Length: 6 miles
Elevation Gain: ???

My friend Nicole and I went to Deception Pass State Park yesterday, though we definitely did not strictly do any of the trails on the WTA website and just rambled around a bunch of random trails and along the beaches instead. This was my first time at this park, and also my first time on Whidbey Island! Bring your Discover pass.

First, a tip: your phone will think you’re in Canada when you’re here and begin roaming. Put that phone on airplane mode or else this will happen —

PHONE: we’re in Canada!
ME: we’re not in Canada
PHONE: pretty sure this is Canada
ME: it’s not, trust me
PHONE: …nah, this is Canada! -roams for signal, drains a previously 50% full battery in 36 seconds, dies-

Thank goodness I happen to always carry at least two additional cameras on my person on any given hike (I am that person you see on the trails, it’s true).

Good advice to live by.

The drive is about 1.5 hours from Seattle, and it goes by pretty quickly because you’re on either I-5 or Hwy 20 most of the way. We parked on the Whitbey Island side (driving across the very photogenic Deception Bridge), and hiked through forest filled with climbing wild raspberry plants back to the bridge so we could walk across it. I have an insane fear of heights, but it wasn’t too bad to be up there except for when I made the mistake of leaning over the railing to look straight down. NOPE. But the view is spectacular.

The bridge is by far the most crowded area, so after getting bored of being stuck in front / behind / in the middle of mobs of overly excitable high schoolers, we decided to head back to the quieter forest and beach trails. Nicole is an avid beach comber, so we walked along the shore where she scouted for interesting shells and rocks.

I forgot my binoculars (figures, why do I not just keep them in my hiking backpack??) but was still able to spot killdeer, barn swallows, violet green swallows, white-crowned sparrows, and the usual gangs of robins, crows, and seagulls. One particular crow followed us for a bit before I annoyed it by creeping a little too close with my camera. It shouted at me and then left in a huff.

Can you spot the killdeer?

We didn’t see any aquatic wildlife aside from the numerous carcasses of vanquished purple shore crabs. A leg here, a claw there, an emptied carapace waaaay over there. Life is hard for the purple shore crab.

On the drive back to Seattle, we stopped in La Conner for an early dinner at The Oyster & Thistle. I recommend you do the same because holy crap it was delicious. Also, we learned that author Tom Robbins lives in La Conner! Of all places…