Fidalgo Island Crossings

Cap Sante is a small hook-shaped headland at the extreme northeast corner of Fidalgo Island.  It creates a natural sheltered harbor adjacent to downtown Anacortes, Washington.  The Cap Sante Boat Haven accommodates commercial fishing boats, pleasure craft and the Coast Guard.  A major boating port, Anacortes hosts six marinas by my count.  On early morning trips downtown, I had noticed the visual effect of the low winter sun on the masts in the marina. I thought this would be a good spot to try out a new camera.  I bought a Canon SX210is to have something I can stick in my pocket.  So far, I am pleased with this little Canon, I just wish it had a viewfinder. At 0830 it was below freezing and the floats were slippery with heavy frost.  The clear air, still winds and bright sun produced a fine photo op.  While other parts of the country have suffered under adverse weather, we have had a string of cold, clear days over the New Year.  Enj...

Every year I take vacation after Christmas.  No lazing on a tropical beach for me, though.  Been there, done that.  I usually spend some time exploring Deception Pass State Park near my home.  Winter is a good time to visit the park.  It is relatively devoid of tourists and the air is clearer for photos.  On this day, I would explore the sand dunes at West Beach .  While driving in, I spotted a flock of Canada Geese at the edge of Cranberry Lake.  In the background on the right, it looks like I also caught either a loon a cormorant in the photo.  You can tell by their low draft in the water. West Beach is on the Whidbey Island section of the park bordering the Strait of Juan de Fuca .  It's a big site with beach, campgrounds, picnic areas and fresh water swimming in Cranberry Lake.  The major feature here is the unique Sand Dunes Interpretive Trail.  I set off on the trail clockwise which begins passing by the lake....

In the Pacific Northwest, the Douglas Fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ) is king of the forest.  It usually grows straight and tall, and may exceed 300 feet/100 meters.  Some get second lives as telephone poles .  In the West Beach sand dunes at Deception Pass State Park , there is a very special Douglas Fir.  The park's interpretive sign says it best: " For over 850 years, this Douglas Fir has stood witness to the forming and changing of these dunes.  Thick bark and strong wood have served well against storm, fire, drought and disease.  Through all of this time it has offered generations of people its leaves for shelter, limbs for climbing, and branches for sitting.  Its bark is strong, but thinning from so much climbing.  Love it gently.  Look on it with thought for the times it has seen.  Find its stillness while you listen to the forest, dunes and sea.  Wonder at what forces sculpted it so.  Reflect on the ways its relativ...

We had a cold, dark overcast day with a little snow on Wednesday.  Late in the afternoon, the skies cleared over South Fidalgo Island.  The setting sun illuminated storm clouds above Washington's central Cascades, about 60 miles/100 km away.  Interstate 90 through Snoqualmie Pass received heavy snowfall in the storm. Here's to a happy and healthy New Year for everyone.

Yesterday we looked at how driftwood is born.  Today there is this.  Shall we call it art?  They actually sell these at Amazon .  I know where you can get one for nothing and I'll throw in a tennis ball.

Driftwood is one of the aesthetic elements we enjoy at the beach.  We like to look at it, collect it and make things with it.  Although not recommended, it fuels a great fire at a picnic.  Even its name has a pleasant ring, the word "drift" implying carefree leisure. Did you ever wonder how it got there?  It turns out this is not well known and is now a subject of study at Evergreen State College.  I do have some insight into the process locally.  It is basically created by the weather.  Recall the torrential rains we had about two weeks ago swelling rivers out of their banks.  When the Skagit River floods, wood debris and even entire trees are dumped into southern Skagit Bay .  The journey may have begun several miles upriver.  The currents are now bringing this material into the upper bay, a journey of between 8 and 15 miles (15-25 km).  This is a recurring pattern after every Skagit flood event.  The photo above shows ...

I have noticed that our highest tides seem to occur in the winter, especially during the weeks around the solstice.  The lowest tides happen during summer.  I am not asserting this as a scientific fact, but it seems to be something I observe every year.  We know that the tides are related to the moon .  Around here, high tides occur about the same times as moon rise and moon set.  Think of tides as a "sloshing" of the seas.  The energy to initiate and maintain the sloshing is the gravitational pull of the moon and sun .  You can simulate the process in a bathtub where the energy would come from your hand pushing the water. Having one large moon also stabilizes the earth's rotational axis .  This makes the seasons possible, normalizes climate zones and allows the planet to be habitable.  Without the moon, the earth would tumble in its orbit around the sun.  There would be no beaches and our world would be very different place. This ...