Carbon River Walk

Yesterday, Debby and I made our first trip to the main REI store to get my anniversary present, a new pair of waterproof trail running shoes. Debby got a pair of shoes as well.

This is a great store, with thoughtful design and layout on a relatively grand and rustic scale, including a wilderness themed exterior with large water feature, creating an inviting oasis in the middle of the city. I also like their merchandising style and helpful staff. We met Stef there and then had lunch nearby.

REI Main Store Urban Oasis

Today I tried out my new treads on a gentle 7 mile walk along the Carbon River. It began as a rainy day event, but cleared up soon after we began trekking. There was minimal wildlife evident, so I had to settle for a few scenics to capture the flavor of the outing.

The Carbon River is sourced by a glacier on the north side of Tacoma (Mt. Ranier). It gets its name from a coal discovery along its course in 1876. As with all similar rivers emanating from Tacoma, it is subject to lahars during volcanic activity on the mountain.

We started at South Prairie and walked west down the river to Orting, following a paved walking/bicycling/equestrian trail that has been salvaged from an old railway right-of-way. Half the trip is along a busy highway, but the middle part became somewhat secluded and peaceful.

Fern Growing in Top of Ten Foot Mossy Stump (rain forest feature)

Spring On The Carbon River (looking toward Tacoma, hidden by clouds).

Pastorale

Newly Minted

Padilla Bay

Debby signed us up for a walking trip around Padilla Bay, the Skagit River estuary terminus. There's a two mile walk along a dike through the wetland, and then in the adjacent town of Bay View, there is an interpretive center and an upland trail. I took a few pictures. The weather was overcast, a dull grayish day that spells not quite enough light for using my tele-converter.

A barn and tree piqued Debby's visual interest.

Padilla Bay is very shallow along the coast, becoming a mud flat during lower tides. One area of the mud seems to rise permanently above high tide. I needed a wider lens for this one.

Debby likes chunks of driftwood.

There were a variety of birds. Most common were Mallard ducks, but I didn't find any convincing photo opportunities. There were also fields of snow geese, but too far away to see any detail. I managed to photograph the remaining six species I identified. None yielded me any bragging rights. I include only the image of a pair of Canada geese, whose composition recommends it. None of the others is nearly the equal of earlier photos I have taken of each species in better light: glaucous gull, Brandt's cormorant, great blue heron, American robin, red-winged blackbird.

Getting Acquainted With The Snohomish River

Saturday and again today, the sun beckoned and we went out and about, both times visiting the Snohomish River, draining a basin of 4800 km^2 and discharging into Puget Sound just to the north of Everett. 

On Saturday we walked around the estuary at Langus Riverfront Park, but did not have time for Spencer Island, which is where most of the birds lurk. The sounds and smells of the freeway and water treatment plant make the estuary trail somewhat less than desirable. We'll be back to observe on Spencer Island another fine day.

Today we went a bit upstream to the old historic town of Snohomish, with a downtown area about 150 years old. We walked by the river and had lunch there and popped into a few curio/antique stores. We drove past fields filled with trumpeter swans. 

Getting Acquainted With The Skagit River

We are somewhat rain chickens. We like it inside, and our house is still new enough to us that we are not yet bored with it. So if it's precipitating, it's tempting to stay in. To defeat this tendency, Debby signs us up for trips, like the one on Saturday to go out looking for eagles. It rained all day, but we jumped on a van with 13 others and drove up to Skagit valley to check out the local birds. Most of the day was spent driving, so we got to see some new territory directly to the north of us.

The northern Puget Sound area has several river systems. Northernmost is the Skagit River that drains a basin of 6900 km^2 and discharges into the sound near Mount Vernon. We drove along the Skagit NE toward Ross Lake in the hunt for eagles, then returned along the Sauk tributary. Between 600-800 bald eagles are present between November and February in a good year. The Skagit River system has three major hydroelectric dams producing 700+ MW of power for Seattle. Yet it is the only river in the Washington that still hosts all five native species of salmon and two of trout. That's why the eagles flock here.

Near the estuary we passed some fields filled with trumpeter swans, but didn't stop. They were not eagles. While driving up the Skagit river, we counted around 25 eagles. The count was way down from a year ago because the river was high and muddy, making fishing difficult. At the first stop, I managed to get a shot of a young adult at a distance of probably close to 50 yards. I left my tele-converter on the van, so had only 400mm to work with. It is a weak photo, but the only bird of the day that was close enough to even attempt a shot. At least the species is identifiable.

 

Debby conversed with the other women on the van, discussing books and knitting and teaching and the like. A good time was had by all. And when nearly home, the sunset was visible in a break in the weather.