Deception Pass State Park Redux

Location: Whidbey and Fidalgo Island
Difficulty: Easy to Easy-Medium (couple of short steep sections)
Dogs Allowed: Yes
Mileage: Variable
Passes: Discovery Pass for Day Use,
Season: Year round, but I recommend off-season

So we went back out to Whidbey Island and this time we brought friends. We had such a nice time camping out there last year and were so ready to have our first camping trip of the season it seemed like a great fit. The weather was not as cooperative this year, but we still had fun. I won't go over all the stuff we did, since we did a pretty similar set of hikes. In fact: here's a link to our original post. So read that if you want.

Mostly what I'm going to talk about are the differences, and some things unique to this trip.

1st: big difference Jaxx did not run away in the middle of the night. So thank goodness for that. He did fake that he was completely paralyzed when I put his coat on in the morning and proceeded to walk in backwards circles, which I really ought to take a video of cause it's HILARIOUS. He had everybody in camp just cracking up.

Instead of the Lower Loop campground (near Cranberry Lake), we camped at Bowman Bay. UPGRADE. This campground is way awesome. The views are gorgeous. You're a quick walk out to the point, and an even quicker walk to Bowman Beach. There are great views of Bowman Bay, whereas the Lower Loop your best chance for a view is looking into the forest and you're much more likely to have a view of somebody else's camp. The map is a little misleading cause it makes it look like the sites themselves are much more spaced out, they're not, don't believe it. The campground is much more open as well, which allows for views but don't expect a ton of privacy.

As I mentioned earlier, the weather was not entirely cooperative. It sprinkled off and on during the day and was pretty wet and rainy in the evening. Because the weather was kind of nasty we sort of invaded this little picnic shelter place. Technically this place is by reservation only, but since it's the off-season and we were pretty quiet nobody told us to leave, and we were there from maybe 4-5pm till about 10:30. We made pie-iron pizzas and s'mores, the pie-irons were awesome! And 3 people out of our group (who weren't raised in America and are consequently not huge fatties) had never had s'mores so that was pretty exciting. There are two keys to good s'mores: HoneyMaid graham crackers, off brand is not acceptable, they don't taste right. Good chocolate, my personal favorite is to get the Ghirardelli dark chocolate and caramel dudes cause that's just a delicious combination. Nick played guitar and we sang some songs and told ghost stories.

Around 9:45 a very nice gentleman came down to let us know we were not supposed to be there, but since there was no demand and we hadn't been making a ruckus he just asked that we be out and have the place straightened up by 11 pm.

The only not so good thing that happened on the trip was that Jaxx got kind of sick at the very end of the the hike on Sunday. Hey kept on throwing up, I carried him for a bit, but I ended up sitting with him while the others walked the last mile or so to get the car.

Overall it was a very good weekend. I love doing stuff like this and I especially enjoy it when it's combined with hanging out with awesome people. The whole weekend was perfectly capped off by getting some really god-damned delicious burger. On the way north on Hwy 2 there's this little shack with a sign advertising oysters and other sea food. It's right across a small road from a fire station and holy god is it delicious. I got a crab burger and Chris got the Big Kahuna Burger (beef patty, fried spam, pineapple and an onion ring). Everything was awesome. I'm a little bummed I didn't get the chance to try their milkshakes. Next time!

Deepwoods Damnation

I am exhausted. I didn't sleep last night till 3:30am, which for me (and probably most people) is ridiculously late. Why am I exhausted you ask?

Because I was rocking the fuck out.

Last night was Deep Woods Damnation. My friend Marietta decided that for her birthday she was going to rent a couple generators and her band Audrey Horne (no website sorry) was going to play in the middle of the woods. She also got two other bands to come out (Don Peyote and Sioux City Pete &The Beggars). We drove out into the National Forest just East of North Bend and out a public access road. We helped unload band gear, set up our tent and then began the hard task of drinking.


I decided not to bring my good camera because I really didn't want anything to happen to it. There were going to be lots of people I didn't know not to mention the very real possibility of drunken negligence. I think it was the right choice but I am incredibly bummed that I don't have decent pictures. The pictures I do have do not do it justice. The colors in the sunset were incredible, the mountains were gorgeous but I just really wish I could have taken some shots of the bands playing. If there are some photos that appear later via facebook I will add them.

However! I did manage to get a video of Audrey Horne playing. Watch it! they are awesome and my phone actually did a pretty decent job.

The sound must have carried for miles. I have no doubt that there were other campers in the area and that they were absolutely furious with us. I certainly would be. However, I'm willing to take that in exchange for the memories from last night, though they got increasingly hazy. There are moments in everybody's life where you know that you are going to remember it forever. Most people think that about lots of things and don't necessarily remember them, but you know when you truly will remember because you feel it. You feel that moment burning into you, rattling your bones like a bass guitar.

I won't remember the names of the people I met. That Chris and I laughed about how metal trash and constellations are. Or how I rambled on and on to this poor girl about how I really want to make a sweet risotto with almond milk and coconut water. But I will remember the way the light illuminated the band, and the way the sound seemed to be a living thing tearing it's way across the mountains.

I am physically drained, but I don't give a shit. My life is fucking incredible.

Deception Pass State Park: Part 2

This post is going to go up a day early since tomorrow promises to be a bit hectic. 

I woke up after dozing off for a bit and thought to myself “Hmmmm there’s no dog in my sleeping bag. Where the hell is Jaxx?” He usually sleeps in my bag when it’s cold, because he’s spoiled and I don’t mind the extra warmth. I woke Chris up to make sure he wasn’t with him. Turned out he’d nosed his way out of Chris’ door. Shit. Shit. Shit.

If you’ve ever had a pet disappear, you know it sucks. It’s especially awful when you’re in an unfamiliar place and your dog has a particular affinity for cars. I ran out of the tent and started whistling from him. Got about 50 yards from camp and this woman came around a building and asked “Did you lose your dog? Is his name Jaxx?” Oh thank god. He had just wandered into a neighboring campsite where people were still up. My dog likes to party. Needless to say we’ll be investing in some small carabiners to seal the tent zippers at night. But everything was fine, although I didn’t sleep much the rest of the night, first because I was totally afraid that I was going to lose Jaxx again, second because by this time the tent was slowly beginning to collapse.

For me the tent wasn’t really a problem. I like small spaces and it wasn’t completely collapsed so I didn’t have tent material on my face. The nice thing about your tent collapsing is that it’s really toasty. It’s a general rule of thumb that the less space inside a shelter and the lower the ceiling the warmer it’s going to be, since warm air travels up. This goes for primitive shelters as well. However, Chris is a lot bigger than me and he had damp tent on his face. Not pleasant. He didn’t want to move to the car, so poor guy ended up rolling up his sleeping mat and using it to prop up the center of the tent. Around this time I finally passed out. 

Ko-Kwal-alwoot

Next day we struck camp pretty quick and went up to the north end of the park (Fidalgo Island) to do some additional hiking. It was warmer and even prettier out. On the way we stopped and took some pictures from the bridge (Above). We started out at Rosario Beach, which WTA had mentioned as a very pretty spot. My favorite part was this gorgeous carved Samish (Native Americans indigenous to the area) statue of Ko-Kwal-Alwoot, also known as The Maiden of Deception Pass, who ended up marrying the family that rules the sea. The carving is beautiful, but really I love the story, you can read it here.

Day two was short, we were both pretty exhausted from the previous day’s hike and the long night. Only hiked about miles total, but it was a beautiful day. The Olympic mountains were out in the west (click on the photo below to see them a bit more clearly). One thing that struck me (on both days), especially being from a coastal region myself, is how clear and empty the water is here. I’m used to surging surf, tons of kelp and sea life. In the area I grew up in California the water and sea life is pretty similar to what you find in Washington marine areas, tide pools and rocks seem to be alive with all manner of sea urchins, crabs, starfish, different types of sea plants. Here it was just empty which, while a little jarring for me, does make for some beautiful water. I could almost pretend I was in the Mediterranean.

Overall definitely go visit Whidbey, but I would recommend going during the week, or off season to avoid lots of groups. Unless you are one of those people who love car camping, because you're very social and inevitably make friends with everybody in neighboring sites. Good for you, you damn alien. 

WTA Link for our second hike here. It's also highlighted in red on the map of the park in Part 1.

Deception Pass State Park: Part 1

 

Location: Whidbey and Fidalgo Island

Difficulty: Easy to Easy-Medium (couple of short steep sections)
Dogs Allowed: Yes
Mileage: Variable
Fees/Passes: $22 for drive in $12 for bike/hike in sites

Season: Year round, but I recommend off-season

This past weekend Chris and I really wanted to get out of the city. The first camping trip of the year always seems to end up being car camping. Probably because we don’t have our gear assembled yet and are just generally not prepared (as you will see). So this year we went out to Whidbey Island and camped at Deception Pass State Park. We were suppose to go with a goup of hikers we are friends with but the date ended up getting moved to this coming weekend, at which time Chris and I will be in Olympia visiting family. Since both of us were looking forward to the trip we decided to go a week early on our own.

The trip was kind of a mixed bag.

First thing we were in a state park campground. Which means it was noisy and we were jammed up against neighboring campers. Luckily it was still early in the season so it wasn’t completely packed, we only had neighbors on one side and there was some decent brush giving us some privacy, but still it sort of ruins it if you can hear somebody’s radio. There are some bike/hike/kayak in spots that are a little more secluded which I’d like to check out sometime. Especially the boat in ones since they’re on smaller surrounding islands.

When we arrived we decided to set up our tent so we’d have less to do when we got back from our hike. It also gave the marine fog a little extra time to finish burning off. I pulled out the fly, the tent, the..... oh shit. No poles. Chris had forgot to check the bag before he packed it. Luckily we have a Subaru Forester so if things like this come up we can always sleep in the car, but Chris decided he was going to fashion some tent poles out of sticks and some zip ties we had in the car. So what should have taken about 3 minutes took about 45. While it wasn’t the prettiest tent in the world, I have to say, he did a pretty good job.

By this time it was absolutely gorgeous, about 70 degrees and clear as a bell. We hiked around the outside of the southern part of the island (outlined in red above). From West Beach up around the perimeter of Goose Rock. All the trails we hiked on were in very good condition. The trail around West Beach is at least partially paved, and then the rest are well maintained, with only a few spots that were muddy. We saw some very pretty views. Including one stunner with some islands and Mt. Baker all virgin whiteness standing in the distance (yeah that’s totally not a cloud in that picture below, that’s a mountain). The tidal flow that goes through Deception Pass itself is super scary. It’s just boiling surging water. I’d love to kayak around the island sometime, but I’ll definitely not even get close to that area (there will be a picture of this in part 2).

After our hike we went and had a couple beers on the beach (in non-glass containers thank you!). Going through winter in the Northwest always leaves me, and pretty much everyone, wanting to soak up the sun. Also, we forgot to bring board games. When we came back to camp and had camp Indian food (which I will post on at a later date), enjoyed our campfire and went to get some sleep. Or so we thought...

Continued here.