Deception Pass State Park

We stayed this past week at Deception Pass State Park on the Northern Washington coastline. Deception Pass is an extremely picturesque area of old-growth forest in what is really a pretty populated area of Whidbey Island. The park offers stunning views of the Puget Sound region, has it’s fair share of beaches and trails to explore, and is home to the Deception Pass Bridge, built in the 1930’s by the CCC.

We arrived early on Monday, after the weekend crowd had mostly left, picked and reserved a site for the work week and got straight to the out door activities which ended up consisting of four hikes and two kayaking trips in the five days we were at the park. This was going to work out great for us as we have both been wanting to get back into some form of physical activity each and every day. The hustle and bustle of the Alaska trip really played havoc with out activities, so…

Hoping to kayak to the bridge we set out for the short paddle on day-1. The paddle went smoothly until we rounded to corner, from the Sound into the Pass itself, and was met by the [now we know] notorious current. We paddled with all our might, but never really moved any closer to the bridge. After only a few minutes, and a few yards closer, we gave up and turned back to the beach where we spent more than a few minutes floating in the water and enjoying the ocean breeze together. It was a fair trade.

[No pictures, sorry]

Day-2 saw us waking early to get in a short hike before the work day began. A 6am rise, pausing long enough only for a cup of coffee, and out onto the first trail we could find. Byron and Moose got to join us as we hiked from our camp site to North Beach in the early morning fog. Sticks were thrown, dogs got to run, Byron ended up in the water as usual, and upon return to camp we were all content that some much needed exercise, for us all, was done.

Day-3 began the same way; wake – coffee – hike. This time we drove out too the highway to start our hike by going under the bridge itself, then back out the other side to hike around the Goose Rock Summit and Perimeter trails. I was taken aback by the actual amount of uphill hiking it took to reach the summit. Surely nothing for an experienced hiker, but that is something I can no longer call myself after this past year of limited activity. Still, we pushed onward and upward to the summit, a clearing still shrouded in fog. The only form of wildlife seen were the hundreds and hundreds of spiders in their dew covered webs. In the end, we hiked another couple miles before breakfast, worked the remainder of the day and flopping down to bed at an early hour to do it again the next morning.

Day-4 brought us even further out from the camp site. Across the bridge is Bowman Bay where we hiked out to Lighthouse Point and opted to take the loop around the point. As it turned out, the trail was not really playing fair with us and we ended up having to bushwhack and even climb some steep and muddy grades to finally reach the main trail again… a few times. It was a beautiful hike with views of the shoreline, beaches, and coves coming one after another. The forest, true to form, was thick with life and moisture from the morning air. At the end we knew this would be the place we bring our kayaks too for one more paddle before we leave the park.

Day-5, and another hike was scheduled first thing in the morning again. This time we drove to the far eastern side of the park to Cornet Bay and hiked along the Hoypus Hill trail and back. A finely kept trail with no major obstacles (like hills or bushwhacking), we were able to hike out to the tip for views of Cornet Bay and to the East into the greater Seattle area. No where near as strenuous as the prior days, but the hike enjoyable nonetheless.

[No pictures, sorry]

Day-6 – Saturday, our final morning at the park – we made a break for it very early once again as we had to return to the trailer, pack it up, and get out of our site by 1PM. This time we returned to Bowman Bay to launch our kayaks to explore Lighthouse Point and the shoreline North of the bay. It ended up being an eight mile paddle up the coast line. Along the way we came across many blue herons, four seals, and Kerri had two dolphins swim right past her as I ventured off into a sea-cave.

Boat traffic was heavy near Deception Pass Bridge, so we kept our distance.

We passed Coffin Rocks (right) and Deception Island (left) on our way out of Bowman Bay

A Blue Heron stares Kerri down as we approach

Kerri screams out to me as dolphins swim past her. I am stuck in a cave…