The weather turned rainy and much cooler today but we were undaunted. After our morning rituals, we hopped in the truck for a last run (for this particular stay) along both sides of the lower Skagit River. Our first stop was the Skagit Trust wildlife observation siding just east of our campground but there were no critters other than some bicyclists (which may not be critters at all) and one broken down old car abandoned in the parking lot. We didn’t take long to figure out we should continue, despite our fuddled old brains.
Only about a mile further east, we turned south, crossed the river and headed back west down the south bank of the Skagit River. There is a serious temperate rain forest here – the trees on each side of the road branch out and create a magnificent green, shady canopy over the highway. We spotted quite a few deer along this stretch, some happily harvesting the low-hanging apples, apparently guilt free, in the residents’ front yards.
The gorgeous turquoise waters of the river were to our right, abundant creeks and small waterfalls to our left. This might be one of the prettiest drives in the world – right up there with Colorado 12 near Trinidad and the valley floor at Yosemite.
We continued downriver to the town of Sedro Woolley where we crossed the river back to the north bank. We were going to eat at Skagit Valley Burgers there but the joint is closed on Tuesdays so we quickly formulated alternate eating arrangements. It was not difficult.
We found excellent scenery along the roads closest to the riverbank all the way back to Concrete, again stopping at the observation siding but found only vultures there. The Skagit Trust mowed the enormous field visible from the siding during the last few days and, apparently, lots of little squirrels, voles, chipmunks and other rat-sized creatures were chopped up by the mower, leaving the local vultures an easy feast. We continued up to Annie’s Pizza in town where, again, we purchased and partially devoured another superb cordon bleu pizza.
On the way back from Annie’s to our campground, we stopped for a third time at the observation siding and this time found a big, healthy bald eagle hanging out on the ground with some tiny beasts or chunks of beasts in his talons. He was calling for his mate who must have been over at the river fishing because she never showed. Eventually, the vultures got some of his loot, probably because they outnumbered him about 20 to 1. He did fly off with a substantial hunk but a lot less than he had before.
We took a few pictures along the way. See them by clicking the link. https://photos.app.goo.gl/M2VdB2fNLgs43ayg7