Quick walk Saturday morning at Ebey’s Landing.  Parked at the main lot next to the beach on Ebey’s Landing road - nearly full at 8:30.  Discover Pass required as per normal.  Pit toilet open but likely will want to bring your own TP.  Trail is a bit brushy this time of year, nothing blocking but you will get your legs wet if dew/rain.  The trail along the inside of the spit next to Perego’s Lagoon is completely passable now - access back to the beach easily available through area where high tides/waves had blown through previously.  

Not much wild life out, heard one bald eagle, saw one raven and one heron both way off in the distance.  Some swallow and sparrow out plus mourning dove, robin, a few seagulls, etc.  Also saw one deer with fawn down by the beach.  Large meadows of purple vetch and some gumweed, etc up on the bluff make for “UW Husky” colored flower patches.  Still a relatively easy walk through one of the most beautiful parts of the country.

Link to more info about the history of Ebey’s Landing - https://www.nps.gov/ebla/learn/historyculture/index.htm

It was a beautiful day on Ebey's Bluff Loop trail, if slightly chilly for July. The view from the high bluff trail is fantastic and varied. Be sure to turn around and look behind you from time to time, as the view both forwards and backwards constantly changes as you progress through different elevations and bends in the trail. Pay very careful attention to your footing on the narrow trail. There are places where an errant step to the downhill side could be disastrous.

Trail conditions were great, though there was an abundance of flying bugs (some kind of beetle? -- see photo) flitting about the bluff trail, so if your hiking party includes anyone with entomophobia (as ours did), they could have a difficult time; as mentioned above, leaping off the trail to avoid a bug is really not a safe option. In our case, our fearful one bravely soldiered on and proudly completed the hike.

The beach portion of the hike takes you right along the shoreline, parallel to two enclosed lagoons. It would be wise to consult local tide conditions when planning your hike. While the hike can be completed even at high tide, the smoother, less rock-strewn part of the beach can be used only when the tide is low. In our case, the tide was coming in, requiring us to dodge the waves that were gradually covering more and more of the smooth areas.

#FirstTripReport

Beautiful views along the bluff, but there were tons of wasps near the ground on the trail (not sure which kind of wasp, they were light yellow/black and looked like each had its own hole in the ground). Keep an eye out for dogs and kids, especially.

Hey can we normalize saying thank you when people pull over to let you pass?

A few updates on this hike for anyone looking to do it over the weekend. Lots of people, easy to spread out on the beach, on the bluff switchbacks it is narrow and steep, a bit harder to pass, pack your patience. The Historical Cabin and blockhouse were open, and no, you can't climb up and look out of the blockhouse. They had docents there explaining the history for anyone interested in the history of the area. I'd recommend parking up above by the cemetery, one loo and lots of people on the beach parking area. 2 loos in this parking area. The purple flower covering the entire bluff area is hairy vetch, once planted as a cover crop, now escaped. It IS pretty tho. Other flowers, gumweed (yellow daisy) sand verbena (yellow, right at the bottom where the bluff trail hits the beach) searocket (small lavender 4 petals) fools onion, brodriaea, tapertip onion, catchfly, wild roses and non native honeysuckle. Deception Pass was a complete and total zoo, Skagit Seafood will be closed for lunch tomorrow and closed on the 4th. Happy 4th and be careful with those fireworks!