August
26, 2006
Well,
it doesn't always turn out the way we plan. Our destination was
Salt
Creek Recreation Area County Park,
on the Strait of Juan De Fuca, just west of Port Angeles, WA,
on the recommendation of a colleague of Tim's. I was anticipating
Orcas and Bald Eagles, and couldn't wait to get started.
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We
were up early, and watched the sky become light from the deck
of the ferry Puyallup, as we travelled from Edmonds to Kingston.
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Finding
Salt Creek was no problem, either for us or for the bazillion
other campers and hikers who were busy cooking bacon and egg
breakfasts as we arrived. During
World War II, this area was a harbor defense military base
called Fort
Hayden. We
parked near one of the bunkers and clambered down the bluffs
to Tongue Point (alt. spelling on some of the signs - Tounge
Point, hah!).
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Gosh
it was pretty here. The rocks in the lower right of the picture
are part of Tongue Point which is a Marine Life Sanctuary.
Notices warned us not to remove or touch any of the marine
life. I am afraid I crushed a number of the shells attached
to the rocks as I stumbled along. :\
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The
tide was out when we arrived, so we were able to clamber around
the rocks and look for crabs and other forms of sealife. My
shoes got soaked, and when they dried, phew, what a stench!
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Tim
found a lovely anemone, waving its fronds beneath the water
of the tidal pool.
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Me,
I found it a bit frustrating. The little crabs were just
too fast for my camera (err, me) and the bright sunlight
made shooting underwater life very difficult.
A little live crab
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A jellyfish thing
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There
were lots of interesting things to see, like many kinds of
seaweed, and lots of barnacles and shells, such as this Sea
Urchin shell. Alas, the Orcas and Bald Eagles seemed to have
taken off for points unknown.
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Eventually
we left the throngs of humanity behind and drove further west
to Shipwreck Point, another great place to find tidal pools.
Luckily the tide was still out when we arrived.
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Tim
caught me looking across the Strait at the mountains of British
Columbia, off in the distance. I am mentally humming Oh Canada.
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It
was tons of fun flipping rocks here, and watching many small
crabs scuttle briskly towards new hiding places. I got some
great pictures...of dead crabs like this one. The rest were
too darn fast for me.
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