MELLOWDORK

Dorking around and shooting photos!

Burfoot Park, Olympia, WA

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Migrating my adventure blog here to this website. Originally posted on May 17, 2019

This past Sunday we decided to check out the area north of Olympia called Boston Harbor Marina. We wanted to maybe get an ice cream and walk along the rocky shore. Unfortunately the soft serve ice cream machine was turned off for the day. Also, the marina’s shore area was pretty small, including a small boat launch on one side and a tiny beach area on the other.

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On the way to Boston Harbor, we had driven past two parks that looked interesting; Priest Point Park and Burfoot Park. We decided on Burfoot which was maybe a mile before Boston Harbor. This is a Thurston County park that looks out onto Budd Inlet. Besides having a huge inner grassy park area, there are several trails that all end up at the beach.

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The trails are very cool. Dense, mossy forest and ferns everywhere! Some trails have casual grades while others have steep steps, choose your own adventure. The weather was pretty sunny this day, but these trails would definitely come alive in a more moody atmosphere. As you get to the beach area, signs for poison oak are posted, so stay alert.

The beach is a rocky shore with tons of clams spitting streams of water straight into the air, some several feet. To the south you can see the top of the Washington State capitol building. While we were there, low tide was happening and there were tons of things to look at while exploring.

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Even for a warm sunny day, there were’t very many people on the beach. As we were wandering around, most had left and had been replaced by a couple of people arriving to watch the sun set. Since it was our first time at this park, we didn’t know exactly when the gates would shut at the designated ‘dusk’ closing time, so we headed back to the car, along the mossy forest trail.

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Next time we’ll stay and watch the sun set, since it seems to be a popular spot for that. As long as we’re out of the park by nightfall we should be fine.

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This park will definitely be on our list for many future visits, as it’s very close to home. Can’t wait to go back and explore around more! Thanks for reading.

All photos made with a Panasonic Lumix LX5

Tumwater Falls, Olympia, WA

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Migrating my adventure blog here to this website. Originally posted on May 10, 2019

Cinco de Mayo afternoon we took a short drive over to Tumwater Falls Park. The upper and lower falls of the Deschutes River empty out into the very southern end of the Puget Sound in the heart of Olympia. It’s the home of two derelict Olympia Beer breweries and a great little trail that makes you forget you’re right in the center of town.

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There are two upper falls that have a few pieces of dead fall hanging around, I’m sure someday they will rot away or be hit by other pieces and swept downstream. The sound of the falling and rushing water is so relaxing. The latter of the two beer breweries is perched right above the upper falls. It has tons of broken windows in what would have been pretty coveted office spaces back in the day.

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My wife claims to have seen a salmon making a jump for it, as soon as we arrived. I joked that she was telling me a fish story, but she was sure of what she saw. There were quite a few salmon steps along this part of the river due to the falls.

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The lower falls were just as cool to see, and had a couple different vantage points. There was a foot bridge over the falls that led to a trail on the other side of the river and to a small side-spring waterfall. Below the main waterfall there was a great viewing deck that was in a constant misty spray from the falls.

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After that, the river makes a short trip past the original beer brewery and then on to Capitol Lake and into the sound. Such a great park in the middle of our city. We want to go back and explore the area on a foggy or wet morning in the future.

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Here’s a link to my wife’s blog post, check out her take of Tumwater Falls, Washington.

iPhone 5s photos edited with the Hipstamatic app (Jane lens, Irom 2000 film)

Woodard Bay Conservation Area, Olympia, WA

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Migrating my adventure blog here to this website. Originally posted on May 2, 2019

Over this past weekend we took a walk through Woodard Bay Conservation Area, just north of Olympia. And we actually got our son out of the house and on the trail with us, nice! This area is a piece of local logging history, it was nice to learn a bit about that and all the critters that call this area home.

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The trail from the small parking area to the logging railroad jetty is a nice wide paved trail that wanders through tall, mossy trees. There’s a side trail that goes through a Newt breeding area, sounds interesting, and we’ll have to take that trail next time. Lots of great bird action along the main trail, we even saw a chipmunk.

When you get out to the end of the trail, what’s left of the old logging railroad jetty lays out into the bay in front of you. It turns out that a colony of bats calls this place home now. My wife wants to go back in the evening to see the bats fly out for the evening to score some dinner, and I agree, that would be cool to see.

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There’s a few picnic tables and a reproduction logging foreman cabin for education purposes on site. Down a side path is another viewing area with benches where you can relax and just take in the nature and peaceful water ways. I could stay there for hours and just listen to the birds and look out for otters, etc.

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Unfortunately, since the park is a conservation area, you must stay on trails and cannot walk along the beach. But, it’s beautiful and peaceful, so that’s just fine.

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iPhone 5s photos edited with the Hipstamatic app (Jane lens, Irom 2000 film)

Tolmie State Park, Olympia, WA

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Migrating my adventure blog here to this website. Originally posted on April 23, 2019

This past Sunday we visited a place where we had previously only scoped out very quickly. Tolmie State Park is in a small cove in the Olympia/Lacey area, pretty close to home. On our scouting trip we didn’t have our parking pass yet, but one look at the parking area alone meant we had to come back and walk around. And since it’s so close to home, we plan on making this a frequent place to visit and relax.

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The park is nestled in between private land, but heavily forested, so you’d never know there were water-front homes all around the park. Once you get out to the beach, then you can see all the homes with their great views of the Puget Sound.

There were a handful of people digging for clams out in the muddy water since the tide was out. Others were just enjoying the sunny day and relaxing in chairs or sitting on big washed up logs on the beach. My wife and I really enjoy this style of beach over the pure sandy sun-tan and volleyball beaches where we grew up.

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This cove’s rocks and washed up logs were covered in all types of barnacle looking sea life. It’s funny to see what rocks and wood types they will attach to and what they won’t, I guess there’s a preference? I guess I should have paid more attention in science class, haha!

At some point the water calling to my wife was too strong, so I went and sat on a washed up log while she went out to walk in the water and explore the area further out. So relaxing, until a drone pilot decided to bring his thousand dollar toy out and muck up a peaceful afternoon.

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Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching video footage and seeing photography from drones. But, this dude was flying it around like it was a child’s RC car in a dirt lot. He wasn’t creating anything visual, instead just being “that guy” with a “cool thing”. Drones aren’t a big deal when they’re 300 feet in the air and you can’t hear or see them any longer, but when you’re buzzing it around near ground level all over the place, it’s like an annoying fly!

After my wife came back from exploring out by the water line, we headed in to the forest to walk a trail. The amounts of moss and fern growth is so crazy here in Washington. Very little ground soil can ever be seen, everything is covered in some kind of plant life. And the critters are everywhere, you can hear them more than see them usually though.

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The end of trail pops you out at the end of the park boundary where someone’s private residence beach begins. Luckily mister drone must’ve drained his battery, now it was quiet and peaceful again, yay! We enjoyed that end of the beach all to ourselves for a few minutes before lazily walking back along the trail to the parking area.

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I think we all want to go back to the park on a nice overcast, foggy or rainy day for a completely different vibe. Can’t wait.

Here’s a link to my wife’s Tolmie State Park post, check it out for more photos and her take on our closest State Park. Thanks for reading!

iPhone 5s photos edited with the Hipstamatic app (Jane lens, Irom 2000 film)

Dustin (Mellowdork) : Husband. Father. Skateboarder. Shutterbug. Olympia, WA.

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