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A monthly newsletter for this park’s friends and neighborsfrom the desk of the park manager

So, two guys walk into my office several yearsago and offer to help get downed trees off our trailsin the park. They seemed like nice guys and after achat to make sure they knew what they were doingand promised to cut safely, they went out and cut afew trees off our trails.

And they came back a couple weeks later andcut some more. And a couple weeks later. Prettysoon, they had all the trails clear. Every few weeks,they would check in and see if we had any moretrees, and then they would go cut those too.

And after every storm, they would be out therefinding trees and cutting those off trails too. And thishas continued now for umpteen years as Bob andGene continue to be our go-to guys for removingtrees off the trails of the park, Gene and Bob or Boband Gene, chaps on, saws oiled and ready to go.

If I know of a tree across a trail, and staff can'tget to it right away, I know these guys will. They'vebeen cutting for so many years now they're almost apart of the forest. If you see a tree cut from across atrail as you are hiking, think about these two and thework they have done to make your hike easier.

I asked them if they wouldn't mind just sharing alittle of the life paths that they took to end up hereas a blessing to me, the park, and its visitors. Hereare their stories, in their own words.

The twisted trail of Gene EarnestBorn Clinton, Maine, September, 1934. Worked

on cutting first trails at a new Boy Scout Camp in1947. Graduated from Kent’s Hill Prep School June of1952. July of 1952volunteered forthe U. S. Navy dur-ing the KoreanWar.

After variousschools, served ona carrier, as a Cat-apult Captainlaunching air-planes from theflight deck. Hon-orable dischargefrom the Navy in1955 to attendthe University ofMaine at Orono,Maine.

In the spring of 1956, the birds were headingnorth and so did I, sticking my thumb out and hitch-hiking to Fairbanks, Alaska. Took 11 days to get therewith 60 bucks to spare. Started digging a ditch in

permafrost the first day, soon went to the thawfields for the gold dredges, but a few days later washired by the BLM fighting wild lands fires around theInterior of Alaska.

After the fire season ended, I went to work on asurvey crew. Went to work with the William J. BurnsInternational Detective Agency on various securityjobs around the Bay Area.

Come spring, the birds and I headed north. Medriving an old pick-up on the Alaska Highway, had aslower, rougher trip to Fairbanks than the birds.Went back to work firefighting for the BLM, in whatbecame the longest, most destructive fire season inAlaskan history. Started in April, with homesteadfires and ended in September with a snowstorm.

My pockets bulging with money, I flew to NewZealand and hiked and biked the North and SouthIslands. Came back to Hawaii for a month and a half.Pockets now empty, flew back to Fairbanks on NewYears day, wearing a short sleeve Hawaiian shirt. Itwas 35 degrees below zero.

Went to work for the Fairbanks Fire Departmentas a fireman. Became Acting Fire Marshal, but the jobwas too confining. Quit and went north to theBrooks Range, with an old-timer, to stake someclaims. I fell in love with the country and hiked northto Wiseman, an old gold mining town of 9 souls.Bought a cabin from a miner and helped him with hisplacer mine. He was from Maine also, and we laterbecame mining partners.

That winter I flew in to Fairbanks. I was hired asAsst. Fire Chief on the DEW line at Point Barrow, the

Two Park Cut-upsGene Earnest and Bob BlunkKeep our Trails Open

Deception Pass State Park

April 2016

Gene Earnest, quite a fewyears ago, with a nugget.

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northernmost town in Alaska. After 13 months, of atleast 12 hour days, 7 days a week, I went back to workfor the Fairbanks Fire Department. Also signed up forregular classes at the U of Alaska- Fairbanks. Alsobought an airplane with three other fireman.

In 1962 I was hired by the Fire and Security De-partment at the missile detection site at Clear, Alaska.Two years later, I climbed into a small boat and headeddown the Tanana River to The Yukon River. Down theYukon to the mouth of the Koyukuk River, then up toWiseman. Eleven hundred river miles and about 3weeks later, I arrived and tied up in front of my cabin.Two years before, I made the same trip, in reverse toFairbanks, in a 17 foot canoe.

Went into partnership as a gold miner for the next3 years during the summer months. During the winter Iwould go to Anchorage to work so I could afford tomine. Also got married and found a 19 ounce nugget.The marriage lasted 16 years and the nugget is now inthe U of Alaska Museum.

Decided to move back to Maine in 1967. Bought a55 acre small farm, with timber and a trout stream.Started cruising timber for the Oxford Paper Company.Year and one half later I went into partnership in a log-ging operation. A year after, I started my own opera-

tion doing selective cutting and demonstrating loggingequipment.

In 1972, moved back to Fairbanks. Hired as a Load-master and later Ramp Supervisor for AIA, a C-130Hercules freight operations. Flew to Tokyo once, IceIsland a number of times and Prudhoe Bay many times.Moved my family, wife, son and daughter to Kodiak Is-land and fished commercially for Herring, as well asliving off the land and the sea to a great extent

Back to the Lower States to Sequim. Worked as alongshoreman loading logs for Japan and rode my mulein the nearby mountains. Loaded my family and themule after two years and headed back to Maine. Start-ed another logging operation, raised sheep, goats, pigs,chickens and large organic gardens.

My marriage ended and I headed back to Alaska.Sub-contracted the clearing of 48miles of survey lines by chainsawand worked until one day it was-28 and dropping. Got a jobwarehousing for the FairbanksNorthstar Borough, which turnedinto a job supervising purchasing,warehousing, general servicesand the telephone system. A yearand one half later, I was hired asDirector of Purchasing and Gen-eral Services at the U of Alaska.After three years and eventhough I had a magnificent viewof Mt. Denali from my office, ear-ly retirement sounded good andI took it. As a true bonus, I mar-ried an old friend from years be-fore and we are still married.

We both retired and boughta home in Anacortes, and later we bought a home inMazama. Since retiring I have done the following: load-ed more logs on ships, located lines for the NatureConservancy in Maine, cut and maintained trails inMazama, volunteered with the Skagit Land Trust,building with Habitat for Humanity for thirteen years,clearing downed trees for the last 7 years or so inWashington Park, and clearing downed trees for De-

ception Pass State Park and Dugualla State Park. All thetime at the Park, and most of the time at Habitat, BobBlunk has been my hard working, enthusiastic, alwaysinteresting partner. He does the work and I get theglory.

I have had a most interesting life and I value everyminute of it, but I still want to see what is around thenext bend in the trail.

Bob Blunk

I grew up in a small E. Washington farming town.Through High School and College, I worked for a wheatand cattle rancher driving tractors and combines,

building and fixing fence, changingsprinklers, making and stackinghay, and raising cattle -- all theway from birth through slaughter.

I graduated from WSU and hada career in civil service. I worked inrecruiting, labor relations, andaviation security. My jobs were inTacoma, Seattle, Denver, Atlanta,Washington DC, and Brussels. Myfamily and I moved often, includingfour moves to and from Seattle.

I retired in 2004 and my wifeand I moved to Mount Vernon. I fillmy time with study, reading,playing with grandkids, hiking andgardening. I am a volunteerbuilder with Skagit Habitat forHumanity working on 16 housesover the past 11+ years.

About 10 years ago, I began building andmaintaining trails as a volunteer with the Pacific NWTrail Association, the Skagit-Whatcom-Island TrailMaintenance Organization, and at Deception Pass andDugualla State Parks. I work regularly with my trailpartner, Gene Earnest, whose expertise and goodcompany keep me going.

Gene on the business end of a saw this year.

Bob Blunk moving a log round that Genecut off the trail.

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Tree across the restroom at the group camp weclosed because of the danger of falling trees…

In Like a Lion

On March 10, we saw sus-tained winds of well over 30mph, with gusts over 50 mph,sweeping the park.

At the same time, we hadtides far above the predictedhigh tide for the morning.

Combined, the one twopunch hit the park hard. Weevacuated the park before thestorm hit its peak.

As you can see, the worstdamage was to buildings we nolonger use, and to a bridgethat actually held up fairly wellconsidering it had a two-footspruce fall across it.

Several park trails, howev-er, remain a mess to this day.

And Kiket Island’s westtombolo will be buried in drift-wood for years to come.

The tide waters almostcame in the doors of the Cor-net Bay restroom as well.

Tree across the picnic shelter at Quarry Pond,scheduled to be removed in April anyway!

Tree across the bridge at North Beach, which lost afew boards but otherwise stood firm.

Driftwood filling the trail and tombolo several feetabove the normal high tide line at Kiket Island.

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Cornet's New Beach GetsGreener

Over 60 volun-teers invested a Sat-urday morning thisMarch to plant thenewest section ofCornet Bay. This pastNovember, our con-tractor removed thefill at the west end ofthe Cornet Bay boatlaunch area, restoringthe beach and a smallwetland. The volun-teers planted hun-dreds of native plants,ranging in size fromgrasses a coupleinches tall to treestaller than me. In oneday the land lookedlike a real beach

again!

A special shout out to several groups, starting withthe lead team of the Skagit Fisheries EnhancementGroup, led by Susan Madsen. Several strong AnacortesHigh School students helped plant the baker's dozen

of trees. Kulshan Creek students of Mount Vernon,ranging in age from five to eighteen, in partnershipwith the North Cascades Institute, took on the plantsaround the wetlands and elsewhere. And several mem-bers of the Island County Marine Resources Councilassisted Northwest Straits Foundation members, fund-ing coordinators for the project, in planting beachgrasses and upland plants as well.

All the volunteers made a difference that will con-tinue to grow there.

Interpretive Schedule 2016

May (Memorial Day weekend)Friday 27th – 7pm Evening ProgramSaturday 28th – 11am Nature Walk, 2pm JuniorRanger, 7pm E.P.Sunday 29th – 9am Morning Yoga, 11am NatureWalkJuneFriday – 7pm Evening ProgramSaturday – 11am Nature Walk, 2pm Jr. Ranger,7pm Evening ProgramSunday – 9am Morning YogaJulyFriday – 7pm Evening ProgramSaturday – 11am Nature Walk, 2pm Jr. Ranger,7pm Arts in the ParkSunday – 9am Morning Yoga (July 3rd. additionalNature Walk, Jr. Ranger., and Evening Program)AugustFriday – 7pm Evening ProgramSaturday – 11am Nature Walk, 2pm Jr. Ranger,7pm Evening ProgramSeptember (Labor Day weekend)Friday – 7pm Evening ProgramSaturday – 11am Nature Walk, 2pm Jr. Ranger,7pm Evening Program

Eagle Scout ProjectImproving Hoypus Trails

Eagle Scout candidate Travis Morgan is only 16years old, but he carries himself with a maturity farexceeding most kids his age. This spring, Travis hasorganized a project to improve our muddy trails in theHoypus Hill area.

This former DNR land has some stretches of trailsthat disappear under water for over a hundred feet inplaces. With bikes, horses, and people traversing theseareas in all weather year round, we wanted to makesome improvements that would benefit everyone.

Travis has designed and found the crew to install'turnpikes'.

These simple structures have a log on each side ofthe trail and then gravel filling the ground between thelogs to elevate a trail above a muddy stretch. He andhis crews spent their Saturday working on the trails,and hope to finish a section of the trail very soon.

Anacortes High School stu-dents us their young andstrong backs to assist inplanting one of severaltrees at Cornet Bay.

Kulshan students plant willow sticks near thewetland at Cornet.

Three of Travis’ assistants prepare the bed for aturnpike section of trail. The future trail will nolonger look like the muddy wallow on the left!

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State Parks Free DaysThe Washington State Parks and Recreation

Commission offers 12 free days each year when visi-tors are not required to display a Discover Pass for aday visit to a park. We hope you will take advantageof a State Parks free day to get out and sample a newpark or revisit an old favorite, then consider sup-porting state recreation lands by purchasing a Dis-cover Pass.

The Discover Pass provides a whole year of ve-hicle access to millions of acres of parks, trails, wa-ter access sites and wildlife viewing areas onstate-managed recreation lands.

Free days for 2016:

January 1 – (Friday) New Year’s Day and StateParks’ First Day Hikes Day

January 17 and 18 – (Sunday and Monday) MartinLuther King Jr. Day

March 19 – (Saturday) Washington State Parks’103rd birthday

March 26 – (Saturday) A springtime free Saturday

April 22 – (Friday) Earth Day

May 8 – (Sunday) A springtime free Sunday

June 4 – (Saturday) National Trails Day

June 11 – (Saturday) National Get Outdoors Day

Aug. 25 – (Thursday) National Park Service’s 100thbirthday

Sept. 24 – (Saturday) National Public Lands Day

Nov. 11 – (Friday) Veterans Day

Cabezon!Our local diver Jan Ko-

cian, who has adopted thispark to monitor the health ofits underwater denizons, hasshared the close-up he tooklast week of a seldom seencreature, the cabezon.

The cabezon is a bottomfish found off the Pacificcoast from Mexico to Alaskawith poisonous spines and anattitude to match. Cabezoncan swallow small, whole aba-lones, regurgitating the inedi-ble shells.

A cabezon's life cycletakes it offshore and back.Adults spawn on rocky out-crops, and males guard theeggs until they hatch. The lar-val young drift out to sea,then develop into small, sil-very fish that often hide un-der mats of drifting kelp. Asthey grow older, the fish set-tle into tide pools, then moveto reefs and kelp forests.

Cabezon is a Spanish word used to de-scribe someone who is stubborn, big-headed,ditzy, or who said or did something kindadumb, or who has crazy big hair!

The word is pronounced kah-bay-sohn' inSpanish, or the feminine version version:Cabezona. In English, it is cab'-uh-zonn.

Several of these meanings may be appliedto the cabezon if you have ever experiencedits attitude up close.

Jan reported this after his dive:

“I am happy to report that so far no signs ofwasting sea star syndrome are observed here. Ifound few wasting stars at Langley harbor. Thetemperatures are still cool, the expert are worriedthat the disease will return with warm water. Letshope that it will not be the case...”

Photo above taken near North Beach by JanKocian. Used by permission.

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Saturday, April 23

Our earth appreciates your attention. And in turn,our earth gives us all the support we need. Earth Day2016 is another chance to show your appreciation.

Come join us for the Bowman Bay Planting Partyand Celebration!

Our newest beach deserves a birthday party! Yourgift could be an hour or two helping plant a variety ofsplash zone and upland plants at the beach.

Or it could be as simple as exploring the skull of agray whale with our park naturalists, or learning aboutthe many groups that helped make our beach changesuccessful.

It will be a day full of fun and education aboutways we can care about our marine neighbors.

Start the event a day early if you wish, at thescreening of the award-winning movie, Maiden of De-ception Pass: Guardian of Her Samish People at 7 p.m.at the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center.

Then come on down to Bowman at 10 on Saturday

the 23rd for good food, good tasks, and great company.And to see the change that took place this winter

in just over one minute, check out this video, whichwe linked to last month but some people had troublegetting it to work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAZK0FV88tA

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Upcoming Park Events:

● April 2: Full and Half Marathons, starting atCornet Bay and West Beach, hosted by theBellingham Trail Runners

● April 16: Whidbey Island full marathonstarts at Pass Lake, half marathon starts atCornet Bay

● April 23: Bowman Bay celebration/ EarthDay; planting the new Bowman Beach,whale skull interpretive programs, walks,talks, food, and more!

● April 23: Lions Clubs service day project atthe Cornet Bay Retreat Center

● May 30, Memorial Day: Annual Hope Is-land Scotch Broom removal party. Onceagain, the Deception Pass Tours jet boat willescort our volunteers out to the island instyle! Hope to see you on the Monday out-ing!

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● August 21, 2017: Total eclipse in Oregon,98% total here

● March and July, 2022: 100th birthday par-ty for Deception Pass State Park!

Spring Park Openings ScheduleWinter is over!

Everything is now open (except for one smallloop in the Cranberry Campground, whichopens May 1).

Here is the tentative line-up for the annualsummer musical events at our amphitheater.

July 9: Miho and Diego (Japanese and Colom-bian music) http://www.mihodiego.com/

July 16:  Fisher Poets John Van Amerongenand Erin Fristad http://www.erinfristad.com/ (no website for John—he’s a musician, too)

July 23:  Sedentary Sousa Band – world’s onlyseated marching bandhttp://sedentarysousa.com/

July 30:  Dunava – women’s a cappella musicof Eastern Europe http://www.dunava.org/

Sewer Line Construction atQuarry Pond Campground

Carman Construction of Oak Harbor won the bidto remove our septic tank at the Quarry Pond Camp-ground and hook the entire system up to our park-wide force main sewer system.

The project may close down the campgroundduring the week a few times during the month ofApril, but by our busy season, it should all be flowingaway out of sight but not out of mind.

This means that ninety-nine percent of the sewergenerated by visitors south of the bridge will now re-ceive tertiary treatment at the Navy Base! There isonly one very small septic tank still in use in the parkon the south half of the park.

New Camping Cabins Here!They're cute! They are small but cozy. We now

have five rustic cabins at the Quarry Pond camp-ground, sitting in some of the campsites that werenot as popular as others. They will be popular now!

With a warm pine-wood interior comforted by aheat pump system, and with a table, chairs, futon, anda full-size bed and twin bed combination bunk, thiscan be a comfortable place for up to five people on awet and dreary winter weekend or a warm and sunnysummer day.

The cabins were funded by a grant from the statelegislature to increase recreation opportunities inparks and increase revenue opportunities as well.

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Coming Community Events

Friends of Skagit Beaches

2016 Lecture SeriesRestoration of the Elwha River and its Estuary

Two dams have recently been removed from the Elwha Riv-er and it again flows free. Dr. Ian Miller, Ph.D., Coastal HazardsSpecialist, Peninsula College, Port Angeles, WA, and other sci-entists are monitoring the unrestricted river and the resultantphysical and ecological changes within the river basin and itsestuary.

Dr. Miller will discuss observed changes that have occurredin the coastal environment adjacent to the Elwha River mouth.Friday, April 8, 7p.m. - 8:30p.m. Northwest Educational ServiceDistrict Building, 1601 R Ave., Anacortes. Lectures are free andopen to the public. Sponsored by Friends of Skagit Beacheshttp://skagitbeaches.org. For information please contact MattKerschbaum, cherrytree2@comcast.net

5th AnnualFidalgo Shoreline Academy

May 14, 2016Saturday, 8:30 - 3:30,Fidalgo Bay Resort, Anacortes

One day university for everyone begins with an engaging key-note address followed by plenary sessions of your choosing onour Salish Sea marine environment and culture.

For more details: sign up for the newsletter atwww.skagitbeaches.org.

Teachers: continuing education clock hours available.

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This monthly update is sent to folkswho have expressed an interest inkeeping in touch with what is happeningor in the planning stages at DeceptionPass State Park.

We are grateful to have you welcomeus into your inbox.

If you are not interested in receivingthese monthly updates, please reply tothis message and let me know. We haveno intention of sending emails that youdo not wish to receive.

If you wish to communicate atanytime with me or other park staff,please email, call, or visit us. This park isyour park.

Park ManagerDeception Pass State Park41020 State Route 20Oak Harbor, WA 98277360-675-3767 ext. 26

jack.hartt@parks.wa.gov ©

Park Staff:Jim Aggergaard, RangerRick Blank, Asst. ManagerDarlene Clark, Sr. Park AideTodd Harris, MaintenanceJack Hartt, Park ManagerJeri Lancaster, Offic. Asst.Mark Lunz, MaintenanceMontana Napier, NaturalistPaige Ritterbusch, RangerBill Ruh, Sr. Park AideBen Shook, RangerDominique Saks, NaturalistJason Stapert, RangerBryce Watkinson, RangerJohn Whittet, RangerMarv Wold, Maintenance

Foundation President Steps DownAfter nine years as President of the Deception Pass

Park Foundation, Liz Merriman stepped down from theposition and the Board this month.

Her tenure has seen the Foundation grow from afledgling entity to become a strong and secure force forbettering this park and our community.

Liz has personally been involved in every aspect ofthat growth, encouraging the steps that led to a stablesystem of policies to guide the board, a transparent andaccurate accounting system, the accomplishment ofmultiple projects throughout the park, and the supportof every park event, from the 75th bridge anniversary,the Arts in the Parks, the Bowman Bay Holiday, and somuch more.

Several preservation and protection projects alsosucceeded because of the Foundation, including therestoration of the Bowman shelter and the rehabilita-tion of the amphitheater.

She has always cared about the park and caredabout the mission of educating visitors to the park.Through her leadership, we have seen the AmeriCorpsposition become a dependable and effective education-al effort, and the establishment of partnerships withother educational teams.

In her words:

“I believe that the Board – over the years of evolving,growing and (re)focusing – has together laid the trajecto-ry for success evidenced in the projects and programs wenow support. After almost a decade of participating increating the vision of what the Foundation can and willbe, it’s time for me to move on.”

She says she is stepping down as a board member,but not as a Foundation volunteer. She will continue to

work for the creation of a Deception Pass Institute, aneducational branch of the Foundation for offeringclasses in the park about a host of subjects.

We will miss her energy and dogged determinationto keep moving the Foundation forward in its educa-tional efforts and fund-raising support for the park’sinterpretive programs.

Thank you, Liz, for a job well done, for incredibleamount of volunteer time you have invested, for keep-ing the Foundation moving forward, for your successesin accomplishments, and for your never-failing com-mitment to making this a better park.

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