Goose Rock in the summer

Frank, Sue, Al, Ranger Rick, Cathy, Heather, Peggy, me, Mel

Our Senior Trailblazers group split into two today: the earlier group went into the Mt. Baker wilderness to tackle Lake Ann (which was on the schedule), and several of the rest of us didn't want to make the rather difficult hike with less-than-optimal air quality. Although it had improved somewhat, it was still not good in the mountains. So eight of us set off south to the Deception Pass area, on the water where the marine air helped with the air quality, to one of our usual winter hikes, Goose Rock. Fog greeted us, along with Ranger Rick, who (it turns out) is a good friend of Heather's. He joined us for a picture and then set off for his duties.

West Beach as the day's hike began

Even before we set off to hike up Goose Rock from West Beach, the fog had begun to lift a little. It was cool and delightful, after all the heat and bad air we've suffered through lately, it seemed like a different world.

The view from Goose Rock

By the time we hiked up to the top of Goose Rock, it was time for an early lunch, and some of the fog still lingered, but it was still really lovely. Lots of other people joined us on the top, but none of them stayed for long, because I think they weren't prepared for how cool it was. Not many even had a jacket.

Getting ready for lunch

You can see that there are still a few clouds in the sky, but we had a pretty good view looking toward Whidbey Island Naval Base, and of course we could hear the jets as they flew overhead. We needed our sun hats at the top.

Madrona tree

We saw lots of these beautiful trees, the madrona (Arbutus menziesii), with bright red bark that peels away to show a pistachio color underneath. Goose Rock and the area around it has more of these beautiful trees than I have seen anywhere else.

Map of the area

After lunch, we decided to do a little exploring and walked across the Deception Pass bridge. If you enlarge this picture, you can see a "You Are Here" sign between the two islands. We walked down the steps and got acquainted (along with lots of other people) with the many footpaths on the little island.

The bridge from underneath

I got an unusual angle to snap the Deception Pass bridge as we walked down to explore the area. The water is always turbulent like that because of the tides constantly coming and going.

West Beach at the end of the day

Finally, we returned to our cars and saw people photographing a rock covered with seagulls. You can see that the fog has pretty much lifted, and we congratulated ourselves on having had a good day, covering around seven miles and more than 1,500 feet up and down. Not too shabby, but I'm sure the others were still going strong when we climbed in our cars, with a much shorter drive home than they had. It was a good day in just about every way!
:-)