Fidalgo Island Crossings

Between getting one house organized to live in and another one sold, I have not had much time for hiking.  This week, after a rainy weekend, I decided it was time to get out and get a look at early fall in the North Sound.  I headed over to Kiket Island in the Kukutali Preserve .  The Deception Pass State Park Newsletter  (.pdf) indicated some new amenities were being installed, and I wanted to check them out. Off Kiket Island, there is a swim float out in Similk Bay, about 100 meters away.  It can be seen from the causeway leading to the island.  It is usually populated with Cormorants and gulls, but something was different this time.  Zooming out to 400 mm, I spotted this pair.  They were at least twice the size of our little Harbor Seals.  I believe these are either young Steller or California Sea Lions, more likely the latter.  From this distance, I'm not sure it is possible to distinguish which species they are.  Cormor...

Winter here, in the classic sense, begins in December and runs through early to mid January.  This is when temperatures at or below freezing occur.  Since Christmas, we have been experiencing temperatures well below freezing accompanied by sunny, blue skies. That's about to come to an end now with rain forecast for this weekend.  I decided I better get one more hike in before this happens. Early yesterday morning I headed for Bowman Bay in Deception Pass State Park to hike the Bowman-Rosario Trail .  This is always a good choice for beautiful scenery. interesting nature and frequent wildlife encounters.  It also provides a little terrain for a bit of exercise.  It begins at sea level, rises to skirt the cliff edge over Bowman Bay, then returns to sea level at Rosario Bay. I love hiking in the winter.  I am not really a hot weather person.  Dressing for cold weather is easy, but undressing for hot weather can only be taken so far.  For ...

There is a brand new trail in Deception Pass State Park called the Big Cedar Trail.  The photo shows just the base of its namesake, a Western Redcedar , Thuja plicata .  I find it is difficult to portray the size of a big tree in photos.  Without a person standing next to it for reference, it could be run-of-the-mill.  Let me say, if a six foot man was added to the photo, he would easily fit in the frame.  The tree is 8 feet (2.4 m) in diameter and 26 feet (8 m) in circumference at shoulder height.  It is truly a very big tree. This past summer, I recall seeing a line of ribbons tied to shrubs heading off the left side of the Ginnett trail.  I wondered if something like this was planned.  We can thank the volunteers of SWITMO (Skagit-Whatcom-Island Trail Maintaining Organization) for clearing and cutting the new trail.  Anyone hiking it will appreciate the labor that was required. The new trail, shown in red, is in the Pass Lake s...