Windstorm

Some of my favorite walking trails suffered downed trees from the windstorm on Saturday. 

Here are photos from the loop road and from the Port of Skagit trail system.

California Quail

This covey of quail was getting ready to bed down for the night, right under the bird feeder. There are 11 birds in this compact little group:

I counted one adult female, two males, and eight chicks in this covey. The males have pronounced "Elvis" top-knots. Usually these birds camp out in an area screened by the underbrush, but perhaps the unattached uncle is giving them bad advice. 

 "Thankyouverymuch"

Wildlife

Lots of wildlife Saturday while I was wandering around the trails south of Little Cranberry. Click the photos to enlarge.

This squirrel had a soft bed of moss set up on a nurse log.

This towhee has a permanent frown on his beak, long claws, and evil red eyes!

Lastly, there was a raccoon about eight feet above the trail watching passers-by. He had an unnerving habit of licking his lips as he stared. 

Rotary Park Disc Golf Course

Anacortes has a par-3 Frisbee golf course now. Or "disc" golf if you're not in official league play, I suppose. This is a picture of hole 3 with hole 9 in the background. It's located in Rotary Park east of Cap Sante Marina.

Kudos to the folks responsible. This looks neat. 

The course map is on the city website here.

There is a Facebook page for the group responsible here. 

Padilla Bay Trail

This is a nice flat walk between the tide flats to the west and agricultural fields to the east. The round trip is a little over 4 miles between the two trailheads off of Bayview Edison Road.

Pass Lake Loop/Ginnett Trail

Pass Lake is a short distance north of Deception Pass. Pass Lake Loop Trail doesn't loop around Pass Lake, it loops around a low hill to the west of the lake. There's less than 400 feet of elevation change as you hike along the 2-mile trail.

Most of the hike is along a wooded trail but a short distance is along a right-of-way on private property. This appears to have been partially cleared for development a few years ago (2011?) but then abandoned:

Along the loop trail, you can choose to head north towards Ginnett Hill:

Ginnett Trail meanders down into Naked Man Valley and up the other side to a trailhead at the end of Ginnett Road. The elevation change is less than the loop trail but it feels steeper going up and down the valley. It's about 1-½ miles from the Pass Lake parking lot to the Ginnett Road trailhead.

There's a concrete foundation near the end of the trail. Not sure if there was ever a home there or if one was started and never finished. You can see the north end of Pass Lake in the distance:

Now you've got to hike back to the parking lot the way you came:

Deer at Loop Road

Deer crossing the loop road at Washington Park in the early evening.