The weather turned rainy and much\ncooler today but we were undaunted. After our morning rituals, we\nhopped in the truck for a last run (for this particular stay) along\nboth sides of the lower Skagit River. Our first stop was the Skagit\nTrust wildlife observation siding just east of our campground but\nthere were no critters other than some bicyclists (which may not be\ncritters at all) and one broken down old car abandoned in the parking\nlot. We didn’t take long to figure out we should continue, despite\nour fuddled old brains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tOnly about a mile further east, we\nturned south, crossed the river and headed back west down the south\nbank of the Skagit River. There is a serious temperate rain forest\nhere \u2013 the trees on each side of the road branch out and create a\nmagnificent green, shady canopy over the highway. We spotted quite a\nfew deer along this stretch, some happily harvesting the low-hanging\napples, apparently guilt free, in the residents’ front yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tThe gorgeous turquoise waters of the\nriver were to our right, abundant creeks and small waterfalls to our\nleft. This might be one of the prettiest drives in the world \u2013\nright up there with Colorado 12 near Trinidad and the valley floor at\nYosemite. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tWe continued downriver to the town of\nSedro Woolley where we crossed the river back to the north bank. We\nwere going to eat at Skagit Valley Burgers there but the joint is\nclosed on Tuesdays so we quickly formulated alternate eating\narrangements. It was not difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tWe found excellent scenery along the\nroads closest to the riverbank all the way back to Concrete, again\nstopping at the observation siding but found only vultures there. The\nSkagit Trust mowed the enormous field visible from the siding during\nthe last few days and, apparently, lots of little squirrels, voles,\nchipmunks and other rat-sized creatures were chopped up by the mower,\nleaving the local vultures an easy feast. We continued up to Annie’s\nPizza in town where, again, we purchased and partially devoured\nanother superb cordon bleu pizza. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We took a few pictures along the way. See them by clicking the link. https:\/\/photos.app.goo.gl\/M2VdB2fNLgs43ayg7<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 … Continue reading