Puget-Sound on

Fishing, crabbing, fun.

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Sometimes a weekend works out perfectly, last weekend was that weekend for us. I had Friday off so we decided to spend some time at the beach fishing for pink salmon as they make their odd year return to Puget Sound.

fishing at point no point

The first beach we hit, Point No Point in Hansville, is one of our favorites and a popular place to shore fish. We lined up along with all the other anglers and cast our lines. We were skunked, but so was everyone but one grandpa who proudly walked along the beach holding a pink, son and grand-daughter in tow. While we missed out on the salmon we caught our share of bullheads.

Blue skies, sun, shell.

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I spent a day traveling to the Skagit River to view the eagles when all I really had to do was go to Fay Bainbridge – the park hosts a pair overlooking the Sound from their nest.

americana

I know they’re hard to see on the tree to the far left but I wanted this shot.

eagle soaring

One of the eagles decided to stretch their wings and soared around for a minute or two before coming back to the nest.

Moon, weather, winter.

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

I took these photos a day early because the weather forecasts called for cloudy skies this evening and I wanted to capture the largest full moon of the year.

full moon

I had some difficulty with exposures because the moon was so bright that it blew out any of the trees or surrounding scenery.

moon streak

I thought I’d play a bit and set the camera for a ten-second exposure and then slowly panned the tripod head – I’m not sure what to make of this, perhaps we’ll call it “art”.

Sunset, sunrise, mountains.

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We’ve been experiencing crisp, clear days and nights coupled with stunning sunrises and sunsets – it’s been so clear Mt Baker has been visible the last couple of days.

This evening’s sunset faded through the blues, magentas and yellows finishing with a blood red mushroom cloud – unfortunately I had only the iPhone and the photo didn’t come out so your imagination will have to suffice.

sunrise

Sunrise over the Cascades.

Market, bird, beach.

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We always enjoy our time in Port Townsend and so we decided to spend another perfect Saturday in November in our “Madison of the Pacific Northwest”.

cabbage

radish

carrots

potatoes

We serendipitously found our way uptown to the Farmers’ Market, busy hosting their season finale, where we danced to bluegrass, ate cookies and purchased perfect vegetables from Nash’s (the cabbage!), hard cider from Eaglemount Winery and delicious whole-wheat hearth bread from Pane D’Amore.

Sunrise, falafel, turtle, bunny.

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The animals arrive pre-packaged now, nestled in their stuff sack, so I wasn’t exactly sure who made the trip this morning.

sunrise

Puget Sound, sunrise, skyline, ferry – I’ve yet to grow tired of the view though my fellow BIGeeks assure me I might.

waiting to depart

ferry through the sides

Say “hi” to Honey Bunny and Turtle as they await the departure of the boat; through the railing you can see a passing ferry on its way to Bremerton.

Fences, a yellow shore crab and a beach.

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Hours and hours of yard work have kept us close to home this weekend and last but I wanted to get in a short hike, no matter how short. At my reading group I was told about a beach access trail I hadn’t traveled so my daughter and I set out on Saturday morning to check it out.

The trail starts down Skinner Road just west of Battle Point Park. There’s no parking along the road so if you’re driving park at Battle Point. Walk along Skinner Road until you can just see the fences in the distance.

Dungeness Spit.

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The would-be naturalists chose Dungeness Spit as this year’s Father’s Day destination. Some research on the web unearthed The 3 Crabs as a highly recommended crab shack right on the Sound with birding on the adjacent beach. Lunch plans decided, we packed the car and drove up to Dungeness.

We arrived at The 3 Crabs a bit early, lunch not served until 11:30am, so we tried to do some birding while we waited – the Sound did not cooperate.

Low tides, geoducks and sea anemone.

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We went back today to the beach, no rain, more people. Nonetheless, we saw more creatures and captured the geoducks spouting forth on film.

Geoducks squirting and spitting water.

Starfish and sea anemone hanging out.

A crab on his journey to the sea.

Low tides, starfish and nudibranch.

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Growing up in the Midwest my experience with big bodies of water is mainly with the Great Lakes; the continual change in the tides of Puget Sound being one of the many differences from our former environment. This week we’re fortunate enough to experience the lowest tides in 50 years according to some reports, exposing sea-life usually covered in several feet of water.

Today at lunch we went to Rockaway Beach to check out the activity in a pretty constant rain which must have kept everyone else indoors since we had the beach to ourselves save the starfish, nudibranches, gulls and a heron. With the tide out I now fully understand how the beach got it’s name.