Last Chance Marathon

A marathon is a lot longer than it used to be for me. Today I hiked the Last Chance Marathon. There was some jogging, but there was also a lot of walking, especially on the second out and back. While I'd like to be better, I'm pretty happy about it. A nice day out on trail with good peeps.

This race has been around for several years, always scheduled on the last day of the year. The idea was to have one last chance to add to your marathon totals for the year. I've never ran it, mainly because I usually work on 12/31. This year, the date fell on a Sunday, which is perfect, since I get Monday to rest up. And I'll need to--my feet hurt.

The weather was cold, but not as cold as the rest of the U.S. Maybe mid-30s. A heavy fog got me wet, I think. I felt cold most of the day, and hope I didn't catch anything.

The marathon is an out and back, done two times, from Fairhaven Park to Larrabee. There's a half marathon option, which a wiser fool would've done.

Terry, Delores, Scott, and everyone put on a top notch race. Great soup at the finish line, grilled cheese, and lots of holiday cookies. Good to see Stan--we're set for onions for the next three months---John, Dean, Ruth, and many others.

All the best to all my friends in 2018. 

Fir Island

This time of year, one of my favorite things to do is grab a cup of coffee and go looking for birds locally. Skagit County is a terrific place for birds: snow geese, swans, eagles, and other birds winter here. 

The flocks of snow geese on Fir Island are spectacular. Thousands of snow geese--they are loud, and will fill a field. Trumpeters swans, who pair up for life, also hole up here. We hear them honking as they fly over the house. Raptors--hawks, eagles, falcons--hunt the sloughs and wetlands. They can be seen sitting on telephone poles, doing the sentinel thing on stand alone trees in people's yards. 

These pics are off my phone, and merely illustrative of the sights to been seen. One of these days I'll go out with a nice camera and do the bird portrait thing. I did land a nice spotting scope/tripod setup, which I gave a run for the first time today. Works real good. Maybe I'll figure out a way to mount a phone and take shots through it. The internet says it can be done.

Trumpeter Swans

Snow Geese in Flight

Snow Geese in Flight

Looking out towards Camano Island

Snow Geese

Swans Again

Momma Eagle, Daddy Eagle, and Guest/Baby, By Nest

Through a Glass Darkly

The New Setup