Big Ditch Access

Saturday was a regular squall of a day. Rain coming down, bouncing off the street and roof. There were some good running options, but since I'm not running well, and because I had work to do, I decided to take the morning and head up to the Chuckanuts. I was out for 2 hours-plus, and got drenched, despite being under the trees. Good to see WTA working on the Fragrance Lake trail, despite the weather. And a lot of faces I didn't recognize seemed to be scoping out the Chuckanut course. By the end of the morning, all I wanted was to be dry and inside.

On Sunday, I discovered the Big Ditch Access, south of Conway. This is a DNR site--Discovery Pass required--with wetlands reaching out to the sea, with views of Whidbey Island and Camano Island. Very cool to be discover wild places near home. Big Ditch Access is off the Conway to Stanwood road, at a junction with railroad tracks. There's a sign, but it's not all that clear.

And this isn't a real great place to run, but it is a wonderful quiet spot to stop, observe, and reflect. Acres of marsh and cattails, with old logs and snags, here and there. I guess a whole lot of cattails are edible. The roots are "nature's spaghetti," so I've heard. And then there were eagles sitting on poles, hawks on logs, ducks in the slough. Shotgun shells here and there--obviously a place favored by bird hunters.