August 3, 2014

August 3, 2014

From Newhalem, WA in the North Cascades, we packed up and continued west toward the coast. We made a short detour to Baker Lake, a large lake that sits just to the east of Mt Baker. I wanted to get a good view of this almost 11,000 foot volcano mountain but it seems we haven’t escaped the haze of the widespread forest fires.

Continuing west we finally hit the Pacific Ocean in Anacortes, WA on the island of Fidalgo in Puget Sound. There we make a left turn and cross over to Whidbey Island. This area is popular and crowded with tourists.

I am following my GPS to Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve. Unfortunately it leads me nowhere. I also haven’t seen any signage. That is disconcerting. Fortunately I spy a tourism office in the little town. The attendant never heard of the place but I spot the park brochure on his wall. We use it to find an old house that sometimes is manned. I do a little walking around the area to see the shoreline, but this park is a joke. So depressing. After reading the brochure and hitting the Internet, Ebey’s Landing is a “stealth” park. It was only formed because some influential locals didn’t want their rural backyard to be developed and got the Feds to donate money to buy up property to stymie change. There is no significant history or scenery here to justify any national park status. They purposely haven’t put up signs and the rangers don’t wear park uniforms because they don’t want tourists.

So far most of the many campgrounds are full, but we find a municipal park just to the north that is not only moderately priced but has lots of availability.