Deception Pass Jetboat Tour 7-14-12

Using a Groupon, I went with Dave and friends Brian and Pam to tour Deception Pass for an hour in a jet boat!  It was totally worth it and the hour felt more like 20 minutes.  I can't believe I didn't take one of the boat itself!  It was 1000 hp and had a catamaran hull, so it was powerful and stable.

It was a beautiful day and the water looked alternately deep blue, and sea green.  In the pass, it was roiling and swirling as usual.

We learned some interesting local lore.  One was that the little island we passed on the way out, Ben Ure Island, used to belong to a smuggler who would throw his cargo over if he was about to get caught by the authorities....even if it was people, which he smuggled in in burlap bags.  The story goes the bodies washed ashore typically at a certain cove on San Juan Island, which came to be known as Dead Man's Cove.

Another thing I never knew was that there was a prison there built into a cliff!  It is now covered with a grate to prevent people from putting themselves at risk to explore, but apparently once it housed 40 prisoners who were forced to break up rock that was barged down to Seattle to build it up above sea level.

One of the biggest features of Deception Pass was the bridge that you can drive over.

 Although we saw no sea mammals, we did see a variety of sea birds and a few bald eagles as well.

It was a beautiful day to be on the water and be in the company of friends.  I highly recommend this trip! 

Around the Sound

I have been doing a little bit of everything lately and it's catch up time!  First of all, a little bit of awwwww.  This little guy was spotted on a ferry ride to the peninsula.

Another ferry ride to the peninsula, unfortunately not any of the dolphins Dave and I saw twice.  We were enjoying the cormorants, some vintage aircraft flying in formation and a blue heron when we noticed some scuba divers crossing the line into the Edmonds Ferry area.  This is a major no-no, so I figured something was wrong.  There were three of them, and one was being towed by another.  The ferry deployed its emergency response raft and took them to shore.  I went and asked what was wrong and the divers were just tired. 

One drive Dave and I did before we went to California was up to Spada lake.  I had never been there, and it was lovely.  An interesting dam, waterfalls around the lake and a lot of places to park and walk around and enjoy.  It is a really large lake!

Adventure Dog gave me a dirty look for taking his picture here.

We also made another trip out to the Spirit Island wetlands area.  Instead of being dead and muddy, the plants were all green and there were flowers. 

And it was still muddy.  Junior stepped through a thick layer of grass and plopped right into a mudhole face first.

Let's zoom in, shall we?  hahahaha!

Graeagle CA Vacation- Part 3 of 3

One of the most beautiful places we frequented was Salmon Lake.  The lodge there used to belong to Dave’s family, and it is a very serene and spiritual place.  We walked around it, boated on it, fished in it, viewed wildlife and joined in with the lodge guests for a barbeque on the island.  The lake, this one being Upper Salmon, is named for the color of the beautiful rocks above it.

Our fishing trip didn’t yield any fish, but it was really fun. 

Also, along the Gold Lake Highway,  there is a turnout from which you can see very old and disappearing petroglyphs. 

Near here, a lodge stood long ago that burned down and wasn’t issued a new permit.  Now just the stone steps and foundation, as well as an old swimming pool carved into the nearby stream are all that remain. 

Here is a cool PacMan rock we saw on one of our hikes. I thought it looked a little like baby godzilla.

The last day of my vacation, we went for a last adventure before I had to catch my plane.  We took the mountain bikes back out on the trails and despite the cold fierce wind, we braved hilltop after hilltop.

It was in the silent roar of the wind that we witnessed this beautiful flock of pelicans soaring over the mountains.  They floated and glided on the wind, seeming to dance in the sky. 

We looked at another mine site.  This one was very unstable and had mostly collapsed already.  I really liked the way the old rusty metal roofs melded to the contours of the rocks and ground, like a frosting of rust. 

And now for the wildlife.  We saw a lot of deer, although they seemed to have a knack for turning their backside to the camera. 

There were a lot of baby ducks and geese around too.  So cute and fuzzy.  Mostly we saw ducks with 6 or 7 ducklings, but one mother duck had 11! 

With the warm sunshine, the reptiles were out and about as well.  These lizards gave me a suspicious look as I snapped their pictures.  The first is an alligator lizard, the second I’m not so sure about. 

While we were fishing, Dave clicked these pictures of a mother beaver carrying her baby up the river.  They are almost too cute, so if you have a low cute-tolerance level, you should grab a box of tissues or a shot of rum before viewing.

 
Well, the day had to come that I returned north.  Here are the last pictures of my trip.