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05/29/23 - Farther Along the Dungeness Dike

We sometimes just take a short walk at the Dungeness Dike. Sometimes we make the full 90 minute loop from the school house parking lot to the south end of the trail. That lets us leave the dike and head down on a trail that follows the path of the old dike. This late in the spring, it's tall grass and green. We even took a short side spur to take a look at the river.

Setting the scene

More of the scene

Mountains and marsh

Along the route of the old dike

The Dungeness RIver

Further along

And further still

The old dike was completely removed

A familiar field

And farther along

Here is where they planted a forest. Give it time.

One of a few lupines

Another lupine

Pattern of stones

Last view before we left

Keywords: dungeness, spring

05/25/23 - Dungeness Highlands

We took our usual walk at the Dungeness Spit. We start at the main parking lot and head south along the bluffs then head east across the access road. There are views of the strait from the bluffs and views of the mountains from along the trail. It's a nice trail with a lot of variety, grasslands, forest, brush and salt water.

First mountain view

Grasslands

Mountain view

Thicket

Brush

An arty view of the mountains

Catkins or fluff

A forest peep

Open area

Forest tunnel

Flowers

A miscellaneous bird

The strait

A tunnel along the bluffs

More of the tunnel

Yet more tunnel with a view of the strait to the left

A miscellaneous squirrel

Keywords: dungeness, dungeness spit

05/21/23 - Dungeness Dike - Spring Progress

We took a short walk at the Dungeness Dike. Everything was so green.

The new marsh

A California poppy

More marsh

Even more marsh

A robin

Towne Road

A future forest

Keywords: dungeness

05/17/23 - A Beautiful Day at the Dike

We've been having some lovely sunny days out here on the Olympic Peninsula. We took a short walk on the Dungeness Dike to soak it in.

Old Towne Road

High water

Old Towne Road again

More high water in the marsh land

Amazing sky

More marsh and sky

Mountains half hidden in the distance

Keywords: dungeness

04/29/23 - Dungeness Dike and Rising Waters

We were back at the Dungeness Dike to check out the rising river. The whole point of replacing the old dike with this new one was to let the river flood freely. Well, it's working. The waters were much higher and the flood waters deeper. The fields were full of mustard. Hawks and eagles were about. We'll see how high the waters get when the spring melt starts in earnest.

A new branch of the Dungeness River

Old Towne Road and the Olympic Mountains

Higher waters

Marshlands

Higher water here as well

Some of the new dike

A future forest

Open fields

Mustard and mountains

More mustard

And even more mustard

Following the path of the old dike

Further along

Through the fields

Mustard flowers and forest

A spring scene

Maple flowers

Some kind of hawk

Yes, a red tailed hawk

More along the trail of the old dike

More forest

Welcoming forest

Mount Baker in the far distance

Keywords: dungeness, eagle, spring

04/18/23 - Dungeness Dike and a Denizen

We've been walking the new Dungeness Dike. The fields west of the new dike will someday be forest. We saw a variety of workers including a group from the Washington Conservation Corps hard at work mulching the hundreds of saplings. We've also been watching for signs of spring. Things have been getting greener and the yellow mustard is in bloom. On our way back, we saw a coyote. He was minding his own business, but he decided to watch us from a bit further away. We're a predator species too.

A dramatic sky

The new course of the Dungeness

The green fields

The very young forest

Along the path of the old dike

Mustard in bloom

More mustard

And even more mustard

This is what spring should look like.

Maple flowers

More maple flowers

More of the green field

Maple flowers are not showy.

Heading back along the new dike

The new forest again

The new dike

Some lupine

Towne Road, now part of the river

That coyote

The case of the curious coyote

We must have spooked him or her.

From the distance

Skunk cabbage

Keywords: dungeness, spring

04/16/23 - Dungeness Highlands

We've been hiking the Dungeness Highlands as we call them. We start at the parking lot near the sign in area for the spit, but we head south along the bluffs and follow the trail east across the road. We almost make a loop, but at the picnic table overlooking the highlands we turn around and head back.

Spring is progressing, albeit slowly. It was a cloudy day which actually makes it easier to see things. Clouds and a gray sky add a lot of character to a landscape.


Along the bluff

Scrubland

A forested stretch

A glimpse ahead

The vista south

A mixed sky and field

More of the field

The trail itself

Some spring color, but not much green yet

Mahonia

Another field

On our way back

More of the trail

An almost dry pond

Contrast

Along another field

Heading back

Back on the bluffs

Some currant blossoms

Keywords: dungeness, spring

08/04/22 - Down by the Dungeness

If you want to get a good look at the Dungeness River, turn left just east of the river and head down Ward Road. There are some lovely parking areas, perfect for picnics or exploring the river banks. You can slosh around a bit if you care to, go fishing in season or do some bird watching. We saw some cedar waxwings flocking in a tree over a river and a small sapsucker on another tree as we headed back to our car. It's a great place to stop for a shady break if you are exploring the area.

The Dungeness River

Gravel banks

A view south

Across the way

More of the river

A cedar waxwing

We caught one of the waxwings landing.

A close up of that sapsucker

That bird was hard to spot.

Keywords: dungeness

07/21/22 - Dungeness Dike

There are big changes along the Dungeness River down by Towne Road. The southern part of the old dike is gone, and a new road is coming through. We're taking advantage of what's left of the dike, and, now that it is summer, it's lush and overgrown. We spotted two eagles or perhaps the same eagle twice. It was a short walk, but a pretty one.

A sunflower at Chi's Farm on Towne Road near Old Olympic

Another sunflower

And another

The summer dike

Lush and overgrown

An eagle sighting

Some marshland

A bit of the river

More lush summer of foliage

The dike again

Another glimpse of the Dungeness River

An eagle above

Zoomed in a bit

Keywords: dungeness, eagle, summer

02/24/22 - Beaver on Dungeness Dike

We saw a beaver on Dungeness Dike the other day. It's the first beaver we've seen on the peninsula, though we've heard that they are around. It was probably checking out all the engineering work being done on the dike.

Along the dike

A computer enhanced - isn't everything nowadays? - image of the beaver

True to life, backlit like everything else

Keywords: animals, dungeness

01/17/22 - Dungeness Dike With High Water

Now that the snow has melted, the Dungeness River is running high. We took a walk on the Dungeness Dike and got a good look at the river.

Winter river

A side channel

That's our metric tree, usually a foot or more above the waterline, but now surrounded by water.

Fields

Fields and the dike

Unexpected in winter - a wooly bear caterpillar

One of the hawks

A high water island

That tree with the water rushing around its base is usually along the river's bank.

Another hawk

The dike trail

Keywords: dungeness

01/06/20 - Dungeness Dike and Points North

We saw a number of eagles along our walk on the Dungeness Dike. It's a good relaxing hike on a nice soft, flat surface. Then we crossed the Dungeness River heading west on Anderson Road and took a short walk north towards the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. It was a broad flat marshy field with a trail that seemed to lead all the way to the strait, but we didn't get that far. We'll have to come back and explore some more.

Seen from the Dungeness Dike

An eagle on the water, blurred by a confused autofocus

A clearer eagle

A Dungeness River side spur

Fields heading north to the strait

Fields and sky

The trail

Keywords: dungeness, eagle

03/12/19 - Various March Birds

This hasn't been a good year for hiking, but it has been a good year for bird watching. The eagles are easy to spot from the Dungeness Dike, and we saw a hummingbird in a bush right near the trail. There was a woodpecker on the forested part of the walk to Dungeness Spit, and a big hawk in a tree as we headed west from the Morse Creek parking lot.

A red tail hawk

Just some trees, unless you look closely

They're full of eagles.

A hummingbird at rest

A hummingbird in motion

The sea and sky off Dungeness Spit

A woodpecker at work on the trail

Keywords: birds, dungeness, dungeness spit, eagle, morse creek

01/06/19 - High Water on the Dungeness River

On our last visit to the Dungeness Dike, the river was full of brown, milky water, lots of it. The water was high and quickly flowing. The trail was still wet, but the sun was out. It's rain season, so we expect the river to rise and fall for a while, then rise again for the spring melt.

High water in the Dungeness River

The Dungeness DIke

Another view of the river

Keywords: dungeness

12/21/18 - Dungeness Dike Christmas

We were back along the Dungeness Dike again to check out the swans and the flood waters of the Dungeness RIver.

A Christmas tree along the dike

High water on the Dungeness

A side branch

The trail in early winter

Visiting swans

Keywords: christmas, dungeness, winter

12/12/18 - Christmas Swans and Ornaments

The swans are back for the season in the farm fields along Towne Road. We saw a big flock of them from the Dungeness Dike. We also saw that someone had decorated one of the holly trees along the trail. Christmas is a-coming in.

Swans

More swans

Christmas ornaments

Keywords: christmas, dungeness

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