Katrina's Travels

I back-tracked from Port Gamble and found the right turn to get to Point No Point. There's a long stretch of beach to walk on plus a trail that goes through a marshy meadow then up into the woods. I started out on the beach. It was about 55F, which I considered plenty warm for mid-November. I left my jacket in the car, rolled up my jeans and took off my sandals. Eventually I decided to walk in the water instead of on the sand. Other people were wearing their winter coats. I think they thought I was strange. When I talked to one of my cousins who is kind of new-agey about it later, she said I was grounding myself in the Sound. I think she made a valid point about that. I didn't think about it that way when I was doing it, but it did feel like there was more importance to it than just getting my feet wet.




This is the view from the edge of the beach near the parking lot.










( More scenery )

By the time I was done, the blue sky was gone and this is what it looked like.




By the time I got back to the car to go back to my uncle's house it was raining. That's the Pacific Northwest for you. If it isn't raining now, it will be raining soon.

Coming up next: lighthouse and beach photos.

After I finished wandering around at Fort Spokane I checked out a nearby park on the shore of Lake Roosevelt then headed north around the lake. I'd meant to go a different direction but somehow that's not the way I went. Rather than turning around, I just kept going since it didn't really make any difference to me. Either way, there was nice scenery and a little ferry to take across the lake. I was somewhat amused by taking a ferry in the middle of Washington instead of taking any of the well-known big ferries on Puget Sound. (Don't get me wrong, I like the big ferries. I got really good looks at orcas from one once. The big ferries just didn't fit into my plans this time.)

Clicking on any of these photos will take you to a bigger version.

I liked this bridge over the Spokane River. There was something pleasing about its shape and angles.



( Another bridge photo )

This is a view of Lake Roosevelt from a little park that was not far from Fort Spokane.




( A panoramic view of Lake Roosevelt, cut because it is wider )

( More photos from the side of the lake )

The drive north took me away from the lake edge some of the time. This is what the area looked like.



( More photos from the drive north )

The Columbian Princess, otherwise known as the Inchelium-Gifford Ferry goes back and forth between Inchelium and Gifford. There's no schedule. You just pull up and wait for it to arrive. I think there's talk of replacing it with a bridge, which I would find far less satisfying. The ferries of my childhood got replaced by bridges and I think the world is a less interesting place without them. I suppose a bridge would be more convenient for people living in the area though.

I find it a bit ironic that one end of this ferry's route is in Ferry County, which was not named after any actual ferries. It was named after Washington's first governor.




( More ferry photos )

Coming up next: driving around the west side of Lake Roosevelt.

Here are some more photos from Turnbull plants, rocks, and a spider.

Turnbull has lots of Ponderosa Pines and I found them to be interesting photographic subjects.



( More pine tree photos )

I don't know what this plant is.




Turnbull also has lots of rocks jutting up all over the place, most of them with lichens and other stuff growing on them.



( More rocks )

And finally, a spider, ( behind a cut for those who are squeamish about such things. )

The scenery at Turnbull NWR was lovely but the really good part of being there was seeing mammals. I saw two moose as well as a porcupine, a few squirrels, and a chipmunk. Squirrels and chipmunks aren't surprising but moose and porcupines are not critters I expect to see during the middle of the day (or at all for that matter).

The moose were among pine trees, grazing on the lower branches. Can you spot the one in this photo?



Here's a better view of one of them



( More moose photos )


Douglas Squirrels are the western version of the east coast's American Red Squirrels.



( Another squirrel photo )


This is a Yellow Pine Chipmunk. It was not cooperative and this was the best photo I managed to get of it.





The porcupine was a brown blob on a rocky mound rising above a marshy area. At first, I couldn't tell what the brown blob was, but eventually it lifted its head and started moving and I could see that it had quills on its back. I never did get any really clear views of it, but at least you can see its face in this photo.



( More porcupine photos )

On my first day in Washington I went to Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge nearr Cheney, southwest of Spokane. Turnbull is a mixture of wetlands, Ponderosa Pines, and steppe grasslands in a region known as the channeled scablands. November was not a very good time for finding birds there, but I found enough to make it enjoyable, plus I found interesting mammals.

None of you will be surprised that I took loads of photos. I'll start with the scenery and leave the critters for the next installment of my trip report. (After starting this post, I find I need to correct this to say I'll start with some of the scenery and leave the critters and plants and other stuff for several posts from now. I see now that the scenery isn't going to fit in one installment.)

As usual, clicking on the photos will take you to larger versions of them at Smugmug.

This is the entrance road, near the gate. This is pretty typical of the way a lot of the refuge looks.




( Pine forest )


There are open grassy areas with scattered boulders and rocks.



( A closer view of random boulders )


The Pine Lakes Loop Trail goes around a wetlands area with several ponds.



( Photos from the trail )

Blackhorse Lake Trail is a longer trail. It went past a pond then up into the woods. I turned around after a while rather than walking the whole thing. I just didn't have time for more than that. It is hard to fit a lot into the day when the sun sets at 4 PM. I saw a nice Marsh Wren in the vegetation at the pond but Marsh Wrens are secretive and unsurprisingly, I didn't get any photos of it.





And I think this is enough photos for one post. More later...