Candice Burt: Breaking the law: all in a days run

Just starting out my run

A pretty complete run in Coupeville at the Kettle Trails: windy, cold, got in trouble with a park ranger, and got lost! I wanted to run the trails just north of Coupeville as I had not run up there for long run since high school, other than a few short fun runs with a friend. I gave myself enough time for a 1 to 2 hour run, not quite as long as I wanted, but I was able to go for a swim before running, so it was worth the shorter run. I brought Lucy the dog with me to keep me company because I know how dark and lonely those woods can be. She's sure to scare away any big bad wolves or at least keep little red riding hood company.

I was about a half hour out on the trail, following the bluff and enjoying the strong wind blowing me around when I came to the campground area and a large field. There in the field was a park ranger. Uh oh. Forgot the dog leash! Um, on purpose, but still, a problem now. The man called me over and scolded me, a bit relentlessly actually, until I said, hey I understand you don't have to keep repeating yourself. He took down my name and number and told me for the fifth time that it was a $87 dollar fine. See I remembered! So I promised to head right back to my car and get the 'ol leash. Then I got lost. For another hour. On the up side, I was able to run for 90 minutes, which was what I wanted. And I didn't have any more run ins with the state park police. Whew.

Beautiful trails, if you are on Whidbey and have some time to kill, check 'em out! (Scroll down for a map to the park)