Views of Sequim, the Olympic Peninsula. . .and beyond
I know we’ve officially made it to spring but here’s something I’ll concede to liking about winter: I like the colors of the landscape around the marshes at Dungeness Recreation Area. The bleached golden grasses, the blue sheen of water, burgundy stripe of wild roses, grey green of lichen in the winter bare trees, and the scruff of evergreen that dots above. And when it comes around, I love the blue sky. The grass is starting its rebirth now. You can see it mixing fresh growth amid the gold.
I’ve mentioned before that erosion is a problem along the bluffs of Dungeness Recreation Area. Two or three stretches of bluff trail have been rerouted in the past four years that we’ve lived here.
A new trail has been started near the southern edge of the bluff trail. It will route walkers well back from the edge, which has given way once already just in the time we’ve walked there.
This is the existing trail. The fence at the right is only a year or two old but is losing ground. And the orange cone? An attempt to stop walkers from scaling the hill ahead, a piece of which recently collapsed.
I can’t really complain about winter weather. It’s rained and been windy but hasn’t been so bad lately. And the water content of the snowpack in the mountains increased from 24% of normal at the first of the year to 80% of normal last week. That’s very welcome! What I miss is foliage. And color. I’ve browsed some photos I hadn’t gotten around to posting before and I’ll roll out a few for some brief winter relief.
The upside of taking walks between rain squalls is the chance to see occasional patches of blue. This marshy area at Dungeness Recreation Area is filling up nicely though it so far hasn’t suited any ducks, which are no longer hunted here.
We’re getting caught up on rainfall. It’s been a challenge lately to take a walk and come home dry. The fun part is our daily paper, The Peninsula Daily News. A copywriter now makes the daily weather forecast capsules fun to read. Last night: “Showers keep tapping.” The forecast for today was “Breezes belabor Peninsula.” Friday: “Sun muscles past clouds.” Smiles break out daily.
Access to this area of the bluffs at the Dungeness Recreation Area is discouraged. It’s sandy, undercut, dangerous, and a long way down. And it’s a clear favorite for people looking for Darwin Award nominations.
Today is Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and the official start to winter. We ushered out autumn yesterday with snow down to sea level. Although there has been snow in the hills in recent weeks, this is the first seen by flatlanders in a couple of years. Rain, with more predicted, means it’s not likely to last. So I guess if one dreams of a white Christmas yesterday was an excuse for an early celebration.
It’s the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Stay warm and dry.