receive more light, there are big-leaf maples and alders, while the understory shrubbery is dense with Oregon grape, Indian plum, and snowberry. Sword ferns cascade down steep banks and carpets of moss cover everything. And it is so quiet. Not even the tinkle of a bear bell as we walked along the trail yesterday. Bob stopped and said, “It feels funny to be walking in the forest without a bear bell.” Yes it does. When we lived in northern B.C. we always attached a bear bell to our hiking sticks. But there are no bears here, although there have been occasional cougar sightings.

After our hike we drove to Boomer’s Drive-in Restaurant (the real thing) and ordered root beer floats. They are missing those unintelligible speakers we all remember, but there are the stalls and the lighted menus next to the car, carhop service, the trays that attach to the car window, and music straight out of the fifties. Bragging rights: “Voted Best Burger in Bellingham” and “World Famous Waffle Fries.” I don’t know what waffle fries are… maybe we’ll try them next time.

... PLM