personal | exploring deception pass.

As I've probably mentioned before, I miss Jackson Hole. Maybe it's just because it's winter and I know that if I was living where I used to, all I would have to do is hop on a bus and I'd be at the mountain in five minutes. Or maybe it's the social scene. My schedule here seems to be opposite of everyone else's and if you don't make plans with someone over a week in advance, they probably won't have time to pencil you in. Or maybe it's just the fact that I had spectacular scenery right out my backyard window. Where moose or deer would frequent and I could see the sun coming up on the Grand Teton in the mornings. Regardless, I miss it. So I've been trying to find ways to cope. 

I feel like this last week was actually a bit of a relief from that "grief". It's probably the fact that the weather has started improving. The cherry trees are starting to bloom, people are getting outside, and the temperature is up into the 50s. This week I took a hike with David at Discovery Park to explore a beach and a lighthouse (this was just 15 minutes from our house), I rode my bike 15 miles to Golden Gardens and listened to the seals barking on a sunny day, and I took a two hour drive up north to Bellingham to take engagement photos on a lovely sunny day on the waterfront. Easy access to beaches and waterfronts is something that Jackson doesn't have, so this was something that I've been looking forward to when the weather got nicer. 

It's really difficult to remember all of the bad things about a place or situation when everything seems so good once your gone. Seriously...the grass is always greener on the other side, right?? That being said, Jackson Hole is about to enter their off-season when I would have been out of work and watching all of my friends post photos from international trips that I couldn't afford to to go on. Maybe those are the things I need to remember when I start missing it all and be happy for all of the wonderful things I have here -- employment and a successful photography business, mountains, lakes, rivers and the ocean, affordable restaurants all within spitting distance from my nice apartment, family nearby, an awesome city, etc, etc. Life really is great!!

My drive up to Bellingham was the highlight of the week. I enjoyed spectacular snow-capped vistas of Mt. Baker, the Cascades, and the Olympics, and a dreamy sunset over the farms of the Skagit Valley on my way home. On my way up, I took a detour to a place called Deception Pass State Park. I've been dying to check it out as a potential place to take engagement photos and to also recreate in the summer. It's a beautiful drive in, no doubt. The park is on north Whidbey Island. You have to take a ferry to get to Whidbey Island if you want to go there from the south but since I already planned to drive nearly to Canada I took the north route. 

The park is huge, and I only got to explore a fraction of it with the time constraints I had. There were a lot of people fishing on Pass Lake on my way in which looked really relaxing. I parked my car at Bowman Bay and was instantly greeted with that ocean smell, which I love. The sun was out and I could see Deception Island in the distance and what could have possibly been Victoria, BC. I had time for about an hour of walking around so I sauntered up one of the bluffs to check out Lighthouse Point.

No kidding. Those cliffs were STEEP!

The trail was no joke. Within two switchbacks I had gained enough elevation to be overlooking Bowman Bay and could clearly see all of Rosario Head.

I continued on the trail back down to the beach and up the next bluff out to the point. The trail was winding through the trees for a bit but quickly opened up to some spectacular views across Lottie Bay and the rest of Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands.

View of Deception Island from Lighthouse Point.

Deception Pass Bridge & Lottie Bay.

Unfortunately that was all I had time for and continued on my journey north. After looking at a map again I realized that I barely scratched the surface of that park and can't wait to go back and check out the other points. Maybe I'll even camp there this summer. Anyway, I guess what I've found out is that while it might take a bit more effort to get out there, I have no doubt that I am going to love spending summer in Washington. This week of little adventures was so refreshing!