Craft Island 5-29-14

Although the sky was cloudy as if pondering rain Cedar and I needed an adventure, so we headed out for Fir Island.  I had read on the internet that dogs were allowed on leash, but when we arrived there were signs everywhere that said 'No Dogs' and 'Pets Must Remain in Car.'  Bummer!  But we were close to Craft Island and the clouds were making way for sunshine, so we headed a bit further to a place we are familiar with.
It was just gorgeous under the sun.  The marsh grasses were all greened up, wild irises and roses were blooming, and multitudes of birds were singing.

We walked everywhere we could find a path.  First we waded out through the tall grass along the road by the irrigation ditch.  There were a lot of caterpillar nests along the way.

 

We could have walked forever along that high path overlooking marshes, but we came to a No Trespassing Bird.

So we went back out along other paths, sometimes muddy ones.  We crossed the channels of water on convenient logs and admired wild iris.

A couple fighter jets were practicing overhead for a bit.  They were not too noisy and very fast.  I was surprised I caught them on my first try.

We meandered along and soon found ourselves actually at Craft Island.  My goal wasn't to get to it, but to wander and soak up the sun and sounds.  Since we had made it though, we went ahead and climbed it and looked out over the waves. We saw eagles and geese, but too far away for clear pictures.  Wildflowers were everywhere and Cedar and I had the whole place to ourselves.

On our walk back an eagle flew right overhead!  It was so huge and close.  This one was a bit further out, but just as impressive.

 

There was also a small hawk of some sort hunting over a patch of cattails and reeds.  Very sleek and aerodynamic.

What I don't have pictures of is how the tide continued to come in and fill the channels, so on the way back our little logs were bobbing instead of providing convenient bridges.  Adventure Dog fell in between two of them and struggled for a minute and I waded in to get him, slipped in the mud and went in almost to my waist.  Then when I pulled him out we were on the wrong side still so I had to jump and he had to swim.  We were drenched, but it was a lot of fun and all the electronics stayed dry!  What a great Thursday afternoon!

Craft Island Revisited 3-16-13

Gray out, and a little drippy plus sleeping in a bit later than I expected kept us close by for hiking this Saturday.  Since we wanted to take both dogs, and leashless is more fun for them, we went to the Craft Island area.  This muddy choose-your-own-adventure area is fun in many ways, including the drive out.  It looks different at all times of year, and this time of year the surrounding farmland is full of flocks of swans and snow geese.

We don't always make it all the way to the green hill that is Craft Island, often thwarted by tricky canals and deep mud.  Today we made it though, and enjoyed the views of the area.

Going up the hill, there is a really thick fuzzy light colored moss.  I'm not sure what it is, but it looks really cool.  I don't recall ever seeing it anywhere else.  I know there is a spot of water on my lens.  It was raining off and on.

After enjoying the top of the island, we went down on the 'backside' of it, as the tide was out and we could walk all the way around it pretty much.  Junior and Cedar turned into puppies as they played on the beach.

Here is a view of Craft Island from the far side.

At the last bit, we had to work our way up and around a canal and Dave spotted this large beaver nearby!  We hadn't seen any here before and he was close so we got a nice look at him.

Craft Island 4-2-12

Wow!  I didn't realize how long it had been since I updated my blog!  Well a couple weekends ago, Dave and I took Cedar and Junior the dogs back out to the wildlife area near Craft Island and actually got to the top of it for a nice picnic lunch.  On the way there, we passed these huge flocks of snow geese landing and then taking off again.  Beautiful!

This time it was Junior that jumped into the irrigation ditch instead of Cedar.  Heh heh.  The mud isn't nearly as impressive on a tall dog though.  : )

The grasses here are all cut through with little canals you have to go along or cross.  It's very muddy.

Once at the top we enjoyed a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape, wading herons and gulls, and the little island itself which was quite pretty on this sunshiny day.

It was after this excursion we actually discovered the island was called Craft Island, and that the logs that are all piled up there are because it is an estuary of the Skagit River.  I wouldn't want to be there during flood warning times! 

Conway-La Conner Area 3-24-12

On my Mom’s birthday, she, Justus, Dave and I went out to the area of LaConner.  We were going to a wildlife area that Dave had been to before.  It was way out in the country, and when we stopped the car, Cedar mistook an irrigation ditch for solid ground and plunged in.  He was so filthy and so stinky.  He spent a lot of the rest of our time there rubbing around in the grasses trying to get cleaner. 

It was a lovely warm day and we enjoyed traversing muddy canals, the muddy trail and the waterlogged marsh grasses. 

There were a lot of birds and we enjoyed watching eagles circle, and even an owl fly out along the edge of the water.   A large flock of snow geese flew over as well.

After we hiked around for awhile and worked up an appetite, we went into LaConner and enjoyed some lunch and some browsing around in a few of the galleries and an antique store.  Then we stopped by the lovely orange bridge.

On the way home, Dave took back ways so we could enjoy more of the countryside.  We saw these wild swans out grazing in a field, and these cattle  enjoying their lunch.

It was a terrific day!