![]() "It's a really good way to get out," she said of the course. She volunteers as one of the teachers of an eight-week course for Jefferson Land Trust called "Tidelands to Timberline" each spring, and brings her students to Interrorem Trail to learn about those ferns. "There are all the ferns of our region on that 1-mile loop," Harding said. She also likes the Interrorem Trail, whose trailhead is at the Duckabush Recreation Area, off Duckabush Road south of Quilcene. "There are so many trails there, and they have the new lookouts." A lot of the trails are low elevation, necessary to avoid snow in winter, "and there's so much variety," she said. Harding said the Elwha River Valley "is one of the best places" for a wintertime walk. Notch Pass "is supposedly a traditional route that the native peoples took into the mountains," she said. Harding found Notch Pass because she was looking for a winter trail and everything else was snowed in, she said. One of Harding's favorite trails is at Notch Pass in the Olympic National Forest, accessed via Penny Creek Road south of Quilcene. ![]() The trail follows the shore of Lake Cushman, located just west of Lilliwaup, and passes among "beautiful old-growth cedars and firs." Those willing to drive out of county might enjoy the Lake Crescent area, with its Spruce Railroad, Marymere Falls and Moments in Time trails.Īnother favorite is the Grand Staircase/Skokomish Shady Lane Trail, a flat 0.9-mile trail at Grand Staircase. South Indian Island Park faces south and is "a good place to get winter sun," she advised. "If they sense the value of the resource, they'll want to help protect it."Īside from four state parks in the area that "are just phenomenal for hiking" – Fort Worden, Fort Flagler, Anderson Lake and Fort Townsend – Harding recommends Gibbs Lake County Park, Cappy's Trails in Port Townsend, North Beach, the Larry Scott Trail and the walk from Point Hudson to Fort Worden past Chetzemoka Park. Giving people "a sense of valuing the resource" is "a basic conservation ethic," she added. It's about helping them connect" to a place. "I am really big on the art of interpretation," Harding said, trying to not just "give people a bunch of facts, but help people connect to a place." There are many ways to do that, she said. "I go to the most beautiful places in the world." She puts a lot of energy into it, she added it's also stressful and exhausting. "It is an awesome, awesome job," she said. and in Bryce Canyon, Utah, and in Cuba for Classic Journeys Inc. ![]() Harding leads small-group guided walking tours on the Olympic Peninsula for a company called Country Walkers Inc. "To relieve myself of working with people, I went off into the woods," she said. Originally from California, she majored in biology at Colorado College and worked as a whale biologist, teaching people about research methods on whale-watching vessels, including Puget Sound Express, based in Port Townsend. "We have such great hikes here," said Heather Harding, a professional guide who lives in Chimacum and travels around the world leading interpretive walks. Jefferson County has a wealth of winter activities, one of the simplest and most rewarding of which is simply to take a walk.
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