A Skagit Adventure

It was Field Trip Tuesday so we packed a picnic lunch and drove on down to Rasar State Park, along the Skagit River. This is a relatively new park with some great campsites, the nearby river, and huge sweeping fields.

Lots of opportunities for us to talk about nature with the kids. These are educational field trips, afterall! Melinda explained how "helicopter leaves" fall from trees, animals eat the seeds, the seeds are left elsewhere through the animal droppings, and new trees grow. I think that's what she said... I was busy taking in the sights and snapping photos. Then we reached the Skagit River. Beautiful!
The only not so beautiful part of the river was the dead fish smell. And the dead fish. Tis the season for the coho salmon to spawn upriver. There were more than a few who met their end on this stretch of the river. Phew! A bit smelly. But that didn't stop us from spending a lot of time here - exploring the driftwood, the rocks, and the river's edge. Behind Alice, it's obvious that the water was very clear.
Alice wanted a turn on the other side of the camera. We also found a bunch of tracks in the mud/sand. Another educational moment to our day! Look at the cute little racoon track. Owen decided some digging was necessary. Not to be outdone, Alice thought it was best to just lay right down while digging. We got the kids back to the trail. Lots of paths weaving in and out of the forest, meadows, and near the river. One interesting thing we found was... bamboo. And lots of it. One of those invasive plants which I think most of us would prefer to live without. Alice and Owen had fun pretending to be panda bears. Eeek! We found a snake. Alice picked up a swishy stick, to protect us from the wildlife. Owen was her Assistant Protector. Towards the end of the trail, we found a whole bunch of neat mushrooms.
I'm going to have to buy a mushroom identification book for the Pacific NW. We have so many fascinating species to discover. All in all, a great Field Trip to the Skagit River.