Deception Pass State Park

Visited on: 21st April 2013

On our way to the state park from Skagit Valley we saw many farms. We reached the Deception Pass Bridge in less than 40 minutes. We stopped our car to take some photographs. The view was very scenic. The best part was the weather. The sun had come out from its hiding and the sky was all clear.

Before I start to write about our adventure at the state park I would love to share about the history of the Deception Pass. Deception pass is a strait separating Whibdey Island from Fidalgo Island in the northwest part of U.S. the state of Washington. In the spring of 1792, Captain George Vancouver sent Master Joseph Whidbey and a small exploring party through the pass. Vancouver had already dismissed the pass as a large river due to the strong current. Whidbey proved the narrow passage we call as deception did not lead to a small bay as chartered by the Spaniards, but was a deep turbulent channel. This channel completely divided the mainland from its completely supposed peninsula thus, making the peninsula an island. Vancouver named the land south of the pass Whidbey Island in honor of Master Whidbey and corrected his charts to read deception pass because he felt he had been deceived by the nature of fast moving water.

 We parked our car at one end of the bridge and crossed it to reach the Whibdey Island. First we went to the Visitors information center and gathered some maps from there. But we were hungry! So we decided to have our lunch and then go for the adventurous hiking. We found one café quite near the park. We ordered for a Chicken Caesar wrap and Mandarin chicken salad. They were really delicious. After lunch we dint waste much time and started our hiking.

Deception Pass State Park is a 4,134-acre marine and camping park with 77,000 feet of saltwater shoreline, and 33,900 feet of freshwater shoreline on three lakes. Rugged cliffs drop to meet the turbulent waters of Deception Pass. The park is outstanding for its wonderful views, old-growth forests and abundant wildlife. Visitors come here for various activities like hiking, boating, camping, picnic, fishing, kayaking, bird watching, and wild life viewing.

So we were on the Whibdey Island and decided to visit the North beach and the West beach. We started with the North beach trails. The north beach wasn’t too far. We reached there in 10-15 minutes. The beach was very small. But it looked lovely. I collected many pebbles from the beach. I love these shinny little pebbles. We took few photos and started walking along the beach to reach our next spot- the West beach. After walking a long distance along the beach we entered into the forest above the beach to follow our trails. The trees are shelter to many birds and wild creatures. It’s difficult to say for how many years they have been standing here. The trails lead us to an amphitheater. A family was picnicking there. After crossing it we reached the West Beach.

It was a breath taking sight at the West beach. Small waves came and crashed against the shore. The water was shining like diamonds because of the sun rays. Huge logs were scattered all around the beach. They seemed like seats for the visitors. While everybody was busy taking photographs of the beauty of nature I tried to connect myself with the waves and fine grains of sand. While we sat on a log and rested I was trying to recollect the verses from “Written in Early Spring” by William Wordsworth.

" To her fair works did Nature link

The human soul that through me ran... "

 

 

Mother Nature has linked its every entity into a divine bond. That is reason for our happiness and our tears. With all these thoughts running in my mind I stood up to go back on our trails through the forest. We saw a lake. It wasn’t far from the beach. No one was around the lake. There were some kind of ducks or heron in the lake. Few benches were arranged there and we also spotted a washroom. We went to the washroom and started our journey back through the trails.

This time we spotted a heavy undergrowth of sword fern and salal. Salal is a leathery leaved shrub native to western North America. The trunks of the old trees were covered with mosses and I also found some dried up mushroom like plants on our way. After walking some distance; may be .6 or .7 miles, we started panting. We got tired. It’s always difficult to walk in an uphill. We took rest for a while and then carried on. Finally we reached the bridge and then our car. It was real adventure.

I checked my watch. Well it was 6:00pm. But it dint look like so because it was still sunny.We drank water and ate some biscuits and peanut bar to re- energize ourselves. Then we bid good-bye to the Deception pass and started our journey towards home. We were stuck in heavy traffic in between so it took a bit longer than usual. When we reached home it was almost 8pm. It was a lovely outing and I will definitely refer everybody to visit it.