Fidalgo Island Crossings

As everyone knows by now, the Pacific Northwest will be experiencing a solar eclipse this coming Monday, August 21, 2017.  The path of totality will pass through Oregon, but here in Anacortes, Washington, at 10:21 a.m., we will experience 91% of totality.  The website timeanddate.com has a nifty page for determining times and extent of totality for any location.  Just plug your city or zip code into the search box. A 91% solar eclipse will still be amazing and I want to be out in it.  I realized experiencing it is more important to me than looking at it.  I want to see the light changing.  I want to feel the air temperature and hear the sounds.  I have been thinking about where I would like to be.  I have selected Hoypus Point in Deception Pass State Park.  Cornet Bay Road provides views of Deception Pass and the east face of the bridge.  While the bridge should be lighted by the sun, the sun itself will not be visible behind the t...

You may have noticed I haven't been around here for a while.  I bought a house in Anacortes.  For those unfamiliar with the geography, I currently live on the south shore of Fidalgo Island , on Skagit Bay.  Anacortes occupies the northern end of the island.  It's about five miles away as the crow flies. With retirement approaching, I have had this move in the back of my mind for a while.  Occupying three floors, my current house is large, much larger than I need.  The yard is very large.  I have enjoyed the 30 years I've lived here, but the advantages of a smaller place have become obvious.  Primarily, the new house will be easier to take care of and easier to clean.  There will be more time for hiking, picture taking, and just watching the goings-on in the garden. I will be moving in the next couple of weeks.  Most of my clothes, pots, pans, dishes, patio furniture, tools, and these frogs are already there.  I spent this mor...

The arrival of spring means it's time to start planning for rhododendron season.  Again this year, I will be photographing the native Pacific Rhododendrons in Deception Pass State Park.  Also known as the Coast Rhododendron, and California Rhododendron  (R. macrophyllum) , this is the official Washington State Flower .  Yesterday, I went over to hike the "Rhododendron Trail" to see how things look.  I saw several buds swelling, even on this small bush right next to the trail. The trails are also looking good, although some spots are a bit muddy right now.  What I have dubbed the "Rhododendron Trail" is actually a network of Deception Pass trails.  There are two large groves, one at Goose Rock and a second in the Hoypus Forest .  I visited the Goose Rock grove yesterday.  I plan to check out the Hoypus grove next week. This year, I will be adding the Park Office Trail and the Bob Matchett bog bridge wetlands to the Goose Rock ...

I rambled through the Kukutali Preserve yesterday.  Today I'll ramble a bit about what I saw there.  After non-stop sunshine during most of July, the morning gave us an overcast sky with temperatures around 60 °  F, 15° C.  Rain was threatened, but mostly to the south.  By my reckoning, this is perfect weather for both hiking and photography. As I set off, I was greeted by Kukutali Kitty who gave me a welcoming rub on the ankle.  My ownership had been established. Hiking along the road, the first thing I noticed was all the summer fruiting going on.  Left to right from top to bottom: Black Twinberry (Lonicera involucrata) Hamalayan Blackberry (Rubus discolor, R. armeniacus)  Introduced invasive Nootka Rose ( Rosa nutkana) Salal (Gaultheria shallon) Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) Baldhip Rose (Rosa gymnocarpa) It is not uncommon to find feral apple trees around here that have esca...

No, I am not giving up hiking.  When I say the "last trail," I am saying with this hike, I have completed every official trail in Deception Pass State Park.  This one opened last fall and doesn't even have a name or appear on the park's trail map (.pdf) .  Park staff just refer to it as the Goose Rock-Cornet Bay Road trail.  It branches south from the trail that connects the Park Administration Building with the Goose Rock Perimeter Trail.  For this hike, I parked at the Admin Building and headed down the trail towards Cornet Bay.  Find a map of the trail on page 6 of the October, 2015 issue of The Current (.pdf) . The weather was atypical for July.  I set off under an overcast sky in occasional light drizzle.  The temperature was a comfortable 57° F, 14° C.  The forest would be my umbrella.  I remained dry the entire hike. The trail begins like most of the others in the park.  It's a closed canopy coniferous forest trail...