Deception Pass State Park

Hello to all from Fildago Island. The island is the bridge connection to Whidbey Island. Both islands are major ferry connections to other destinations. Fildago and its largest city, Anacortes, serve as the ferry point to the San Juan Island chain and to Victoria British Columbia. Whidbey Island and its largest town, Oak Harbor, serve as a ferry point to Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula.


View from Bowman Bay

The major separation point for the two islands is a narrow gap called Deception Pass. The pass has a major water flow during tidal movement - up to 8-10 feet difference between low and high tides. There is a bridge spanning the pass where you can see the water make very distinct motions during tidal flow. Boats are very interesting to watch in this water flow. Swimming is not allowed for obvious reasons.

View of the Bridge over Deception Pass

Deception Pass State Park surrounds the bridge. Most of the park is located on Whidbey, the southern island. We are on the northern island, Fildago. It is a small campground with a large day use area on Bowman Bay; hence the name of the campground is Bowman Bay Campground. It is a beautiful area. Sharp hills surround us, with great color in mixed forestation. The campground was developed in the mid-thirties by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Many buildings still stand from those days. The structures are very solid; they may last another 70 or 80 years (or longer).

View of Bowman Bay

There are two military bases near us. One on Whidbey Island is a Naval Air Station and we are definitely in the flight path for their training. The other is a small Air Force base. We are in its flight path when the wind is right. It is good to see the protection the federal government (by way of our tax dollars) provides us. Some times we think they need quieter jets though.

Pileated Woodpecker in the campground

We are in another natural wonderland of birds, mammals and sea creatures. Tide pools show the intense variety of life, with crabs smaller than your fingernail, fish no longer than a finger and other sea life too numerous to mention. We went out for a sunset view and saw sea otters feeding. There are whales and dolphins in the area (we haven’t seen them yet, but we will).

A Madrona tree

The weather has been rainy and cool. Highs have been in the 50’s (lows in the 50’s, not much change in the temps here.) The water is also cool, probably in the 50’s, but we just won’t stand in the water long enough to get the current temperature.

With the weather being cool and rainy, we have not explored much, but we see a break in the rain this week. So hopefully the next post will be filled with exciting wonders from the San Juan’s and/or Mt. Baker.

Mt Baker from the bridge

We spend our time playing on our instruments and computers. There is no cell reception here, so we have to go a couple of miles to get internet and to call folks. So if you call us, understand that we may not get the message for a day, but leave one so we can call you back. We will call you. We love you all.

Our "Front Yard" - view from the RV window

No man is an island, but man; there are some beautiful islands in the pacific northwestern U. S.