A Wild Bobcat & A Trip to Deception Pass

On Wednesday, we set off on a sightseeing tour. That's the day the sky was so clear that we could photograph Mount Baker. But before we did that, we drove up near Mount Pilchuk.

I really wanted to visit Dale Chihuly's glass school at Pilchuk as a follow-up to visiting his exhibit (The Nature of Glass) in Phoenix. The school isn't open to visitors (not even family or friends of the students according to the school's website) but I hoped we could get close enough to take a photo or two. No such luck...the road into the complex is posted with no trespassing signs, no visitors allowed, etc.

So we decided to drive over to Deception Pass. As we were leaving the Pilchuk area we passed this field and spied a bobcat! It was just as bold as it could be.



You can see in this photo how close we were to two houses. That bobcat wasn't worried at all. We wondered if he'd just been visiting a chicken coop for a snack or two!

Then we drove to Deception Pass State Park. It's gorgeous and a perfect place for some "touristy" photos. I have to admit that at times like this I wish knew more about this camera.

This little island is in Cranberry Pass Lake, just below the bridge. Not real fond of heights, as most of you know, but I was determined to take some shots from the bridge.

We've never actually gone into the park because we're usually driving to the ferry at Oak Harbor for a trip over to the Olympic Peninsula. But you have to cross the Pass to get there.

Deception Pass Bridge, connects Whidbey Island to Fidalgo Island. I did a little research and learned that there are three lakes in the State Park with 77,000 feet of saltwater shoreline, and 33,900 feet of freshwater shoreline. The other two lakes are Campbell Lake and Heart Lake.

So that was Wednesday...today we're hunkering down inside...it's raining. Hmmmm...I think I'll dig out my camera book and learn some new tricks!

Stay tuned...