Deception Pass: Other Bits

There were other hikes to be scouted. Would any others be Wally-friendly (stroller-able)? The team did some reading and Sudokuing while I checked out one of them.

All the Bowman Bay area hikes start right around here. Tempted to just sit and stare at the water. That structure in the background was built in the 1980s or 90s — an interpretive center for the Civilian Conservation Corps. Too bad it was closed (off-season, I guess) while we were here.

On my way to the trail, I stopped to watch these boats in action. Their “skippers” were up on the pier, running back and forth, gesturing with their remote control units. Looks like fun!

Radio-controlled model yachts as a hobby? Why not? I think it would be fun.

The trail map and guide promised close-up views of Deception Pass and its bridges, at the cost of a mere 100 feet in elevation change. It was about a two-mile walk, much of it vertical. I think I went up and down the same 100 feet about 40 times. Much too steep for Wally and his stroller.

So where are my pix of the view? I saw it, I guess. It was highly filtered by trees and brush, and I was certain I wasn’t “there yet.” By the time I realized that must have been “it,” I had gone up and downhill a few more times and didn’t want to backtrack.

So I stopped at a high point and grabbed this shot instead.

On my way back, a pod of kayakers prepared to head out into the bay. They did stop to ogle the model yachts for a while.

It was, for your reference, the Lottie Point Trail. I liked it. It passes a lagoon in which a few harbor seals frolicked. Those pictures don’t look so good either, so I’ll spare you.

On our last morning before breaking camp, we made our way to the Rosario Beach area for another look at scenery and a short but unsettling hike for me.

This was the unsettling part. I went up 150 feet on this short trail, past signs warning of high cliffs. They weren’t kidding! I was on my hands and knees to make this picture. My sense of balance and my proximity to ledges enjoy an inverse relationship.

Coming back down the trail I checked out this lovely maiden. It’s a carved “story pole,” created by an artist to capture a Samish Tribe legend about a young woman who, eventually, went to live with a handsome prince of the deep — underwater. Her parents were against the union, but the prince arranged for lousy weather and famine in order to change his mind. I was going to say, again, that you can’t make this stuff up, but in this case I think someone did.

The Maiden of Deception Pass story pole.

And next I saw…

Wally greeted me as I rejoined the Team. As always, he made me smile.

Deception Pass State Park… 5 stars. Every time I return to this part of Washington — around the San Juans — I am newly impressed with its natural beauty. I still haven’t had enough, and the Team seems to agree. We’ll be back.