August, 2020
You’ll remember in the last blog post here that I walked the trail/boardwalk through the marshland to the far end of the trail (near the ferry terminal). In THIS blog post, I walk back to the big white truck, but I don’t return using the same trail/boardwalk. Instead, as promised, I scramble down onto the sandy beach and walk back that way. Let’s go!
In the photo above, I’m down on the beach. I’m looking at vehicle traffic on the left side of the photo (ready to board the next ferry) … and the large ferry terminal built out over the water is on the right side of the photo … and you can see a large number of pilings and the remains of concrete structures in the water. I’ll walk up and explore those pilings and concrete in just a moment … but first …
Just a few minutes after I set foot on the beach, one of the large ferries (the M/V Samish) pulled away from the dock, heading towards all of its scheduled stops in the San Juan Islands. In the video below, you’ll see the ferry pull out, then turn to port (left) and head towards Thatcher Pass, between Decatur Island and Blakely Island, and thence in amongst the San Juans.
You’ll also see what a grey, foggy morning this was. Not to worry though, the ferry crew had plenty of visibility and these ferries have multiple/redundant radar systems on board.
That was fun to see the M/V Samish leave the dock. I thought it was excellent that the Samish is part of the San Juans/Anacortes ferry system, plying the waters where the Samish people lived for thousands of years.
And then, a mere 15 minutes later, the clouds began to lift, a spot of blue sky appeared here and there, and a different ferry came around the corner inbound to the ferry terminal. This ferry was the M/V Chelan, arriving at the Anacortes ferry terminal after its scheduled sojourn through the San Juans.
Interesting numbers on the pilings above. It seemed that every piling with a bird house was assigned a number. I wondered if the birds in residence there received their mail that way … and paid rent based on location and amenities and how nice their view was. 🙂
All of these pilings and all of these concrete structures are remnants of the canneries and docks that were here years ago. The Fidalgo Island Packing Company was opened in 1894 … that’s how old some of these structures and pilings are! Read that year correctly … it’s not 1984 … it’s 1894.
A hundred yards or so further down the beach, there was a second group of pilings … also with numbered bird houses.
These rock formations (in photos above and below) didn’t exist anywhere on the beach except at the head of each conglomeration of pilings and concrete structures. In addition to their location, the fact that these formations seemed to be rusting made me think they were tailings from the construction of the original cannery structures, or possibly scrap metal that was dumped and was a result of manufacturing of the cans used in the cannery.
A bit further down the beach was another set of pilings, but they had been built at an angle to the beach … not straight out from the beach like the other larger groups of pilings. Surely these were once a dock of some sort.
An interesting lump of sand, surrounded by seaweed.
Many types of seaweed are edible, and delicious. I wondered about the seaweed in the photo above.
And then, even further down the beach, almost back to the parking area where my big white truck was, this feathered person (above) was determindly heading the same direction I was. She seemed to be saying, “let’s get back to that truck, I’m hungry for lunch!”
I agreed!
Just past the tree trunk/branch that overhangs the beach in the photo above, I clambered back up over some rip-rap boulders to the parking lot and the truck, then drove back to my campsite for lunch. What a great morning … an Osprey, flowers, ferry boats, sunshine, Teasel plants, and a perfect Pacific Northwest beach.
Ok, here’s just one last video look at this saltwater beach. The wavelets splashing up on the beach weren’t really waves from the ocean since we’re too far inland here, with too many islands in between this location and the real ocean. And there wasn’t a breath of wind to stir up waves. Those little waves are from the wakes of passing boats. Had it not been for boat traffic (there sure wasn’t much of that here this day), the water would have been absolutely flat calm. In fact, in all my years of boating in these very same exact waters, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it this calm here. Indeed, a superior morning. 🙂
Thanks, Ann, for your photos of the bird houses on the pilings. I was curious about who uses the bird houses. Found this on the internet:
Anacortes Now – Paradise for Bird Photographers
http://www.anacortesnow.com/news/arts-a-leisure/2695
“Feb 01, 2014 · This habitat makes for an interesting mix of bird viewing. From the viewpoints along the shoreline cormorants dry their wings on pilings nestled between a variety of gulls, like the mew gull. American wigeons dabble and golden eye ducks dive in the water. In spring, purple martins nest in bird houses next to the pilings.”
Since Washington State now has an aggressive program to remove all old pilings which have creosote on them, I wonder what they will do about the bird houses. I hope they have a creative solution!
So, purple martins, cool! Maybe I’ll be up here one spring and get photos of them.
Your question about bird houses on creosote pilings brought up my own concern about that whole situation. There are thousands (millions?) of old wooden pilings coated in creosote here in Puget Sound. They are extrememly detrimental to flora and fauna of the waters and shores. I find lots of info online but I sift the current options for replacement pilings down to these … steel pilings, concrete pilings, composite (plastic) pilings, and “marine-grade treated Southern Pine” (wood). Concrete has iron rebar inside which rusts; steel rusts; plastic/vinyl sheeting wraps around concrete or wood; and of course “treated” wood pilings still have lots of chemicals in them. I fear we still don’t have an answer.
I am so impressed with how much there is to see and do around the salt water of Puget Sound. We haven’t visited there, but have always wanted to. Your blog makes it even more enticing. There’s so much history, and beauty, and fishing … mostly fishing! ok that’s a comment for another post, haha! The history of the canneries is fascinating, I read every word I could find from your links online, and from other links. I’ve read that there’s a smell to the salt water and to the beach … is there?
Smell, yes! There is indeed smell. When the tide is out and the resulting “land” is a mud flat, then maybe the smell isn’t too enticing. 🙂 But most beaches, even when the tide is out, have a delicious smell to them that we who were raised hereabouts find wonderful. I went to college in Pullman, Washington, right on the border with Idaho; there was no salt water over there! Whenever we drove back home for Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday, or spring break, we drove west across the State of Washington and then up over the Cascade Mountains. Always, at some point in that drive over the mountains, there was an instant when we could smell the saltwater, and it was heaven, it was home. So yes indeed, there is a smell. 🙂
I think that bird in the water that was heading in the same direction that you were is a Merganser … no? Lovely photos!
A Merganser … thank you Lori!
I love the little waves on the beach, and the quiet calm water, the reflections, it all seems so safe and so comforting, the world at peace, as it should be.
Oh, that’s exactly how I feel too Ruth. When the water is calm, it’s so wonderful that I don’t even care if the sun is shining or not, it is so peaceful.
I know I’ve said this before, but Washington State is so diverse….vast mountains, lovely lakes and streams, rainforest, the Pacific, all the volcanoes, and the animal life. I giggled about your thoughts about numbering the birdhouses and taxing them accordingly. I wonder is there a system to the numbering, and do the same birds return to the same numbered nesting spot each year?
Ahhhh, now I never thought about whether the Purple Martins feel as though they “own” particular houses and keep track of that. We humans do, why not birds? Homing Pigeons do, returning even to the exact same nesting box. Why not Purple Martins? How fun. 🙂
Love the new header with the horses. Great photo.
Thanks Nevada. 🙂