It snowed in Bellingham last night. I ran up to Fragrance Lake in Larabee State Park this morning, and when I got to about 500 ft, there was snow on the trees. Nice run, though not as nice in the morning as it is in the late afternoon or evening. The sun hits the west slopes in the afternoon. Last week, I saw a pileated woodpecker on my morning run up this route. What an amazing bird! They're so big, and so striking! He let me hang out and watch him hammer on an old dead tree... I wasn't more than 20 feet away. I followed the re-discovery of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker a couple years back, and even though this wasn't one of those (seeing as how they only live in the swamps of the southern U.S.) it was evocative of some of the old films of these birds. Really quite beautiful.
I'm buying a digital camera tomorrow (my old one broke!) so I can start posting photos.
Total Run Time: 1 hour
Total Distance: about 4 miles (2 fiercely fighting gravity and 2 controlling the freefall)
Oohs and aahs: 1 for the Sun sparkling on Bellingham Bay off Chuckanut Drive, and 1 for the snow on the cedars and ferns.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Bowman's Bay and Rosario Beach, Anacortes
The beach smelled like oysters yesterday.
I started running at the Rosario Beach parking lot (off highway 20 outside of Anacortes) and circled out onto Rosario Head, a lungbuster with a bit of scrambling up some rocky impromptu trails, and then headed west along the beach and bluffs (on the Bowman Bay/Rosario Beach trail) to Bowman Bay. I then headed south along the beach at Bowman Bay and up another bluff trail, which heads first toward Deception Pass Bridge, and then loops around and heads back toward the beach, the Bowman Bay/Rosario Beach trail, and Rosario. I finished in about 40 minutes, and still had some time left, so I headed up onto Rosario Head again, this time taking some time at the top of the bluff to take in some scenery.
Total run time: 50 minutes
Total Ooohs and Aaahs: at least three or four, all of them having to do with the way the Sound looks from the top of a bluff -- that deep blue-green as you look down into the water... and the smells! Fecundity was the word of the day -- it smelled like LIFE -- plants and mud and the animals of the ocean -- I never complain about the weather when I get to run in a place like this!!!
I started running at the Rosario Beach parking lot (off highway 20 outside of Anacortes) and circled out onto Rosario Head, a lungbuster with a bit of scrambling up some rocky impromptu trails, and then headed west along the beach and bluffs (on the Bowman Bay/Rosario Beach trail) to Bowman Bay. I then headed south along the beach at Bowman Bay and up another bluff trail, which heads first toward Deception Pass Bridge, and then loops around and heads back toward the beach, the Bowman Bay/Rosario Beach trail, and Rosario. I finished in about 40 minutes, and still had some time left, so I headed up onto Rosario Head again, this time taking some time at the top of the bluff to take in some scenery.
Total run time: 50 minutes
Total Ooohs and Aaahs: at least three or four, all of them having to do with the way the Sound looks from the top of a bluff -- that deep blue-green as you look down into the water... and the smells! Fecundity was the word of the day -- it smelled like LIFE -- plants and mud and the animals of the ocean -- I never complain about the weather when I get to run in a place like this!!!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
A Reason to Run
I love to be outdoors, but like most people, I spend the bulk of the day inside, living and working my daily life. I try to get out and run every day, in whatever weather, but sometimes it's hard. So, to motivate me, I now have a blog where I'll post images and thoughts on the places I visit during my daily sojourns. Perhaps it'll be easier to get myself out in the cold and rain when I know my blog is waiting!
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