Photos from this trip can be found here.
Fresh snow over mountain passes and the less than ideal Cascade weather had pup and I visiting one of our go-to destinations in the Puget Sound. To make today’s drive worthwhile, we connected all sections of the park we had previously visited with a loop hike.
One other car in the lot when we arrived at the Pass Lake Trailhead. Soon after we started hiking on the forested trail the lake disappeared from view and was not to be seen again. The leaf-scattered loop trail wound counterclockwise to Naked Man Valley where a dry intermittent stream bed marked the trail junction. We made a left onto West Pass Lake Trail.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
The initially steep trail (unmarked on park map) climbed up and around west of Point 504, then tapered off before a clearing and merged onto an old road bed. We followed the road down to a gate 30 feet in from Rosario Road. There we got back on the trail and headed east, and arrived back in the parking lot less than half a mile later.
We quickly crossed Rosario Road over the busy intersection with Highway 20. Behind the park entrance sign was an inconspicuous trail running parallel along west of the highway. Trail descended moderately through forest and then ascended to meet the highway by a wooden barrier. On the other side of the barrier, we hiked a short distance on a marked pedestrian walkway to the north end of the Canoe Pass Bridge.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
Despite the drizzling weather, many people still came out to enjoy the misty scenery. Canoe Pass Bridge crossed over to Pass Island, where we took the underpass to the east walkway due to heavy foot traffic on the west. At south end of the Deception Pass Bridge we immediately got on the Goose Rock Summit Trail. The .4-mile section of the trail took us to the top in no time. Drizzle quickly turned to rain after we arrived, with minimal views on top. We left the summit after a short stay and returned to the bridge via the Perimeter Trail.
Perimeter Trail continued under the bridge to other side and turned into North Beach Trail. A few times we took the spur trails onto the beach and checked out the surrounding areas–high brdges, Headlands, Lighthouse Point, etc. West Point marked our turnaround point after a snack break and photos before we hiked back to the bridge. Drizzle slowly turned into light rain.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
The east walkway took us back to Pass Island, and on the island we checked out the historic plaque before continuing on. Once we crossed the Canoe Pass Bridge, I realized there wasn’t an underpass at the north end. So we very carefully went over the highway and hiked back to the trail. We got on the Lighthouse Point Loop Trail at the first trail junction.
On a good day, southeastern corner of Lighthouse Point would be filled with people taking photos of the bridges. But the area was empty today. We hiked to west end of the point and then continued north. For a brief minute the sun looked as though it’d break through the clouds, but it quickly went back into hiding. North rim provided good views into Bowman Bay through a few narrow clearings. Eventually we made it back to the east end and reconnected with the loop trail down below.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
Lighthouse Point Loop Trail became Bowman Bay/Rosario Beach Trail at the first trail junction. It then passed through the dock and the interpretive center before veering left toward Rosario Head–our last destination for the day. Views over Puget Sound from the rock were beautiful as always. A group of giddy teenage girls came through and asked to take a photo of the group.
We wrapped up the day at sunset as it became windy. No connecting trail to Pass Lake Trailhead from Bowman Bay, so we hiked half a mile back to the car via Rosario Road.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
Access: Pass Lake Trailhead
Gear: none