Steve Fagin: 'Best hike ever' on Block Island

May 4—A chorus of songbirds serenaded our group while we strolled through a corridor of shadbush, their white blossoms gleaming against an azure sky.

We could hear waves washing against rocks, and soon gazed at an expansive view of the Atlantic Ocean, which took our breaths away.

"All right — this is the best hike ever," proclaimed Phil Plouffe, who normally is not given to superlatives.

Phil, Maggie Jones, Andy Lynn and I were hiking last week along Block Island's Clay Head Trail, one of several scenic footpaths we traversed during a daylong visit to the island.

The Clay Head Trail passes through a 190-acre preserve, one of five separate tracts managed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC). When combined with preserves and wildlife refuges overseen by The National Fish and Wildlife Service, Audubon Society and other land-conservation organizations, nearly half the island's 7,000 acres are protected from development.

Block Island's 28 miles of public hiking trails pass through forests and meadows that are home to an extensive variety of plants and animals, making it what TNC calls "one the Western Hemisphere's Last Great Places." Long before Dutch explorer Adriaen Block charted the island and named it for himself in 1614, Native American inhabitants referred to it as Manisses, meaning "God's Little Island."

We covered about three miles on the Clay Head Trail, which curved north and ascended a 120-foot bluff before ending on Corn Neck Road. Along the way, Maggie maintained a running commentary on birds we observed, including goldfinches, cardinals, towhees, redwing blackbirds and ring-necked pheasants.

She also noted how the island's breezes shaped the forest canopy. Twisted and stunted trees and bushes reinforced the meaning of the term "windswept," she said.

We then walked on asphalt a short distance before entering a 46-acre section of the 133-acre Block Island National Wildlife Refuge.

After passing Settlers' Rock — a monument listing the names of English colonists who first landed on Block Island in 1661 — we began hiking on the North Lighthouse Trail, a three-quarters-of-a-mile, narrow strip of sand and cobblestones that extends to the island's extreme northern tip. About halfway out, not far from the decommissioned North Lighthouse, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, I noticed a dark shape submerged in the water. A shiny head popped up — a gray seal.

"Hey, Andy! Look to your right!" I called. He turned his head to see not one, but two seals staring at him. Soon there were a dozen. As we continued walking, more and more gray and harbor seals swam and dived. By the time we neared the tip at Sandy Point, hundreds of the marine mammals were either in the water, or hauled up along the rocky shore. Dozens of seal pups also sprawled in the sand.

"I've never seen this many, anywhere!" I exclaimed. I later learned the mixed colony of gray and harbor seals, which used to migrate to Block Island from points north only in winter, now inhabit Sandy Point year-round. Harbor seals weigh up to 190 pounds and measure less than 6 feet long, while gray seals — sometimes called "horseheads," because of their large, curved snouts — can weigh close to 900 pounds and measure up to 10 feet long.

Abiding by federal guidelines, we didn't get closer than 50 yards from the animals, and didn't linger. We still had many more miles of hiking before boarding the 5 p.m. ferry back to Point Judith, R.I. As arranged, we called Sue Shaw, who picked us up in her taxi and drove us to the next trailhead.

We had considered riding to trailheads on bikes brought from home, rented them on the island, or rented a car or mopeds — but with any of those options, we'd still have to spend twice as much time hiking out-and-back routes. Sue, who grew up on Block Island and has hiked all the trails, proved to be the perfect driver-guide.

Before dropping us off near Rodman's Hollow, she took us to Mohegan Bluffs, where an overlook provided stellar views of the Block Island Wind Farm. Five 328-foot-tall turbines, lined up 3.8 miles off the coast, comprise the nation's first offshore wind-generating facility. We also clambered down a 141-step staircase from the lip of a 200-foot cliff to the water, and back up again.

Next up: Rodman's Hollow, a 260-acre glacial outwash that contains forested uplands as well as rolling meadows, where a northern harrier circled and swooped in search of mice, voles and other small prey.

I would have liked to have spent more time in Rodman's Hollow, but it was getting late, so we followed a circuitous route on unmarked dirt roads, single-track paths and established trails, past the Block Island Airport, on our way back to the ferry terminal.

Anxious about missing the boat, we called Sue one more time; she picked us up and drove us the last mile. By then, we had hiked almost 10 miles. It turned out to be a wonderful day, but a long one. We left our houses before 7 a.m. to catch the 8:30 ferry from Point Judith, and didn't pull back into our driveways until 7 p.m.

During our 12-plus-hour outing, we managed to hike only about a third of Block Island's hiking trails, so we'll have to return.

Here's some information on getting to and around in Block Island:

Ferry service from New London doesn't begin until May 26, so for now, the terminal closest to southeastern Connecticut is in Point Judith. You can also fly from Westerly Airport. To review ferry schedules, along with car, bike and moped rental options, visit blockislandinfo.com/what-to-do/bike-and-moped-and-car-rental. A list of taxi companies is available at blockislandinfo.com/what-to-do/taxi-transportation.

As for choosing a trail to hike, visit natureblockisland.org/trails-on-block-island.