New Year's Day Volkswalk

Happy New Year! We started the year with a 5 Km Volkswalk at Ft Flagler State Park. The entire park is on the north slope facing Puget Sound and is quite cold in the winter. It was about a one-hour drive northwest from our condo.

  The Washington State Park system is well cared for and most parks have trails. In case you don't know, a "Volkswalk" is a non-competitive fitness walk that was developed in Europe. We were lucky and got a clear, but cold, day.

  The walk was quite "crunchy" because of the frost. The ground was mostly frozen except for the sunny parts.

Here are some frosty Sword Ferns. This is a common fern in the Pacific Northwest.

This is one of the many left-over Coast Artillery bunkers in this part of the world. The entire Puget Sound area was ringed with artillery bunkers over a hundred years ago. They were designed to keep unfriendly Navy ships from entering and attacking the Puget Sound Navy Yard and Seattle. The bunkers are almost all still here, but the guns were all removed during WWII (at the latest). 

Here is one of the interpretive signs along the trail.

All the state parks have camping and picnicking locations. The RV camping area was surprisingly full. This picnic area was frosty, but you can see the sun coming out.

By the time we got to the Ft Flagler parade ground, the sun was up and the geese were swooshing around. You can rent some of the buildings for family reunions and conferences here, too.

This is an official "Paragliding" site, too. The cliffs provide an area with a reliable updraft for the humans and the geese.

Looking east from Ft Flagler are the Cascade Mountains. The clear, cold weather gave a wonderful view. The snow is starting to look good.

Looking west from Ft Flagler are the Olympic Mountains. This part of the world is actually between two separate mountain ranges. 

This paper mill is near Port Townsend and is still running. Most of the heavy logging in the Pacific Northwest is gone, but some logging is still going on. Port Townsend is north across the water from Ft Flagler and has its own Ft Warden with Coast Artillery bunkers and 100-year old buildings you can stay in.

This shot of Mt Baker across the Sound has a lighthouse in the foreground. Lighthouses are as tall as they need to be so you can see their light from the horizon. Going across the Sound, the horizon is not very far away. People who visit Ft Flagler in the summer spend more time on the beach than on the trails.

We hope you had a happy holiday season and look forward to a wonderful 2016.