Fidalgo Island Crossings

The route for this year's First Day Hike at Deception Pass State Park has been announced .  Starting at the Cornet Bay Retreat Center (above), the route will take us around the Goose Rock Perimeter Trail, up and over the summit, then back to the Retreat Center.  At the end of the hike, Jeff Kish from the Pacific Northwest Trail Association will present "Experience the Pacific Northwest Trail."  This 1,200 mile scenic hiking trail extends from Glacier National Park in Montana to the Pacific Coast of Washington's Olympic Peninsula.  The First Day Hike will include a part of it which passes through Deception Pass State Park. After being shut up in the house for more than a week by the weather, I was itching to get outside.  Christmas Day delivered clear skies and sunshine, so I decided to preview the route for this year's hike. The Goose Rock Perimeter Trail begins with a walk in the woods along the shore of Cornet Bay.  Here, I was serenaded by the...

The Olympic Rain Shadow is a weather anomaly in the northwest interior of Washington State.  Weather systems off the Pacific Ocean are split by the Olympic Mountain Range.  The result is often clear skies and lower than expected rainfall in their lee.  At 06:30 last Sunday morning, it could be clearly seen as a break in the clouds over Whidbey Island.  That's it with the pinkish light of sunrise showing through. Because we sit at the edge of the rain shadow, our precipitation on Skagit Bay is nearly half of what Seattle gets.  We experience about 21 inches or 53 cm of rainfall per year.  The windward side of the mountain range, on the other hand, can get 200 inches, 5 meters annually.  This produces the famous Olympic Rain Forest . By 10:30 a.m. the wind had kicked up disrupting the rain shadow's break in the clouds.  But while the Seattle and Everett areas were getting periodic downpours, our weather continued dry and partly sunny for ...

Photos posted over at Skywatch Friday don't usually look like this.  Blue skies with white fluffy clouds are the norm.  Even better are the bright flashy reds, yellows and oranges of sunrises and sunsets.  Those bring lots of visits and comments.  But gray?  I probably won't get much play from these shots. While parts of the country are suffering under another Polar Vortex , this photo is more typical of the coastal Pacific Northwest in January.  Weather stats at the time of this photo: Time 08:20, Temperature 35.9° F, Dew Point 35.4° F, Humidity 98%, Wind Calm, Barometer Steady Fog generally forms when the difference between the temperature and dew point are less than 4° F and the relative humidity is near 100%. By 11:00 AM, the fog had lifted a bit.  As you can see, the sun is shining.  The sun always shines here.  It's just that clouds or fog sometimes get in the way.  Some find this weather dismal and even unbearable. ...

This past week, I posted a photo for Skywatch Friday titled  Midsummer .  It was shot on June 25th, 2013.  The photo above is the same scene taken yesterday, August 24th at 07:40 in the morning.  At the time, air temperature in my yard was 58° F/14.4° C, dew point 57.2° F/14° C and relative humidity 97%.  Bands of cool air over the warmer waters of the bay are revealed as strands of fog.  The fog appears to be claiming the islands for itself.  By 09:00, the fog had disappeared, and the overcast cleared. In typical fashion, the day would end up warm and sunny and looking more like the "Midsummer" photo.  Living close to an ocean often means early morning overcast skies, even in the summer. In this area, autumn begins its arrival in mid-August.  Weeks of warm, dry weather is suddenly interrupted by the first rain system moving in off the Pacific.  As I write this, a band of showers is moving north from Olympia and Tacoma.  I dou...

I had a big day today.  For four or five years, I have been on a quest to find the wild rhododendrons growing in Deception Pass State Park.  I knew they were there somewhere, but I could never find them.  Finally, I tweeted @WAStatePks and just asked.  They told me exactly where to find them and also sent a link to an updated trail map . The Pacific or Coast Rhododendron ( Rhododendron macrophyllum ) is the Washington State Flower .  Nevertheless, it is a relatively rare shrub in the state.  Olympic National Park and this grove in Deception Pass State Park are two of the few spots where they can be found growing wild.  Just like in the garden, rhododendrons love to grow in the understory beneath Douglas Firs, Western Hemlocks and Western Redcedars.  Here they will get just enough dappled sunlight through openings in the canopy. Macrophyllum means "big leaf" and I understand now why they have this name.  Many of the leaves on these p...

7:11 AM, Temp 58.4° F, Dew Pt 57.8° F, Barometer 29.93 in, Wind Calm, Humidity 98%, Drizzle South Fidalgo Island woke to foggy conditions this morning with light rain.  While some parts of the U.S. swelter under triple digit temperatures, we remain cool and drizzly.  Interestingly, the weather in San Francisco  is almost exactly the same today.  This is not unusual.  The huge Pacific Ocean is the dominant influence on weather in both locations. I read somewhere that over the near term, the global climate thing (you know, that whose name shall not be spoken) will have less impact in the coastal Pacific Northwest.  Our spring and early summer has actually been rather chilly this year.  It is predicted that our temperatures will warm, but more slowly than in other parts of the planet.  Again, our nearby ocean will have a moderating influence. By 9:00 AM, the fog had pretty much lifted, but the day should continue with overcast and drizzle...

Along the west coast of North America, one of our favorite native trees is the Pacific Madrona ( Arbutus menziesii ).  It has a number of unusual characteristics that make it stand out.  It is both deciduous and evergreen.  It has smooth, red bark that is more like skin.  Like a reptile, it sheds this skin every year.  Even on the warmest days, the trunk and limbs will feel cool to the touch.  It has big, shiny, dark-green leaves, and displays large clusters of white flowers in the spring.  It is every bit as beautiful and desirable in the garden as our choicest ornamental shrubs.  The story of the Port Angeles Madrona reveals the esteem that local people have for this tree. Twenty-five years ago, I was delighted to discover that several Madronas were coming up voluntarily in my yard.  My home has been recognized by strangers as "the place with the Madrona trees."  Both sides of my driveway are lined with them.  There are cur...

Last August I posted an article about a very special tree that grows in the Pacific Northwest.  I noted that it doesn't follow any of the tree rules.  This is the Pacific Madrona ( Arbutus menziesii ), as we call them around here.  In California they say Madrone and in Canada, Arbutus.  As I have pointed out previously, I practice a kind of "serendipity gardening."  Along with the plants I purchase in nurseries, I often let things grow that spring up on their own.  I am fortunate to have had several Madronas come up in my yard.  My driveway is lined with them, and this has become a very special feature.  They cannot be transplanted and the Sunset Western Garden Book notes, "if you live in Madrone country and have a tree in your garden, treasure it." In a local news feed that I follow, I was startled to read that hundreds of Madronas are dying in the nearby San Juan Islands.  The problem has been attributed to a fungal diseas...

On Columbus Day, 1962 John Kennedy was in his 1000-day presidency.  Mercury astronauts Glenn, Carpenter and Schirra had achieved orbital spaceflight and the Beetles had debuted on BBC Radio.  I was sixteen years old and what a wonderful time it was.  It was called Camelot . Gig Harbor, Washington is my home town.  This south Puget Sound community is located on the west end of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge .  On Friday, October 12, 1962 a home game was scheduled for the Peninsula High School football team against Fife High School.  That was to be the big event of the day.   There had been weather warnings, but truly severe weather is rare here.  Northwesterners typically don't pay attention to weather.  It was breezy, but the game was on and everyone was assembled.  The teams, coaches, officials, bands, cheerleaders and stands filled with Pen High Seahawks fans were all in place, ready to go.  (Yes, we were Seahawk...