Parks – Page 33 – Sequim Daily Photo

Sequim’s Olympiad

There’s a small, open structure off the main road into Carrie Blake Park. Inside it is a bronze bust of Sequim’s claim to Olympic fame. Native son Matt Dryke claimed a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Dryke has bragging rights as an International Skeet Shooting Champion and world record holder.

Here’s the enclosure.

Judging by letters to the editor in the local paper there are plenty of strong feelings on both sides of gun control. I guess it reminded me that I wanted to have a shot of Matt, a sport shooter. A camera is my weapon of choice. I’ll leave the debate to others with the hope that cool, sane heads will prevail.

Family portrait

This doe and two fawns stopped and posed last summer.

There’s good cover and plenty of forage in the Dungeness Recreation Area, but the deer still generally prefer back and front yard plantings in the nearby neighborhood, even when the plants are natives that grow wild nearby. Still, they make better neighbors than some I’ve had.

Silly, really

It’s become an event when we have a smattering of that weak, golden winter sunshine. Thursday progressed with rain, a shot of sun, more rain, drizzle, and then sun, piercing the grey, to end the day. Sun like that pulls me out the door, camera in hand, ever hopeful. “Look at that! Sunshine!” It’s silly, really.

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The new trail

A few months ago I posted photos of the bluff trail at Dungeness Recreation Area here under the title “There goes the neighborhood” because it was, quite literally, sliding into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It’s an ongoing challenge to keep access to the bluff trails open because the sandy cliffs are so battered by natural erosion. This is a view of the newly-revised trail at the bluff after it was recently shifted further inland. Although it looks – and is – tidy and clear, this shift required removing at least four or five feet of thick shrubbery that previously edged the trail to allow it to tiptoe back from the ever-creeping ledge. The fence you see in this view is not so far from the previous inland side of the trail.

This view shows some of the erosion that has eaten into what once was the trail.

Trail crews did a beautiful job on this and other parts of the bluff trail. I wish I could applaud and say “Your work is finished!” But I think it’s just another chapter in an ongoing saga. They’ll be back.

Here comes the sun

Not quite close enough to that mailbox for a pot of gold. I checked.

Edge of the bay

Here’s another view from Sequim Bay State Park last week. There’s a beautiful view onto Sequim Bay from here.

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Oyster abstraction

You can fish for oysters and clams at Sequim Bay State Park when the season’s open and there are no quarantines. Unfortunately, there have been warnings again this year about paralytic shellfish poisoning. It’s ironic because the waters are clear and beautiful, giving a good view of meals enjoyed by others. Here are clam and oyster shells underwater, just offshore.