Sign at the beginning of the trail to Cranberry Lake
We are still in warm-up mode for hiking, choosing shorter distances, and low elevation trails. We opted for two short trails on Camano Island this week, Cranberry Lake and English Boom. There are several Cranberry Lakes, this one is in the Cama Beach State Park. A Discover Pass is required.
We stopped at the main entrance to the park and checked in at the Ranger Station, where got instructions and a map. What sort of facilities are available? The Ranger Station has a nice public restroom. The road from there winds around and has access to several large parking areas and trails. There is another restroom closer to the beach that is also modern with flush toilets, sinks, and hand blowers. In addition to those parking areas there is on-the-street parking with room for perhaps 7 or 8 cars near the beginning of the Cranberry Lake trail. There is also a small café closer to the beach that is open on Friday and Saturday. We were told the food was excellent but we were not there when it was open.
The Ranger explained that there may still be some wild cranberries growing here and the lake is more like a bog than a lake at times. We were pleasantly surprised to find a real lake more or less surrounded by boggy areas. The trail is an out-and-back, with several off-shoot paths down to the lake ending up at about 2 miles round-trip.
We loved this sign. One of our pet peeves is finding full dog poop bags left on trails. This reminder sign was at the trail head and had a dispenser with poop bags and a receptacle for used bags of poop but we still saw one left on the trail.
Most of the trail looks like this.
In one place there is a boardwalk over a boggy or swampy area
Downed tree
Bob standing by the downed tree
This giant tree had a rotten core and must have split and come down during a windstorm this winter. The fallen tree remains had been cut leaving the trail clear with no need to climb over or scramble around it.
Cranberry Lake
The lake really was more of a lake than a bog at this time of the year. There were lots of lily pads but it was too early for the flowers.
Canada geese
There were many Canada geese, almost all honking and making quite a racket. They were mostly hard to see but this couple posed for a photo.
Great Blue Heron
It is difficult to see amid all the branches and greenery, but a great blue heron is sitting on a snag.
Creeping blackberry
Salmon berry
Skunk cabbage
Pacific tree frog also called the Pacific chorus frog
We only saw one of the frogs; however, there were dozens more hiding and loudly serenading us with croaks and ribbits.
Count for the day:
10 people, 2 dogs
RT approximately 2 miles
Discover Pass required
No comments:
Post a Comment