Cascajun

I rowed out to the Lummi Island DNR Campground on Thursday and spent two nights, returning this morning. Here are a few photos.

I spent the weekend camping with some friends at Moran State Park, located on Orcas Island. Mount Constitution (2,409 ft.) is located in the park and is the highest point in the San Juan Islands. This is the view from the top, where a stone observation tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936 stands. The park also features more than 30 miles of trails, five lakes and several waterfalls, an old growth forest and a lodge pole pine forest.

We went on a couple of hikes, shared some fabulous food (chili, pork ribs, chocolate chip pancakes, smores), and relaxed around the campfire. The weather turned out great. Overall, it was a great weekend on the San Juan Islands.

I went camping along the Mountain Loop Hwy with a few friends over the weekend. We found a nice spot on Coal Creek, west of Granite Falls. The winter storms of November & December 2006 washed the road out, cutting off access to the section of road between Barlow Pass and White Chuck. Thus, Mountain ‘Loop’ Hwy is now a misnomer. Many other roads and trails are closed due to winter storm damage. We were well advised to stop at the Forest Service Ranger station in Verlot to make inqueries and get updates on closures and current conditions.

We spent Saturday afternoon hiking along the Stillaguamish River and Coal Creek. On Sunday morning Eric whipped up some fresh black berry pancakes. Four varieties of wild berry were ripe: thimble berries, black berries, blue berries, and salmon berries. Sunday afternoon we hiked up to Coal Lake. The road up to the lake is washed out, but the hike up was pleasant and offered many views. Hall Peak, Big Four Mtn, and Lewis Peak dominated the immediate view. While the biting flies were out in force, a moderate breeze kept them in check. When we reached the lake JP hosted a picnic lunch on some big rocks in the sun along the shore. There are two more named lakes along the Coal Creek Road - Independence Lake and North Lake. We didn’t have the time to hike further, but both look like great destinations for an easy one or two night backpacking trip. It’s certainly an area worth further exploration.

I spent a few nights at Clark Island State Park two weeks ago. The island is located in north Puget Sound, west of Lummi Island and east of Orcas Island. A popular destination among sailboaters and paddlers of the Cascadia Marine Trail System, the entire island is a Washington State Park and accessible only by boat.

Click the map link on the left to view detailed metrics for the trip including time, distance, and speed.

I left Fairhaven Boatworks around 10:30 in the morning on Thursday, 5/31. The conditions were not that favorable, with winds from the south-southeast at 9 mph against a strong ebb tide. I decided to give it a try, despite the conditions and warnings from a discouraged boater at the dock who said he couldn’t get past bouy #2 in his power boat.

I soon realized the difference between a 4-day load and 2-day load in terms of weight and how it affects my boat’s performance. I didn’t have the bouancy and freeboard to take the 2 to 3 foot chop I began to encounter. Water was slopping in faster than my self-bailing valve could remove it. I decided it wasn’t going to happen when the water level in my boat was touching the bottom of my sliding seat rig’s I-beam. I turned toward shore, got to a little clamer water, and bailed my boat free and took a southernly course towards Chuckanut Bay.

Nearing the north end of Chuckanut Bay, I again tried heading west across Bellingham Bay. The results were no better than my first attempt. I soon turned back to the south, tucked into a cove at the north end of Chuckanut Bay, and again bailed the water from my boat. It was apparent that I would have to wait for the early afternoon slack to cross the bay. So, I headed over to Chuckanut Island (Dot Island?) and spent an hour or so there for lunch.

Sure enough as the tide slacked the chop settled down a bit and I was off on a beeline for the southern shore of Eliza Island. As I approached Eliza I could tell the flood tide was beginning and could see the rips and eddies forming up as the incomming tide pushed around the island. I passed between Eliza’s south shore and the large rocks there and spotted a sea lion there basking in the sun. What an enormous beast! I was able to clearly see it’s sillouette even after I was a half mile away.

After rounding the southern tip of Lummi Island I got a visual on the west end of Lummi Rocks to my north and fixed a course for them. I soon noted that I was rowing in some ‘confused water’ as it seemed to be going in a variety of directions. Looking further out, I could see there was a better flood current and adjusted my course to bring me to it. Sure enough, as I moved out away from the Lummi shoreline the current became stronger and my speed increased. The winds were calm and I was soaking up the scenery, basking in the sun, and really enjoying a beautiful afternoon on the water. I couldn’t have asked for better conditions to cross the wide open and busy shipping lane in Rosario Strait. I got a visual on Clark Island, adjusted my course, and continued on.

Soon I was near the turning bouy that’s near the center of the intersecting shipping lanes between Orcas, Lummi, and Sinclair Islands. I was impressed with how much the bouy was leaning to the north and could hear the sound of water rushing past it even though I cruised by a good 500 yards to the east. I checked my speed on my GPS and was impressed to see I was going over 7 mph! Wow, what fun I had as I got into a smooth cadence. Fun is good, but it nearly distracted me into making a big mistake. I glanced around to check my position and realized I had quickly covered much more north distance but had not gone far enough west. I was running the risk of overshooting Clark Island, my destination, and rowing north out into the Strait of Georgia where I could see no land all the way to the horizon….

My mood suddenly changed as I became concerned about my situation. I even started feeling foolish. What if I don’t have the energy to pull myself, cross-current, the mile west I stll must make? I had already covered 18 miles in an single day and didn’t know how much I had left. I mustered the energy, changed course to due west and gave it all I had.

I was pretty proud of myself when I reached the calm waters between Clark and Barnes. After a short rest selected a campsite and settled in for a quiet evening. The late afternoon and evening views of Mount Baker to the east are spectacular. I took this photo of a south bound oil tanker and it’s tugboat escorts as they passed between Clark and Lummi Islands.

I received a Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS receiver for my birthday and have been having fun with it and the data collected on my outings. This past weekend I took it on an outing with some friends. We paddled accross Bellingham Bay to Lummi Island for an overnight stay at the DNR Campsite. I was in my 16-foot open water rowing shell, all others were in sea kayaks.

The Garmin Forerunner 205 is a wrist watch sized training oriented GPS. It came with a USB connector and Garmin has Mac compatible software, so it plays well with my iBook G4. The MotionBased website allows you to upload the data and view it in a number of charted formats, including plots over aerial and satellite photos, topo maps, Google Maps and Google Earth mashups.

I was fortunate enough to be invited along for a fall weekend boating and camping trip on Diablo Lake. Located on the upper Skagit River, Diablo Lake is the middle of a three reservoir hydroelectric project started by Seattle City Light in the 1920’s. History Link has a photo essay slide show of the Skagit River dam project. Diablo is well known for the water’s turquoise to emerald green hue, which is attributable to it’s glacial sources.

We camped at the Colonial Creek Campground on Friday evening. The fall colors were at their peak and the weather was absolutely gorgeous - clear skies with lows in the 30’s and mid-afternoon highs in the 50’s. Saturday morning we loaded the boats and struck out on the water for the Hidden Cove campsite, one of the three backcountry campsites on Diablo that are accessible by boat only. Each campsite has a floating dock, one or more tent pads, one or more picnic tables, and a pit toilet.

The calm morning made for fantastic rowing and the reflections of the North Cascades scenery on the smooth lake surface were spectacular. Saturday afternoon and Sunday were spent exploring the reservoir. The northern end of Diablo lake narrows to a gorge that is only 40 or 50 feet at one point. JP paddled, I rowed, up the gorge to the Ross Dam Powerhouse. We made a few feeble attempts to catch some fish since the lake is stocked with rainbow trout. Despite having no luck with the fish, we did catch a lot of great scenery drifting in the breeze on the lake’s placid waters. Sunday morning we visited the North Cascades Institute’s Environmental Learning Center, which is located on the shores of Diablo Lake.

Fall is in full swing above 5,000 ft. elevation in the North Cascades. I spent a recent weekend (9/30 - 10/1) with friends camping and hiking near Twin Lakes in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The area is very popular for both camping and hiking, including the popular trails on Yellow Aster Butte, Winchster Mountain, Mt. Larrabee, and Tomyhoi Lake.

Eric, Angela, Jon-Paul and I hiked the High Pass Trail on Saturday. The morning was nice and clear, but was squandered because we slept in pretty late, lounged around drinking espresso, and consumed mass quantities of bacon and eggs. Consequently, we didn’t break away from camp until mid-day. The cloudless skies were gone and a damp wind was blowing in from the west and northwest.

The High Pass trail is only 4 miles long. It wraps around and traverses the northeast slopes of Mt. Winchester, across the saddle of Low Pass, and on to the south slopes of Mt. Larrabee. The weather blowing in brought clouds and varied lighting that seemed to highlight the fall colors that blanketed the slopes. It was something I had never seen and was quite spectacular. Everyone remarked that it was prettier than spring, largely due to the many contrasting colors. Topping it off, the Cascade Huckleberries were ripe and it took little effort to stop and grab a handful from the trail side patches.

Sunday we hiked up Mt. Winchester to the old fire look out. It’s maintained by the Mt. Baker Hiking Club. The trail is only 2 miles long, but gains a little over 1,200 ft elevation. The 360-degree views from the top are breathtaking. It was another great weekend made complete by the obligatory stop at the North Fork Brewery & Beer Shrine for fresh ales and yummy pizza.

I spent the past weekend camping at Ft. Flagler State Park. It was built around the turn of the 20th century, along with Fort Casey and Fort Worden, to form a “triangle of fire” that could protect the entrance to Puget Sound at Admiralty Inlet. Harkening back to an era before air power, each fort was equipped with batteries of 6-inch, 10-inch, and 12-inch “disappearing guns” and mortar batteries capable of hurling shells up to 12-inches in diameter a distance of 10-miles. Made obsolete by aircraft, the three forts were decommissioned and converted to state parks in the 1950s.

I visited the Pacific Coast on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula for the first time since moving to Bellingham three years ago and chose Shi Shi Beach as my destination, a place that’s been referred to as “a jewel in the peninsula’s rugged crown.” Located at the northern terminus of Olympic National Park’s 57-mile stretch of wilderness coast, this strip of sand wedged between two magnificent headlands really is glorious. At three miles in length, the beach offers ample space for the heavy use it gets from both day trippers and overnight backpackers.

Headlands at the south end of the beach jut into the ocean forming Point of the Arches, an archipelago of rocks and sea stacks, some with arches and caves. The weather on Saturday was beautiful, clear skies with temperatures in the upper 70s. Aside from birds, the only wildlife I saw was a pair of deer who came down to the beach at sunset to investigate the campsites. On the avian scene, I saw many shore birds, gulls, pelicans, several eagles and a kite. I was pleased to not see a single boat of any sort, aside from some very large ships that were far offshore. Likewise, I heard no engines whatsoever, just the steady crash of waves.

All along the beach are established campsites, both down on the sand and higher up in the forest. Finding a spot with some well placed logs that formed a bench and table near a fire ring, I decided to camp right on the beach and opted to only set up the rain fly and lay down a ground cloth. The fly provided some much needed shade for afternoon reading and a nap, as well as shelter from the heavy morning dew. It’s been years since I’ve camped on the beach and I had forgotten how pervasive sand can be.

The National Park Service requires that all overnight campers store food and garbage in varmint and bear proof plastic canisters. While there have been no reported bear problems, the raccoons in the area have become notoriously adept at raiding backpacker’s pantries - even when suspended from trees. The special canisters are available at the park’s Wilderness Information Center in Port Angeles, WA. I had to substantially re-think my packing scheme to fit that thing in my backpack. Some extra reading material and my binoculars lost out in the re-prioritization of necessities.

Tidal pools teaming with sea life can be found at the rocky headlands during periods of low tide. I saw snails, sea anemone, sea stars, crabs, and many colorful varieties of algae. There were also several large caves which are completely dry at low tide, but entirely submerged at high tide. Nothing brings the curious boy out in me like an outdoor lab ripe for exploration and discovery.

Sunday’s weather brought a different experience. A chilly fog billowed in from the ocean, giving the beach an entirely different atmosphere. I lounged under my shelter for several hours, enjoying my coffee and reading. I found Shi Shi Beach very relaxing, either in the bright sunshine or blanketed in a pacific northwest fog. It’s certainly place I could visit again.

I got an email requesting “the views.” These are photos taken on a recent backpacking trip in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Church Lake

Eric with a Mt. Baker backdrop.

The north slopes of Mt. Baker.

Mt. Shuksan

Looking north to the Coast Range in British Columbia, Canada.