Category: Trails

Gone

We’ve lost the second and last pullout area at the Dungeness Recreation Area, a pull through parking area where people could overlook the Strait of Juan de Fuca. I last showed this here, when a portion of its fence took flight over open air.

Vancouver Island, British Columbia is off in the distance. In the closer foreground is where visitors could drive up and park. A path and fence was just beyond the parking places. Mother Nature is taking that back.

Another midair fence

There have been two pullouts at the Dungeness Recreation Area where vehicles can either pull through or park with a view out onto the Strait of Juan de Fuca and, to the north, Vancouver Island, B.C. and Washington’s San Juan Islands. Chunk by chunk these pullouts have eroded as wind and weather have taken their toll on the compacted sandy soil. For the moment this is the only remaining area where people and vehicles can move close to the view.

Three parking spaces are now out of service. I expect that soon, like the other former pullout area, this area will be barricaded by a fence.

When we moved to Sequim ten years ago we walked a path along this edge of the bluffs from the public campground at the north along nearly the full frontage of the park’s western boundary on the bluff. The views were wonderful. The left-hand fence, above, was one of the earliest barriers across the trail as the bluff began to slip. Parts of the path are now entirely gone. Some areas of the trail next to the campgrounds still come close to water views but the waterfront overlook trail is now long gone.

Through the bus window

The down side of taking a bus tour is that one can’t call out “photo op!” and pull over to the side of the road. But some of the sights in Iceland were so compelling I couldn’t resist taking shots through the window of our moving bus, such as they are, glare and all. Churches in the countryside rarely failed to catch my eye.

I saw a number of classic red roofed churches like that in the first shot, but there were occasional less traditional ones as well.

Mind you, these weren’t in cities, for the most part, but out in the open, sparsely populated countryside.

I so would have loved to stop and explore this structure that appears to be growing from the hill behind it. But then, if I’d had my druthers I’d probably still be there today, happily roaming with camera in hand.

Thankful

Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S. And this photo shows one of the many things I’m thankful for: Dungeness Recreation Area. We live where we do because it offers ready access to the Recreation Area trails which take us along marshlands, through forested areas, and near the bluffs and water views. The trail above skirts the campgrounds and is one that has been pushed inland by bluff erosion. There are peek-a-boo views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca through the trees on the right.

This stretch of trail offers some open overlooks. Benches and picnic tables invite people to stop and stay for a while.

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow celebrants!

Mother Nature does her thing

We walk in the Dungeness Recreation Area a lot. When we first came to Sequim we walked a trail that led us along the bluff from one overlook to another, and then beyond, to the north and south. The overlooks afford views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca with Victoria and Vancouver Island, British Columbia in the distance. Over the years first one section of the sandy bluff and then another and another still gave way to forces of erosion. The overlook shown above started its slide last June, shown here. A month or so later it looked like this. Today, above, there’s a fence where the trail has been routed inland. You can see the approximate location of the former trail where the wooden fence is in the distance.

Vegetation was cleared to allow more parking. The former overlook is in the distance at the left of this photo.