August-September, 2022
Today is only the second full day that I was camped here. Like yesterday, today was super. I’ll be going home tomorrow. (And I will be coming back here next year!)
I spent most of the day today walking out, all the way out, onto the Nisqually River delta. I was on gravel/dirt roadways at first, but then on more rustic paths, eventually onto sturdy wooden boardwalks out over the delta marsh/ground (more than 4,000 acres of sloppy marshy ground), and then on similar boardwalks out over the fresh water from the Nisqually River, and from McAllister Creek that feeds out into the delta too. The last, outer end of the boardwalk, out where the fresh water in the delta finally meets the saltwater of Puget Sound, way out there, I was walking on a boardwalk right out over all of that water. It was spectacular.
A special thing happened early on. Early on during my walk here, I was wandering along, looking at the ground and at plants and the sky, ignoring people around me because it was a beautiful day and there were lots of people out on this walk. I wasn’t interested in the people; I wanted to see the delta! But at one point, for some reason, I looked up at the people next to me and I saw my neighbors! Neighbors who live in the same community where I live, where they and I live just a few houses apart from each other, and just a few miles from this delta. They had just moved here, I had just met them. And there we all were, smiling and happy and chatting away like we were old friends … which we have become. 🙂 That was fun. (Hi Bev and Van!)
But they were headed back to their car on land, and I was headed outbound over the water, so on we each went on our separate ways. This was a long walk out onto the delta (and beyond). It took hours. You can do the walk in less time than it took me, but if you want to stop, and look, and listen, and breathe, and take photos, then it will take hours! I took my lunch with me, just in case, and it’s a good thing I did. In the future, I will be going back at different times of the year (and different times of day) to see different plants and animals and views. I’m sure looking forward to that. As long as I’ve lived in Washington State and known about this extraordinary place, this was my first walk out past the first few buildings and attractions … today I walked all the way out, way out to the water, as far as out as they let you walk. I took more than 300 photos today. I won’t be sharing all of them with you here. Yikes. 🙂
For this blog post, I will share just a few highlight photos, without much text. I’ll share a photo or two from each area. And, when I come back here again for another camping trip here, I’ll focus on certain aspects of the area/walk.
Ok, did you bring your lunch? let’s get going. (Click on photos to enlarge them.)
Above … a paved walkway from the parking lot that then led …
Below … out onto the “upper” solid ground of the delta.
Old barns. For some years, the driest ground of the delta was a farm.
Below … further along a gravel path, I could start to see the water in the delta … and further out to Anderson Island.
LOTS of water in this delta.
Below … the well maintained gravel path … and then the boardwalk in the distance.
Below … on the boardwalk. The boardwalk is more than a mile long.
Below … just an old dead tree, right?
But look who was there in those branches …
Below … the tide was part way in so what would have been marshy land was now under water, under brackish salt/fresh water mixed together.
Below … the supporting structure of the boardwalk has collected mud and plants that weren’t here before the boardwalk was built. Unfortunately, the boardwalk inhibits water flow and drainage; it changes the ecosystem. There’s talk of removing the boardwalk and letting the waterway return to its natural state so it can fully support the life that was here before the boardwalk was built.
Below … and then, further along, I could just barely spy some movement on a tiny island over there near the land with trees.
Harbor seals, basking in the late summer sun.
But then, below … off to the right in that very same view … an eagle on its island in the sun.
Here’s a video (below) of that eagle. The bird calls you hear on this video are seagulls.
Below … further along that long boardwalk, off to the right, so close I could almost touch it … a Ring-billed Seagull, just walkin’ along. 🙂
More boardwalk!
Below … a small island, all by itself, maybe six or seven feet long. You’d think it would have been washed away by tide and currents.
Below … a Great Blue Heron at water’s edge.
Below … another Great Blue Heron … do you see it?
Below … the end of the boardwalk. The tide was still part way in (or part way out, I can’t remember which), so there was a bit less land out here had it been low tide … but there was more water here because the tide was part way in.
And then I ate my lunch (remember my lunch that I brought with me?). I was so glad I brought my lunch.
As many people as there were (a LOT) at the beginning of this walk, there was no one out at the far/outer end of the boardwalk when I was there. I sat in that cupola and enjoyed my meal and iced tea and the view and the sounds and smells.
Below … the Nisqually Reach Nature Center building on the point of land on the left … Anderson Island in full view in the middle of the photo.
And then I headed back along the boardwalk towards dry land.
Below … a Greater Yellowleg prancing up the waterway.
And below … do you see it? Another eagle.
One more night in my trailer here at Riverbend Campground, and then I’ll hitch up and take the trailer home to storage (about a ten minute drive from here). Although this campground is so close to home, it seemed a whole different world. I’ll be back for sure!
But in the meantime there is laundry to do and other chores to do at home. 🙂
Ah, but wait, I know this is probably the longest blog post I’ve produced, but you have to bear with me here. There are two more items of information that I found interesting about the Nisqually Delta that I’d like to share with you. One is that, indeed, a farmer moved here MANY years ago and diked the waterways so the land would dry out, so he and his family could have a large farm here. But after that family moved on, more recently, it became obvious that those dams/dikes were damaging the ecosystem and damaging the wildlife here. So, over the past several years, those earth dams have been removed (more work to come) and wildlife is again flocking, swimming, flying, and waddling to the area. The measurable results have been spectacularly positive.
The other interesting thing I learned about the Nisqually River from the informational signs here at the delta is that there at least 18 tributaries that feed into the Nisqually River along its journey. The Nisqually River starts WAY up on Mt. Rainier; the river is glacier water; it starts under a glacier. On the Nisqually’s travels down to Puget Sound, it is fed by at least 18 tributaries such that all that water together then feeds the Nisqually delta with plenty of clean, fresh water. Among those tributaries are … Pebble Creek, Goat Creek, Ohop Creek, Muck Creek, Tahoma Creek, Dead Horse Creek, and Paradise River. Sounds like paradise to me. 🙂
This is one TINY portion of Puget Sound. It would take a lifetime to explore it all.
I’ll be heading home with Towhee the Trailer in the morning … more 2022 camping to come!