Summer Summary

Summer is coming to end, and we can already feel the crisp coolness of autumn in the air. It’s once again to post some highlights about what I’ve been up to in the past season. I tried to take advantage of the good weather whenever I could, and did mostly outdoorsy stuff. I also had two overnight trips despite the pandemic. Not to far places, but still had fun. So here we go with the photo highlights.

Sea To Sky Gondola top view
That beautiful scenery of the mountains and Howe Sound from the summit area of the Sea To Sky Gondola.

I continued with my shellfish harvesting ways into the summer. Earlier in the summer I went for clams and oysters. Later on I mostly went crabbing when the summer crabbing season opened up. Caught a good number of red rock crabs during the season, and spent a lot of time eating them too.

Crabbing in Seattle with the biggest red rock crab (6.25″ across the carapace) I caught during the summer. (click to enlarge)

Dosewallips State Park oysters
The mounds of oysters at Dosewallips State Park by the Hood Canal. I tried to find geoducks on that day but didn’t find any. The oysters weren’t hard to find though.
Mount Walker
View of the Hood Canal from Mount Walker. Can barely see Mount Rainier in the background
Rocky Brook Falls
Rocky Brook Falls is a nice waterfall and a popular summer swimming hole.

As usual, I tried to hit the hiking trails every weekend. Saw my share of tranquil alpine lakes, beautiful waterfalls and stout mountain peaks. Here are some of those highlights from this summer of hiking in the Pacific Northwest.

Goat Lake
Didn’t see any goats, but Goat Lake was gorgeous.

Goat Lake waterfall
The big waterfall coming out of Goat Lake

Ira Springs Trail
Mount Rainier standing out from the Ira Springs Trail

Barclay Lake
Barclay Lake with the imposing Baring Mountain in the back.

Lake Serene
Went to Lake Serene on a misty day last year. This year the scenery was so much nicer on a bright sunny day.

Wallace Falls State Park
Went back to Wallace Falls after 2 years. Looks nicer in the summer when compared to the winter

Poo Poo Point Chirico Trail
Took a different way up Poo Poo Point, and this is the view on the backside.

Park Butte
Majestic views of the south side of Mount Baker from Park Butte

Also had some fun locally that wasn’t hiking or catching shellfish.

Chateau Ste. Michelle
Visited Chateau Ste. Michelle, the biggest and most famous winery in the Seattle area. Was a popular destination on this weekend day.

Lake Union kayak
Took me a while, but finally got on the water at Lake Union

Seattle view
Seattle does have a nice cityscape if you can get a high enough vantage point

For overnight trip, my first trip of the summer was to the southern Washington coast and northern Oregon coast. It was a short trip and the weather was overcast, but it was good to drive around and visit somewhere I haven’t been before.

Seaside Lewis & Clark statue
At the beach in Seaside Oregon, with a statue to mark the end of the Lewis and Clark trail

Ecola Point
Hiked up to Ecola Point in Ecola State Park on the Oregon coast

Astoria riverside
The Astoria riverside with the US 101 bridge that spans the Columbia River in the background

Long Beach car
First time driving my car on the beach, at Long Beach, WA

World's Longest Beach sign
The World’s Longest Beach sign at Long Beach WA. Long Beach isn’t really the world’s longest beach, but it is a pretty long beach.

North Head Lighthouse
North Head Lighthouse, one of the two lighthouses at Cape Disappointment State Park

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse
The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse on the southwestern corner of Washington State. This is as close I could get to it.

Fort Columbia State Park
Looking out to the Columbia River from Fort Columbia, one of several old coastal forts in Washington and Oregon.

My second trip was back to the Vancouver, Canada area to visit my family. It’s the first time I’ve been back for a year and half. The old travel restrictions made it inconvenient to travel across the border, but with the easing of restrictions by Canada, I could finally go back without having to quarantine.

dimsum
The cutest dimsum spread I’ve ever had. The Chinese food in Richmond BC is still top notch.

Iona Jetty
Took a stroll down the Iona Jetty near Vancouver International Airport. Only made it 1km down the 4km long jetty.

Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park
This is probably the 3rd Bridal Veil Falls I’ve visited. This one is located near Chilliwack BC in a provincial park.

Sea To Sky Gondola
Taking the ride up on the Sea To Sky Gondola in Squamish, BC

The most important thing was to see family and friends. We went to some local parks and tourist attractions. Since I haven’t been back in a while, of course I ate a lot of good Chinese food. The Vancouver area has better Chinese food than the Puget Sound. Probably ate a little too much during my vacation, and now I have to work off those extra pounds.

Those are my outings for the summer of 2021. I would say it was a bit more going on than last year’s summer. Although covid is still around, the vaccines means there are less restrictions. I’ll try to make the most of any remaining good weather in the fall, and in the winter hopefully I’ll be able to go on the Colorado ski trip that I had to cancel this year. Thanks for reading and stay safe out there.

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