View allAll Photos Tagged Deception
Returning from a weekend trip around San Juan's we're entering into Deception Pass on the way back to La Connor. The last picture that I posted of the bridge was from the Whidbey Island State Park beach which is off to my starboard. Smooth going today but I have been through here on my 42' boat when there where huge whirlpools that toss me around like a toy.
This is one of the most visited state parks in Washington with about 2 million visitors a year. The bridge connects Whidbey Island (Island County) to the south with Fidalgo Island (Skagit County) to the north. The park was created in 1923.
George Vancouver (yeah, who the nearby city is named for) called it Deception Pass because they were tricked into thinking Whidbey Island was a peninsula. Oops. The small island you see just off the shore here is...Deception Island. Maybe folks thought it was a volcano or something.
There's also some dark history in these waters. In the late 19th century, a fella named Ben Ure and his Native American wife were smuggling Chinese here illegally for cheap labor. They would tie them up in burlap sacks. If they ever feared being caught, they'd just toss the poor souls overboard, where they'd drown and float up to San Juan Island. Dead Man's Bay up there is named for these poor folks. Ben Ure Island just east of the pass is named for this demon of a human being.
We drove home by Chuckanut Drive and stopped by Rosario Beach and Deception Pass to evaluate their potential as cookout sites.
We were looking for something simple and easy to get to, and this set of falls fit the bill. It's an easy drive on Stevens Pass where you can find the pull-off for Deception Falls. The clear, cascading water flows over granite and eventually makes its way to the Tye River.
I'm nervous. Somewhere between the level of anxiety found showing someone your favorite bit of a stand-up routine and the first meeting of the friends of the woman you truly love, you find my fears of bringing Evan into the Puget Sound. If he rejects its beauty, or worse, is apathetic, Id be shattered. If the summer Sound rejects an older me, I'd be torn to confetti bits, with no parade.
He wasn't. I wasn't. We weren't anything but awed by the coolness of the trees and ferns and mountains and by the warmness of old Isis and Uncle Dave.
The bed shed was as cozy as ever, and it was nice to finally join Dave in his nightly ritual of a Few Kona's with pizza. No whales, but no worries at all.
I'm nervous. Somewhere between the level of anxiety found showing someone your favorite bit of a stand-up routine and the first meeting of the friends of the woman you truly love, you find my fears of bringing Evan into the Puget Sound. If he rejects its beauty, or worse, is apathetic, Id be shattered. If the summer Sound rejects an older me, I'd be torn to confetti bits, with no parade.
He wasn't. I wasn't. We weren't anything but awed by the coolness of the trees and ferns and mountains and by the warmness of old Isis and Uncle Dave.
The bed shed was as cozy as ever, and it was nice to finally join Dave in his nightly ritual of a Few Kona's with pizza. No whales, but no worries at all.
Deception Pass is a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island, in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Washington. It connects Skagit Bay, part of Puget Sound, with the Strait of Juan de Fuca.