Goose Rock

Twelve Senior Trailblazers drove south of Bellingham to Deception Pass on Whidbey Island for our Thursday excursion. We hiked up to the top of Goose Rock... twice. We parked in the Deception Pass State Park area, about a mile away from the trailhead, in order to make this hike a little bit longer. We are accustomed to putting in somewhere around eight miles or so, and this hike is pretty short. We could have done it in four miles round trip, but we didn't. As you can see, it wasn't exactly a clear day, but after so many days of rain and wind, it felt wonderful, although it was still a little cool and breezy. No rain, not one drop.

The trail is well maintained and receives heavy use year round. Many trails go through the park, and there are several different trails going up to Goose Rock itself. Deception Pass is named because of the incredible currents and eddies that pass under the Deception Pass bridge. From that Wikipedia link:

Deception Pass is a dramatic seascape where the tidal flow and whirlpools beneath the twin bridges connecting Fidalgo Island to Whidbey Island move quickly. During low tides, the swift current can lead to standing waves, large whirlpools, and roiling eddies. This swift current phenomenon can be viewed from the twin bridges' pedestrian walkways or from the trail leading below the larger south bridge from the parking lot on the Whidbey Island side. Boats can be seen waiting on either side of the pass for the current to stop or change direction before going through. Thrill-seeking kayakers go there during large tide changes to surf the standing waves and brave the class 2 and 3 rapid conditions.

 We hiked to the top of Goose Rock and found it was breezy and a little too early to stop for lunch, so we hiked back down to the beach. We saw these whirlpools that had picked up in intensity from our earlier view.

The water looks turbulent right in the middle of the picture, and I can imagine how difficult it would be to navigate a boat through those waters. Fortunately, all you need to do is wait awhile and the currents will change and boats can travel through. In the picture below, you can see the beach where we had lunch, with Amy in the foreground showing off her green jacket, worn just for today (St. Patrick's Day). The double bridge is in the background.

Since we had only hiked about four miles by the time we stopped for lunch, Al asked if we wanted to explore some of the other trails going up to Goose Rock, and we readily agreed. However, once we got close to the summit, he asked if we wanted to "pop up" to the top again. This brought out some grumbles from some of us, since there had been no mention of going all the way back to the top. Well, I didn't ever feel that I "popped up" there, but I made my way with the others to the summit... again. We did see signs of spring on the way, with green leaves sprouting all over, and even some pretty pink flowers.

The sunshine and lack of rain made it a wonderful day, and of course I always love to tell stories and laugh with my good buddies. By the time we reached the cars again, we had traveled around eight and a half miles with about 1,800 feet of elevation gain and loss. I'm tired, but nothing like I was after last week's hike. I was actually pleased to find I wasn't the only one sore and tired last Thursday after almost 13 miles and all that elevation. Today we were all smiles as we headed back to the Senior Center.

(News flash: We thought we heard some shouts and saw an orange Coast Guard helicopter overhead several times. It turns out they were rescuing two kayakers who overturned in that turbulent water. Story on the Whidbey News Times here.)
:-)