CARLSBORG — ‘Tis the season for plump squash, towering corn stalks and an element of fright.
As Halloween approaches, indulge your yen for fall’s quirkiest holiday with a visit to The Pumpkin Patch and a tour of its Corn Maze.
Designer Roger Schmidt has cut a replica of the solar system — don’t worry, it’s not actual size — out of more than eight acres of corn at the patch on U.S. Highway 101 at Kitchen-Dick Road.
About 2.4 miles of maze extend from the sun (marked by a straw-topped gazebo) outward in concentric circles, leading to planets, along the path of a comet and into the numerals “2004.”
Tall, green stalks laden with corn are planted densely and tower about 10 feet above the path.
Throughout the maze stand 10 randomly placed checkpoints where wanderers can collect punches on their map.
Find all 10 and earn $1 in “Sunny Money” redeemable on apple cider, kettle corn, pumpkins and other items sold at the patch.
The checkpoints, and a few dead-ends, contain clues and factoids about the solar system.
Solar system research
Schmidt admits he had to turn to the Internet for research.
“I started searching my mind for things about the solar system and found out I didn’t remember too much,” he said.
He picked the solar system theme to stand out from other mazes around the country, which often depict faces and heads, said Schmidt, who owns Sunny Farms Country Store in Sequim and is a partner in the Pumpkin Patch owned by Phil Lassila.
“I just was trying to find something that wasn’t too difficult,” Schmidt said.
He wanted it to appeal to both adults and youth.
“If you make it too adult-ish in the challenge, they don’t have any fun. They get really frustrated. They can’t get their Sunny Money.”
