Ebey's Landing Revisited

This second visit back to Ebey’s Landing did not dazzle with sun on water, so the gray misty day enticed me to go a little slower and poke around a little more at the information kiosks. 

I read more about the Ebey family, and tried to imagine what it was like to be trying to just live back in the mid 1800’s, especially with the threat of attack.  I looked at a couple of the block houses that were built as a defendable retreat.  One was near where I believe the Ebey homestead was, overlooking the fertile fields, and the other was up in the small cemetery.

I was moved by this headstone that states, that even following her death, this woman and her husband “loved one another still.”  A small plaque said that she had died at 31 giving birth to her 4^th son. 

I had gone with a friend and his dog and we found a map which showed where the Ebeys were buried.  We looked at their headstones as well.  Isaac Ebey had been killed, we learned earlier, by natives from the north, beheaded and scalped.

After two days of hiking, putting in over 12 miles, I was happy but also quite tired, and realize how much work I still have to do to be ready for Mt Rainier.  What a wonderful weekend.

Lime Kiln Trail - Granite Falls

Two weeks ago I tried this hike and Granite Falls had so much slushy snow, that I could barely turn around in a parking lot and head back on the highway to town.  Today was lovely.  No snow, no rain, a nice cloud cover to start that lifted later in the afternoon.

Cedar and I got a late start around 9, but when we got to the Lime Kiln trailhead there was only one other car there.  We started off through the woods, and it was so beautiful and green- the phrase “peace like a river through my soul” came to mind.  The moss here didn’t know about the “north side” rule, and grew everywhere, making tree trunks furry and green.

All the melting snow and recent rainfall had filled the world with water, which dripped off the trees and rushed under each fern in rivulets, trickles, and streams toward the river. 

At one point the trail went down quite a sizable stream and I was pretty happy to hear it singing along, until I went further to the Stillaguamish.  One look at that muddy green water, like angry flowing crème de menthe, put that river into my heart immediately.

 

I’m not sure what the mileage was when the trail came to the steep hillside above the Stilly, but it pretty much followed it the rest of the way, perched high above the churning river, sometimes on what seemed like a mere goat trail.  The recent rains had eroded the earth too, and there were a few places that were obviously fresh landslides, and newly fallen trees. 

Only one of these places made me nervous… it was basically an avalanche chute straight down into the Stillaguamish with a barely-a-trail from one side to the other.  Also on the side closest to the trailhead, I could see where the ground was cracked underfoot and wondered when that might go too.

I had wondered if I would see any bald eagles on the Stillaguamish, like I had on the Skagit expedition with my Mom and Justus, but although I scanned the trees, as I walked along I didn't spot any.  I was pleased to see an eagle nest though, which made me think they must be around.

There had been a settlement there near the lime kiln- I'm not sure for how long, but there wasn't much left of it.  The railway grade had been active for about 40 years, so I was expecting more artifacts.  Most of what I saw, where saw blades and such that others had thoughtfully leaned up against trees. 

 I took pictures of what I saw and then went to check out the lime kiln itself.  It was a tall rectangular monument of stone, now with cracks and decorated with moss and ferns.  It was quite thick and a small oven was inside, even now with white limestone built up and pouring out in a non-moving sort of way.  Limestone was broken up and heated in this kiln to make lime or quicklime apparently, but I am still a little fuzzy what that was used for in this case.  I read that it was used in the production of steel as well as in mortar.

I decided to try and scramble up a steep clay bank to the left of the kiln so I could check out that side of it.  It was steep and wet clay, but not too high, so I got up on the first ledge, got my footing and lunged for the top.  Unbeknownst to me, my sweet mutt had wrapped his end of the leash around a large rock I had just photographed and as I lunged, I found out what it felt like to come abruptly to the end of a leash.  Stopped in midair, the only way to go was down, so I ended up just sliding a couple feet on my knees down a clay embankment.  Fun.

After checking out the lime kiln, I decided I was totally up to do the optional trail end to the Stillaguamish, down on its ‘beach’ which would not be very large today.  That put our total hike at 7 miles round trip though, which was a nice workout.  Gradually the high bank the trail had been on, dipped down to water level and it was wonderful.  You could hear the water churning, and the occasional muffled thump of a huge boulder being turned in the depths.  There was a man and his little dog down on the narrow, wet rocky beach and I didn’t want to disturb them, so we went on and finished out the loop.  We walked back to the lime kiln where Cedar got lunch and part of mine.   Then, there it was!  A big bald eagle, almost at our level went swooping down the river.  He unfortunately caught me with a luna bar in my hand instead of my camera, but it made my already great day, that much greater.

Woodland Park Zoo

Woodland Park Zoo is always fun, but the best days are rainy days, especially if they are weekdays.  My Mom gave me an annual pass for my early birthday present, so today after appointments that precluded school and work, Justus and I took the day off and went.
Here are just a few of the friends we saw there today. 
First we were greeted at the gate by this squirrel who was not very subtle in suggesting that we should have something for him.

These tigers were actually mating.  He took all of 30 seconds, she looked bored, and afterwards he strutted around roaring about it.  Hmmmm.

This penguin was hilarious.  Do not ask me how many pictures it took for me to even get this one.

I love watching the gorillas.  I should have tried for a movie clip because in the first family group the baby of the family was wrestling and playing with one of the adults... the adult was fake biting and the baby threw hay and jumped around.  Very cute. 

It wasn't actually raining out, but was a gray and chilly day. 

It was nice to get into the day and tropical exhibits and warm up.

The flamingos were preening, and their goose friend was busy falling in love with her own reflection. 

The Komodo dragons were, as usual, basking there, seemingly peaceful while actually planning how best to turn visitors into lunch.

He has his eye on you!!

After a long day in the fresh air, everyone could use a nap.

Eagle Spotting on the Skagit River

This was a Sierra Club activity, which I attended on the 2nd with my Mom and Justus.  Adventure Dog had to stay home for this one.  Four carloads of people headed up the Skagit on a beautiful sunny morning.  Interpretive rangers had set up information points at 3 different sites between Rockport and Marblemount, with spotting scopes lined up on nearby eagles.  Their count was 375 eagles that day, spotted between Marblemount and Sedro-Woolley.  We saw more like 20 or so along the highway, but even if we had seen one, it was so beautiful traveling up the Skagit on such a nice day.

 

The hatchery in Marblemount had free tours and we went on that while we were there.  They had put some tiny fry, including some with egg sacs still attached, in little containers for people to view.  It's amazing that such tiny things can grow into such large delicious fish.

There was a small walk behind the hatchery as well, and we enjoyed looking at the cool ice formations along the creek there, which flowed into the Cascade River.

All of us were very entertained by the antics of an American Dipper, or water ouzel, hunting for water bugs and fish eggs in the stream.  I had seen them bobbing on rocks before, but never diving into the water.  I tried to catch the little bird underwater, but it was very fast and the best shot I got was this one of it starting to dive in again.

There were a few salmon in the stream there too, heading for the fish ladder or possibly had spawned before they got to the hatchery.  They were so incredibly beat up and barely holding their own against the slight current in that freezing water.

 

At our last stop, while trying to photograph the eagles which seemed to perch and fly along the opposite side of the Skagit, this varied thrush landed overhead and presented a better target for my camera.

And yes... despite their coyness, I did manage to capture a couple decent eagle pictures. 

It was a wonderful day.

Icy New Year With Warm Family

My Mom and I took Cedar up to my aunt's house near Bellingham and it was just a gorgeous clear cold New Year's Eve.  The view of various snow-clad jagged peaks on the way up was breathtaking!

The next morning started out with mimosas and ginger pear scones, which was fantastic, and then my Mom, aunt and I took the dogs for a walk past one cousin's house and up to the other's.  It was freezing and nature had done some amazing things with ice!
I had never seen how water forms ice in the earth and then juts up like quartz crystals.  It crunched under our feet with almost every step.  I tried to get a picture of one that looked like a little crystal castle, but Adventure Dog ran back to see what I was looking at and smashed it flat.

The little stream we crossed over a couple times on little wooden bridges had ice along the edges and also had formed very strange ice in some spots.  One spot it was all blobby splashes.

In another place, the drops and splashes formed like tear-shaped balloons.  It was phenomenal. 

We saw a pileated wood pecker.  This gregarious redhead was far away and seemed please to announce her arrival with both calls and loud knocking since she was nearly safely out of reach of my zoom (hence the blurriness of this photo- sorry!)

Cedar had a good time playing with my aunt's West Highland white terrier and also my cousin's lab mix.  I'm not sure he was overly thrilled about the cold ice.  Doesn't he look a little sad in this picture?

After visiting and eating and drinking and warming ourselves by the fire and eating and drinking and visiting and drinking... it was time to say goodbye and head home.  I was happy that some of the flocks of swans were still in the fields where we had passed them on the way north.  Happy New Year everyone!