May, 2022
Today I’m off to explore Lake Aberdeen. I’d not heard of Lake Aberdeen before, but online research told me it existed and that it was relatively close by. So off I went in the big white truck.
But less than one quarter mile outside the campground … I hit the brakes!
Right next to the road, off to my left, right down there next to the pavement, was a small Skunk Cabbage in full bloom. Remember Skunk Cabbage from a recent blog post? I stopped and opened the truck window to get these two photos. No bad smells assaulted me, although I felt no great need to get any closer. This was a small plant, so maybe that’s why it didn’t give off the usual “skunk cabbage” smell. The second photo below shows that this plant was a bit past its spring prime, so it wasn’t as glorious as it would have been a few weeks ago.
So that’s what a Skunk Cabbage looks like in full bloom. It is really pretty, even if it does stink a bit. 🙂
And then off I went on my drive to check out Lake Aberdeen.
As you approach Lake Aberdeen on a small country road, you first pass the view below of a handsome fish ladder, which of course makes me think there are fish involved in this lake. 🙂
Turning left there, off of that small country road, took me into a … yep, you guessed it … a fish hatchery.
But gosh darn, it was closed to visitors, too early in the season maybe? The sign didn’t say. So I went back to the small country road and continued on to Lake Aberdeen, and got a view of the hatchery from up there.
In the photo below, you’ll see the fish hatchery on the left … then a large human-made berm of dirt with a road/path on top of it … and then little Lake Aberdeen off to the right.
The bridge in the photo below is a foot bridge. But you can see cars/trucks are parked in the distance there. There’s another road into that area where there is a boat launch ramp for boats with non-internal-combustion engines (no gas or diesel engines). But electric boats, row boats, kayaks, canoes, float tubes or belly boats, etc, all are good on Lake Aberdeen.
Ah, and here’s Lake Aberdeen below. Docks on the left next to the boat ramp … and docks on the right too. The three “bumps” that are out on the ends of the docks on the right are actually human beings, every one of them is fishing. I kind of thought Lake Aberdeen was all about fish, it sure is!
This was really pretty, and certainly a good fishing spot. There’s no camping here and not much picnic area or hiking here either. But there’s a boat ramp on this side of the lake too. And it’s a wonderful place to hang out, bring a picnic lunch, watch the folks, watch the sky, listen to the birds.
I parked the truck and walked around a bit, found a picnic table and just sat and watched and listened and enjoyed. Ahhhh, me. 🙂
And then it was time to head back to the trailer for lunch.
On the drive back into the Friends Landing campground, the road always takes you over this one small metal-railed bridge that takes you over a small section of the Chehalis River estuary such that the water under the bridge is regulated by the river AND by the saltwater tide. Today when I drove over the bridge, the tide was obviously IN, the water was high. Magical.
I wonder what saltwater and what fresh-water critters live in/on this water? Maybe one day, when I’m camping out here again (I surely will be), and the tide is high, I’ll put my inflatable Stearns kayak in this estuary and see what creatures I can meet.
Boats and water and fish, my kind of stuff. Ok, mostly I’ve done saltwater fishing in Puget Sound, but it’s all good. 🙂 What a gorgeous place.
I figured you’d like this post. 🙂
Again, it’s going off on a new road, an unknown, or stopping yet again at a known place but that might have a different treat in store. “Stearns” kayak … is that a good one? How long have you had yours and do you like it?
Yes, go somewhere new, go somewhere on a small road, stop and look and listen. 🙂
Stearns inflatable kayaks are great … at least mine is. It’s about 20 years old and it’s still in excellent condition, has never leaked, never needed any repair. It’s much more stable than any hard shell kayak I’ve been in. The only down side of an inflatable is that you don’t want to run it on sharp rocks or against barnacles or anything else that might tear a hole in it. On the other hand, my Stearns is built of really thick material!
I always thought skunk cabbage was an eastern plant, found only east of the Mississippi. Not so! Think of that, the internet has wrong info on it! Your photos do not lie. 🙂
I think skunk cabbage is native to the eastern part of the USA, but it sure has a foothold out here in the Pacific Northwest!
I love the magical photos at the end. Hope you get your kayak in there one of these days soon.
Me too, Fran. It’s on my list. 🙂
I kayak a lot, tho I have a hard shell kayak, that river/esturary looks like a super place for an early morning paddle, or afternoon, or evening, whenever the tide is high. Reminds me of the song from the 80s The Tide is High but I’m Holding on … by Blondie? Great photos, draws me right in over that metal railing. 🙂
Ha, yes! I know the song. 🙂 I bet you’ve seen all manner of beautiful and interesting and weird things while kayaking, Joe. There’s nothing like being out on water in a kayak (or a canoe), so peaceful.
But no jumping over the railing!!! 🙂
Love this blog. Always something different. Makes me want to go find some skunk cabbage and smell it … yeoooow! 🙂
You won’t find skunk cabbage in a nursery for sale, that’s for sure. 🙂 But yes, go for a hike where there’s LOTS of standing water and I’ll be you’ll find skunk cabbage.
I used to go kayaking in a Stearns inflatable kayak that my parents had. I loved it. It was so much more stable that a hard shell kayak, easier to get into and out of. You just had to make sure you didn’t scratch the bottom or the sides to much on rocks. That waterway is magical!
Exactly! Perfect description of the use of an inflatable kayak. I bet you have great memories. I love the feeling of kayaking a quiet waterway. I bet you do too.
Lovely photos, Ann. Thank you.
Skunk Cabbage was introduced into England as an ornamental plant. It was not popular. It soon became known as “American” Skunk Cabbage. It has spread as lack of controls and proper treatment exist. It is listed on the most invasive species list here and has been banned for many years.
Oh my, Heny, I’m so sorry someone brought skunk cabbage over to England. I hope it can be eradicated. I’m not surprised it was called “American”. That was not a nice thing from the USA.
Thanks for the compliment on the photos. 🙂
Rob, I’ve been a bit of a boater and fisherman on Puget Sound too. Some days it’s just “fishing” and not “catching fish” eh? But a beautiful place on the planet to be spending time for sure. Without those fish hatcheries we wouldn’t have the fish out in Puget Sound, appreciate the nod in that direction, Ann. And yes, gorgeous last three photos.
Thanks, Greg. I hear that sometimes fish hatcheries interfere with native fish populations, but I think all-in-all that fish hatcheries have done miracles for saving fish populations. I sure hope that’s still the case.
Thanks for the nice words. 🙂
Your skunk cabbage looks entirely different than ours. We don’t get a bloom on it like that. I was out at one of my parks last Saturday (a week ago) and in the wetlands it’s just beginning to come up. I intended to write a post about that…but I got the call to go get little Miss Penny and since then we’ve been way too busy to do much but watch her!
So, here’s what a friend of mine tells me … the skunk cabbage in the midwest is usually the red/brown variety, not the yellow variety. So, do your skunk cabbage plants have a “blossom” around that prickly spine that’s sort of brown/red and it has spots on it too? And maybe it’s not very tall? Yes, please, write a blog post about the ones you have and I’ll comment. 🙂 We gotta figure this out!
Here’s to little Miss Penny … a brand new Sheltie pup in Dawn’s home. She’s so cute! Everyone, please feel free to check out Dawn’s blog by clicking on her name.