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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

06/11/11 - Dungeness Dike and the Roses

When we are feeling lazy and want a flat walk on a soft surface, we head over to the Dungeness Dike with access off Towne Road in Sequim. The river was in full spring flood, but it is hard to capture flowing water with a camera, so instead we took pictures of roses and the lush greenery that is taking over the dike path.

Mount Baker, our own fata morgana

Roses

A trail to the river

The fields

The trail

Keywords: dungeness, mount baker, spring

03/14/11 - Hailey's Blue

We recently dropped by Dungeness Valley Creamery to pick up some of their milk. While there we also bought some blue cheese made with their raw Jersey milk. It is Hailey's Blue, and it was delicious, with a good bite backed up by the creaminess of the milk. It's made by Whiskey Hill Goat Dairy in Port Townsend which is turning into a local hotbed of cheesemakers. They opened in 2008, and we haven't tried any of their goat cheeses yet, but now we're curious about their goat based feta and cheddar.

Keywords: creamery, dungeness, port townsend, food

03/05/11 - A Soft Winter Day

It's almost spring, but we are still having soft winter days. We've been recovering from colds, so a short stroll on the Dungeness Dike is all we've been up to lately. It was the usual mixture of soft air, recent rain and bright sun and gray clouds. The Spanish moss growing on the trees especially seemed to like it.

Looking towards the mountins

Rain recently fallen on the trail

Spanish moss at play

Keywords: dungeness, winter

12/13/10 - Winter Eagles

While we aren't the biggest fans of winter, we do like the way it reveals things. Most of the trees around here keep their leaves, but there are enough deciduous trees so that the forest seems to open up for the season. There are all sorts of things hidden in the canopy, like this eagle nest near the Dungeness River, shown with its two proud owners.

Keywords: dungeness, winter, birds

02/04/10 - Dungeness Spit

Dungeness Spit is not always an easy hike. The tides vary by eight feet in a typical day, and during high tide the beach is not only small, but rocky. In the winter it is worse. Not only are there fewer good tides, but the winter tides often wash out the sand, so even at low tide, it can be rough going.

This year, however, is a good year for hiking the Dungeness Spit. The beach is broad and sandy, so it is easy to avoid all the rocky patches. The strait is full of seabirds, loons, scoters, cormorants and many others beyond our limited identification skills. Oh yes, there are eagles, lots of eagles. There's no point in waiting for spring to hike the Dungeness Spit. It's good walking even now, and, as a bonus, the Indian plum is already in bloom.

An eagle

Dungeness Spit

Indian plum in bloom

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


They're back!

01/13/10 - Dungeness Valley Swans

The swans have returned to Dungeness Valley. They seem to like the fields on either side of Towne Road. It's good to have them back.

Keywords: dungeness, birds

10/30/09 - View From The Bluffs

We took a short stroll at the Dungeness Bluffs, from the main parking lot to the big field near the entrance. The bluffs look much the same, which means that they are still crumbling into the strait. At points you can see the overhang. Here and there the trail has been "adjusted". They try to keep the safety fence up to date, but the bluffs give them a run for the money.

The bluffs offer a great view of the waves below, and we couldn't help noticing that the waves meet the beach with a scalloped front. It is much more noticeable from up on the bluffs than when one is down on the beach. The shape is persistent, from wave to wave, and is probably reinforced by the shape of the beach and the land underwater. From the bluffs, you can't see the subtle shaping that guides the waves, but you can't miss its effect.

You can really see the scalloping as the waves recede.

The trail moves now and then as the bluffs collapse.

The waves come in.

Keywords: dungeness, science

02/03/09 - Swan Amongst the Swine

If you've ever been down Towne Road in Dungness, you have probably noticed the swine at Delta Farm. These are what you get when you order a pig share from Nash Huber. On some days, you'll also see swans, usually in large flocks. They seem to enjoy grubbing around in the same fields as the swine. We haven't been able to photograph them together which has fed some speculation as to their secret identities, but we figured we'd point out that these magnificent birds are visiting our region. You might want to check out the area, the swans, the farms and maybe even the swine.

Some swans

They settled in great herds. They're too big for flocks.

The setting

Keywords: birds, dungeness, farms, nash huber

01/10/09 - Tree Down Dungeness Dike

There was a tree down across the Dungeness Dike Trail. It is a bit of a mess, but you can scramble through. A couple we met claimed to have heard the tree crack during a wind storm a day or two ago. It was probably quite a noise given that a trunk two or three feet in diameter simply cracked through. It's easy to underestimate the power of a wind storm and overestimate the strength of an old tree.

Keywords: dungeness, dungeness dike trail, weather

12/17/08 - The Dungeness Dike Trail

We've been doing some shopping for our Christmas choucroute, and our errands took us down Towne Road, so we stopped to take a jog along the Dungeness Dike. There was a bit of snow, some brilliant sun, and some great scenery.

The trail was pretty clear.

One of the barns

A view of the mountains - Our apologies for the lens flare: it is unavoidable at this latitude.

Keywords: dungeness, winter

10/27/08 - A Quick Trip Into Seattle

We made a quick trip into Seattle and flew Kenmore Air. It was a great flying day, and we had window seats, so here a couple of pictures from our flight, and one picture from Seattle proper. It seems that summer is over in the city as well.

Dungeness Spit

The Dungeness River - Can you see Dungeness Valley Creamery down there?

A city scene

Keywords: dungeness, dungeness spit, flying, seattle, autumn, kenmore

08/07/08 - Return To The Lighthouse

There have been some good tides at Dungeness Spit lately, so we wandered out to sea dryshod. The going was fairly easy, so we walked and walked, and before were knew it we were approaching the light house. The Dungeness Spit lighthouse hike is always a bit dreamy, but we were well rewarded with eagles, seals, gulls, terns and sea and sand.

Near the lighthouse we heard the gulls in an uproar. There was a cloud of hundreds flocking about. Then we saw the cause of this commotion. Two young bald eagles were being mobbed with gulls flying low over them and trying to force them from the sky. It wasn't exactly a concerted action, but it was effective. The young eagles were driven east.

Then the skies quieted. We walked onward to visit the lighthouse and pay a call on the seals who were not far off the spit near the lighthouse walkway. As we noted earlier, the Dungeness Spit lighthouse hike is always a bit dreamy.

Keywords: dungeness, dungeness spit, tides

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