Archive for the ‘Rockport’ Category

Sauk Mountain Road Vista

Sunday, September 14th, 2008

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Sauk Mountain Road is a dirt/gravel road that goes through and above Rockport State Park to a peak on Sauk Mountain. It was quite a thrill ride driving the steep, pothole riddled, one-lane road through the beautiful forest. The top picture is facing west, through the blue haze, towards Mount Vernon and Burlington and the islands and ocean beyond. The lower picture is facing east where the Skagit River comes from the Cascades. There is an old hang gliding platform facing this direction.

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The trail you can take to the peak through alpine like meadows and wildflowers.

This is the area where the 14-year-old boy killed a hiker while bear hunting in August.

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Rockport State Park, Washington

Friday, August 29th, 2008

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Highway 20 that goes west to Anacortes and Whidbey Island, is called the North Cascades Scenic Byway as it heads east. Several times now I’ve driven 40-50 miles on it to the small towns of Concrete and Rockport. The area is known for having a lot of eagles in the winter along the Skagit River. They say they have the largest population of eagles in the contiguous United States. I recall Oregon makes the same claim. Suffice to say both states have a lots of eagles.

The pictures above are from Rockport State Park. It contains an old growth forest, with some trees that are 400-600 years old. It was converted from a camping park to a day use only park last year because of instability of some of the trees.  They have a picnic area and some nice trails.  There is a beautiful county park just a few miles from it, Howard Miller Steelhead Park, that is right along the Skagit River. It is mainly a reservation park, but does have a few first come first come first served sites. When I drove through it during the week, there were lots of empty sites. Rasar State Park is also not far away and has reservation camping.

I debated staying in this area to better explore it. There is the Mt. Baker area and the Cascades, and also a 20 mile bike path from Sedro-Woolley to Concrete. However, I’m so happy in Skagit Flats, I’m going to continue to stay there.

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Looking north across the Skagit River near Rockport.

More in Rockport, Texas Area

Monday, January 14th, 2008

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Juvenile ibis (left) and roseate spoonbill (right).

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Tricolored heron, with its very long neck.

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Tricolored (left) with a little blue heron (right).

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Stopped at a picnic area at Aransas NWR and saw this javalena looking for food. In the picture above, it is reacting to Jake barking at it (from the truck). It just lasted a few seconds and then it went back to foraging.

The Big Tree

Friday, January 4th, 2008

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The area around Goose Island State Park in Texas is primarily known for two things: the largest winter population of endangered whooping cranes and The Big Tree. This is a coastal live oak that is more than 1,000 years old. There are beautiful groves of oaks all over this area. Homes and roads are often built with a view towards saving all the oak trees they can.

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An American oystercatcher, a rare visitor from Mexico.

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A white ibis, a rare visitor to muddy pools, marshes, and mudflats.

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Brown pelicans by the bait shop at Goose Island State Park.

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Pelicans watch intently as fishermen clean fish. You know pandemonium will break loose when any scraps are thrown their way.

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The Fulton Mansion in Rockport.  Built in 1877 by George Fulton, with indoor plumbing and central heating.

Back with Pelicans and Grebes

Saturday, December 29th, 2007

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After leaving South Llano River State Park, continued down the road to Goose Island State Park on the Gulf Coast. Picked this park because it is close to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, which I wanted to visit. My friend, Garmin, came through for me again, helping me find my way here in the dark. Went through Corpus Christi, then the small town of Rockport, and then on to the even smaller town of Lamar. The picture above show the view I have from my RV site. The water directly in front of my rig is shallow with sandbars. It becomes a marsh area to the right of me. Lots of birds here!

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Above is a “little blue heron” seen from where I am camped. My bird book says it is a rare visitor to the edges of shallow, marshy ponds.

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Snowy egret in foreground.

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This picture was also taken from my camp site. It is a roseate spoonbill found only on the Gulf Coast, South America, and the Carribbean.

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There are some serious fishermen here. The three above are the only ones I have seen in the water like this. Most are content to stick a fishing pole in the sand. All down the row of rv’s, there are (mostly) unattended fishing poles. People even direct lights onto the water so they can extend their fishing time into the night! The fish are jumping. You literally see small ones jumping out of the water.

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In Lamar, there is one house with a pond and marsh on the property. Every night white egrets return here to nest for the night.

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Grebe and a mule deer in marsh areas at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. There are supposed to be more than 600 alligators in the park. Have not seen one yet through all the high grass.

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There are two hunting clubs in the small town of Lamar. There was a carcass next to the road by one of the clubs, looked like part of a deer. That was where this picture was taken.