Deception Pass

Bowman Bay Pier

     

Bowman Bay

Pulling into the Bowman Bay campground after dark with the light of the full moon streaming through the trees, we discovered that Deception Pass had been appropriately named: on the Washington State Parks reservations website, our campsite had been portrayed as secluded, nestled among the bushes and trees-a great distance from any neighbors. In reality, our tent site was exposed and crowded beside similar sites, each occupied by a hulking motorhome, their windows shedding baleful light that overwhelmed the comforting moon glow. So tired were we from our 5 hour drive (which included the rigors of the Puget Sound rush hour), that we barely grumbled about our surroundings, and collapsed quickly into our sleeping bags.

Port Townsend in miniature

I spent last weekend camping at Deception Pass (which I will describe in an upcoming article!) and on the way back we took the ferry from Friday Harbor to Port Townsend, which is perhaps one of the finest journeys-by-ferry in Washington State. From the ferry approaching Port Townsend we had a picture-perfect view of the city, and I was able to capture a number of decent photos. However they were somewhat bland to my eye, and so to make them more unusual and appealing I turned a few of them into miniatures:

Signs of Spring: Part 4

Narcissus

Green- that is the word to describe April in Washington; a rainbow of verdant hues carpets the forests and fields, with only a few stubborn trees clinging to their drab winter garb. In past weeks I was able to photograph every sign of spring-not now! Every morning there are a dozen new plants springing from the ground, new leaves budding from barren branches, flowers bursting into bloom fast as fireworks in July.

Signs of Spring: Part 3

The last few days have been incredibly rainy-I guess the weather is making up for all the sunshine of last week! Many flowers took advantage of that sun to bloom; Oregon Grape, Trillium and violets now decorate the forest floor.

Gamebirds

The turkey's have reached new milestones this week. They had their first trip outside. They are always begging to be out of their cage in the kitchen, but hesitated to leave the safety of the cage in the out of doors. Before they left their cage they were peering up at the extinguished heat lamp as the sun warmed them. They seemed puzzled as to the source of the heat!

Signs of Spring: part 2

Spring is definitely closing in on Southwest Washington. The grass is turning green and buds are swelling on every tree. Gardens are turning a vivid yellow as daffodils burst into bloom. 

Beyond Ridge Camp: A proposal for new trails near Mt. St. Helens

Minnie Peak from near Ridge Camp

A bleak tundra extends before me, a wasteland of twisted stumps, wind blasted scrub growing in among rusted relics of a forgotten age. Behind me, dark moors rise out of sight into low hanging clouds; before me, the gray plateau drops precipitously into the coiling fog. This is not some scene from a post-apocalyptic Sci-fi novel, and mutated beasts do not lurk amongst the foggy crags (at least, not so far as I know). This is the hinterland of Ridge Camp, a bleak and lonely destination high in the Mt. St. Helens blast zone.