Deception Pass State Park - Headlands / Rosario Head / Lighthouse Point — Monday, Apr. 7, 2025

Quintessential PNW spring hiking day at Deception Pass State Park. Parked in the Bowman Bay beach lot and started the day in the direction of the Rosario Head trail. We were lucky enough to catch sight of Elsie May, the resident elephant seal, which really delighted my kids. On our way back to the parking lot, we saw a group of people on the beach who explained that they were volunteer scientists seining the water to evaluate the health of the shore after some restoration work. Apparently they were happy with their findings, and it was cute to see the baby Chum salmon. After a quick lunch and a play break on the park equipment, we headed to Lighthouse Point (which to my kids' confusion was lacking a lighthouse). Lots of beautiful coastline, and the hike back was full of banana slug sightings. We all had a good time and were happy to be back to the car before it started raining.