Hoypus Hill

Eleven Senior Trailblazers carpooled south to Deception Pass State Park to hike around in the Hoypus Hill area. We have been having cool and unsettled weather in our part of the world, but today we expected it to be nice, and it was. Although not as warm as we hoped, we saw no other hikers all day long on the many trails in this section of the park. We visited this place last year in late April. I wrote about it here.

Most of the trails are marked, and as you may have guessed, that first picture was taken in Fern Gully. As you might be able to see behind Peggy, some of the trails were a bit boggy, but nothing like last year's experience. Anyway, as we trekked along, we were getting warmed up and shed our jackets, and I was so pleased and surprised to see lots of signs that spring is indeed coming to my part of the world. Here is a picture of an Indian Plum in full bloom.

After walking on the trails for a while, Al decided he'd like to make it over to see Ala Spit, a peninsula near Hoypus Hill that would give us a place to settle in for lunch. We walked on a paved road past private residences until we reached the parking area for the spit. There was only one car there, so we walked along the peninsula and found a nice place for lunch.

Here you see Peggy, Linda and Ward all settled down out of the breeze to enjoy their lunch in the sunshine at Ala Spit. I did ask them to please stop munching down their sandwiches for a minute, which they were happy to do (I have caught everyone in various unflattering poses with food in their mouths and posted the pictures anyway). Seagulls were out during the low tide catching up mussels and/or clams and dropping them onto the rocks to open them. I wandered around and snapped pictures but they were way too fast for me.

As we donned our gear and readied ourselves for the return trip back to the cars, I got this shot of some of our hikers on the beach, showing that we are actually casting shadows onto the ground. Nobody was really tremendously warm, but the sunshine was a lovely addition to our day. It didn't take long after we began the return trip before many of the jackets came off.

I got down in the leaves on the return trail to get this picture of some stinging nettles that are coming up, too. A sure sign of spring. If you enlarge this picture you can see those little hairs coming out of the leaves, and if I were to inadvertently brush up against one, I would be itching still, but I was careful to avoid them. By the time we returned to our cars, we had hiked more than nine miles and covered around 1,000 feet up and down. Not one of our difficult hikes, but it was a very satisfying day spent with good friends.

On the way home, while sitting in the back seat of Al's car, I happened to see an amazing sight out the window. I couldn't understand what I was seeing, at first, because it looked like something tumbling rapidly out of the sky, turning and whirling, until suddenly two bald eagles separated. I realized that I was seeing an eagle mating display. These were either two rivals for a female, or a pair trying to decide if they want to get hitched for a lifetime. After I pointed out the eagles to the others, we watched them until they were out of sight. They hitched up one more time before they disappeared in the trees. I found this information online about what I saw. It was truly amazing. Yes, spring is here; mating has begun, and the air is filled with anticipation of the delights of springtime.
:-)