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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


10/22/18 - Seen Near Dungeness Dike

This hawk seems to be a regular with a favorite perching tree off Towne Road in Sequim.

Watching the wetlands

Keywords: dungeness, birds


10/18/16 - Dungeness Dike

The recent rains have filled the local rivers. We took a walk along the Dungeness River near Towne Road and were impressed with the flow. The river usually looks rather peaceful, but this time the water was high and running strong.

One of the little side channels

Another view

Yet another view

The wide river

A little whirlpool

Autumn color and a dramatic sky

A heron by the road side

A hawk in a tree

More autumn color and sky

Keywords: dungeness


02/27/16 - Dungeness Dike Eagles

It’s eagle season, and one of the best places for spotting them is along the Dungeness Dike off of Towne Road in Sequim. It’s not a long walk, but it pays to keep your eyes on the sky and tree tops. The trail roughly follows the Dungeness River and borders a broad open pasture. Sometimes we see eagles flying high. Sometimes we see them perched on tree tops or flying above the river. There is a cluster of trees towards the south end of the fields that they particularly like. On our last visit, there were at least a dozen eagles perched there.

How many eagles can you see in this picture? Click for a better image.

There’s one.

How many here?

Two eagles

This one is easy.

Another eagle

Did we mention that they like tree tops?

There are also some pretty views of the river and its side channels.

Another view

Keywords: dungeness, eagle


01/30/16 - Eagle Season

The eagles have been gathering along the Dungeness River. The last time we took the Dungeness Dike walk that starts off Towne Road the trees were full of eagles.

One eagle posing - click for a close up

Another eagle

Yet another eagle

Keywords: dungeness, eagle


03/22/14 - Farmers' Market Update

These are thin times at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market, so we've been buying what we can. Nash Huber, for example, had some spinach, so we assumed that the spinach season was starting. We were wrong. The young man at the stand filled us in. That was likely it for spinach for a while. Still, Nash Huber did have all sorts of raab, that is flowering young cabbages, arugulas and kales. They are sweet and delicious, and they are only available this time of year.

Spring Rain had their chickens, but they also have their greenhouse. That means salad greens, baby kale and all sorts of exotic things, mainly green vegetables. We have our hopes.

New at the market was Eric Pozgay, the Pasta Guy. He was selling freshly made pasta. Fresh pasta may be a hallmark of gentrification, but Port Angeles is a few miles down the road, so it was nice to see it on sale.

Dungeness Seaworks had some fine whole fish, good looking salmon, but we had to pass this week.




Keywords: dungeness, farmers' market, nash huber, port angeles, salmon, spring, kale, spring rain


01/23/14 - Dike and Fog

We haven't had much rain or snow this winter. We have, however, had some excellent fog. Here is the misty view from the Dungeness Dike.



Keywords: dungeness, winter


10/15/13 - Salmon Homecoming on the Dungeness River

This is the season that the salmon come home to the rivers to spawn and die. It's great news for the fishermen, and for salmon in general, but not so much for the fish themselves. We noticed the scent near the Dungeness Dike parking area on Towne Road. The lot was full of fishermen, or rather, their trucks with their permits in the window. The fishermen themselves were out along the river.

One always hears of the great salmon homecoming adventure with heroic tales and desperate struggles upstream. Indeed, the river was full of fish fighting their way against the current. There were also the predators, mostly gulls, of course, and the above mentioned fishermen. It is most definitely autumn, with the leaves starting to turn and nature itself lush, but preparing for the frost.


A side channel full of fish

A silver salmon

A closeup of salmon fighting upstream

The silver river

An early autumn field

Keywords: autumn, dungeness, salmon


01/31/13 - Dungeness Spit - Let The Good Tides Roll

We're having some good tides at Dungeness Spit this winter. For example, there was a low tide below three feet around 12:30 today, and there was a lot of sand on the beach which made for easy walking. We saw a few eagles, a number of sea birds and the usual assortment of kelpies, that is, blobs of kelp that look like sea birds. There is another round of good tides coming up in mid-February, around Valentine's Day in fact, so we'll be watching our tide tables and hoping for good weather.









Keywords: birds, dungeness, dungeness spit, tides, winter, eagle


06/20/12 - Dungeness Spit - Good for Walking

There are two challenges involved in walking the Dungeness Spit.

First, you have to get the tides right. At high tide, all you have to walk on is a narrow strip of sand, rocks and driftwood. This gets tiring after two or three miles, and the lighthouse is about four and a half miles away. That's why we use Tidefinder to figure out the promising tides, during the daytime and under three feet.

Second, even when the tides are low, the going can be very rough when the beach is mainly small stones rather than sand. Usually, the sand is washed out in the winter and builds up through the summer. Some years, the beach stays rocky, but this year the sands have returned, and at low tide, there is usually a sweet strip one can walk on. It's hard work, but it's much easier than it could be.

Things look good this year, so tide and sand permitting we'll be making our way out to the lighthouse this summer.


The sandy beach

Driftwood and stones

Footprints in the soft sand

Keywords: dungeness, dungeness spit, software, summer, tides, winter


10/11/11 - Nash Huber's New Farm Stand

The folks at Nash's Organic Produce have been talking about opening a new farm stand for a while now. Well, they've done it. It's just down the Towne Road Extension from the old stand, but it's much larger with lots of room for expansion. We stopped in, did some shopping and took a few photos. Now that the fall harvest is coming in, we'll be dropping by more often.

The front with pumpkins

Vegetables ...

... more vegetables ...

... even more vegetables ...

... so, what did you expect?

Keywords: dungeness, shopping, nash huber


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