March 26, 2025 • 18 mins
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Jennie and Craig talk about some of their favorite hikes around the Salish Sea in Western Washington for seeing whales - resident and transient orcas as well as migrating grey and humpback whales
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jennie Flaming (00:05):
Jennie, welcome to the Washington State hiking
podcast. I'm your host. JennieThwing Flaming,
Craig Romano (00:10):
and I'm your co host. Craig Romano
Jennie Flaming (00:12):
Craig and I are happy to have you here. We
provide practical and timely,seasonal hiking advice for
hikers, trail runners andpotential hikers and trail
runners of all skill and abilitylevels that is helpful,
accurate, fun and inclusive.
Well, hey, Craig, we're talkingabout whales today.
Craig Romano (00:31):
Hey, Jennie, you know, I live in Skagit County,
close to Anacortes. You know, Ilove whales. I I've seen him
several times, just just on thefairies. So, yeah, whales, great
topic, great topic, whales.
Jennie Flaming (00:44):
Whales are amazing. I mean, they're just,
they're just incredible. Andwe're so lucky to live somewhere
where we can see them. So rightnow, you know, we're talking
about late March, right? That'skind of where we are in time.
And so we're starting to havegray whales migrating past the
(01:07):
coast of Washington up furthernorth for the summer. And we
also, of course, have ourresident and transient orcas
that are in our waters all thetime. So Craig, what are some of
your favorite hikes aroundWashington to see whales, and
then maybe also just share whattypes of whales you tend to see
(01:29):
there.
Craig Romano (01:29):
So getting back to us saying earlier with being
close to the antiquaters and theSan Juans and ferries, let me
tell you that whole area, theSan Juan and the Gulf Island,
the archipelago, the in thesailor sea, the Gulf, the Strait
of Juan de Fuca, the Strait ofGeorgia. Dude just said all that
this is brine for for seeingorcas and of course, and that
(01:53):
resident pod moves around. Sothere's no guarantee where
they're going to be. They movearound. I've actually seen them
right in the harbor inAnacortes, and then I've seen
them more out off of San JuanIsland, Friday in Friday Harbor.
So it's gonna be a crap shoot.
When you go out there lookingfor them, you never know. And
Jennie Flaming (02:10):
you know, I think that's an important thing
to just mention quickly. So thisis a hiking podcast. We're
talking about hikes where youhave a chance of seeing whales,
but if you're, if you're,especially if you're visiting
Washington, and you want, liketo see whales, for sure, then
you definitely want to do awhale watching trip, you know,
instead of what we're talkingabout. Um, so, yeah, right to
Craig Romano (02:31):
the whales we're here. Yeah, it's a matter of you
might happen to be, yes, hikingby when they jump,
Jennie Flaming (02:36):
yeah, which is pretty awesome.
Craig Romano (02:40):
Yeah. So, so where do you want to go for good
chances of that? Well, the SanJuan's, of course, San Juan
Island, lime killing Park is oneof the best places for seeing
whales. They tend to congregatea lot out there the feeding
you're hiking along shoreline,cliffs and bluffs, some great
views, even, even though youknow you're right on the water,
(03:02):
should always you want to bringbinoculars and everything. Yeah,
a few of them, you'll see themjump and you'll see the spout.
But if you really want to getthe view and telephoto lens, if
you're trying to photographthem, um, other, I mean, other
places you know, in on LopezIsland, Chadwick Hill, there's,
there's some, some cliffs inthat area. You can see what mo
(03:23):
Bay, Colville point, Colville,iceberg point, which is also on
Lopez, great place to see whaleson Cypress Island, wonderful one
of my favorite places. There'sno ferry service there, so you
have to either Kayak or get awater taxi to take you up.
There's over 20 miles of trailson Cyprus Eagle cliff, although
(03:44):
Eagle cliff is closed right nowfor peregrine falcon nesting,
but it'd be a good one in thefall. Yeah, see, you know to
see, but there's other areas,shoreline hikes and cypress that
are good for whales and even inAnacortes right in Washington
Park. Yeah, there's some greattrails there. You may see weymus
(04:05):
islands, another one, goodopportunity to see whales in
that area. So right in the SanJuans, you chance you hike
enough there, you probably goingto see sea orcas at some point.
Jennie Flaming (04:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Doesn't lime kiln park have,like, not, but what are those
things? It's like binoculars,like a sliding scope that's
like, attached to the ground.
Craig Romano (04:30):
Scopes, yeah, they're pretty much, I mean,
they're no lime kills, though,for a couple It has beautiful
lighthouse. It has a lime, ofcourse. You know, hence the
name. You know, what'sinteresting, the San Juan
Islands at one point back in the1870s booming with the ship
industry, with with with limekilns and lime quarries. So this
is a great place to see a prettymuch restored lime quarry, lime
(04:54):
and lime kill much, much bettershape than the one in Snohomish
County that's the. It kind oflooks more like a Raiders the
lost art, you know, because theright the vegetation is growing
all over. It's a little drierout of yeah on Friday, yeah. But
outside of the history in thelighthouse and all that, it's
known for its whales, it's justone of the best places to to see
(05:17):
whales. And the State Park hasnice trails, but it actually
borders much larger areas. Partof I believe it's a San Juan
concert, San Juan Island LandTrust, either that or so land
bank. It's one of those two thathas adjacent land, which even
with even more trails, withshoreline access, so there's
(05:38):
lots of room to roam, and goodchance you're going to be able
to be able to see whales out
Jennie Flaming (05:42):
there. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So if you're
interested in
Craig Romano (05:45):
a lot of this, especially those non my day
hiking, the San Juan Islands andGulf Islands book has all these,
these hikes in it. I've got,it's a really good book. It's a
good guide for whale watchingand hiking, because it also has
all the Canadian Hot spots too,yes,
Jennie Flaming (06:01):
yeah. And you know, definitely the Gulf
Islands, there's also lots ofwonderful places to you. Hi
everyone, it's Jennie. I justwanted to quickly break into
this spring episode to tell youthat I am offering a special
discount on my hike planners andmy Seattle seasonal hiking guide
(06:24):
in my shop. And you can get tothe shop. It's shop, dot
ordinary adventures.com, and thelink is always in the show
notes. And if you use thediscount code, spring 30, you
will get a 30% discount throughMarch 29 to welcome spring and
(06:45):
say thank you for listening tothe podcast. What about Craig?
Have you ever seen I have not,but I'm curious. If you have,
have you ever seen gray whaleslike out on the coast at this
time of
Unknown (06:58):
year? Yeah, I have.
People
Jennie Flaming (07:02):
have, I'm so curious, if you Yeah, not at San
Juan. I meant, I meant out onthe Washington on the Pacific
coast, yeah, Long
Craig Romano (07:09):
Beach. Long Beach area is a good place there, you
know, because in the San Juans,you're still, you're you're
inland, yes. And grays will comein occasionally, but it's not
part of their migration, yep. Soyou want to be out. And the
thing is, some of the theOlympic like OSET area, that's
tough because you've got the,got a lot of offshore islands,
the whales are going to be muchfarther out. There's a lot of
(07:30):
shelf, you know, a lot of shelfareas in there, yep, that's
tough. But when you get outtowards Long Beach, you're there
right the ocean. And a lot ofLong Beach, of course, is flat,
so it's, it's hard to to see.
That's where you go to CapeDisappointment. And you're up on
on North Head, which is a prettyprominent headland at the mouth
of the Columbia River. And also,because the mouth of Columbia
(07:53):
River, there is a lot ofnutrients coming out in that
area, it's a great feeding area.
So that's a good place. Stand upthere with another beautiful
Lighthouse you can check out,but with some binocular scope
during the migration, and you'regoing to see the spouts going
off as working away. So that'sone of the best places. Yeah,
you could see him in a few ofthe other, you know, the other
(08:16):
places along the coast. But itgets a little tougher because
you're lower but, but there'scertainly you're going to have a
better, a better chance there, Ithink, than in a lot of the wild
Olympic coast, where you havejust a lot of offshore islands
and shelf land. Yeah,
Jennie Flaming (08:29):
yeah, that makes sense. And I would just add that
both Long Beach and, well, CapeDisappointment, State Park is
right by Long Beach. But that isa really, I mean, there are lots
of really fun things to do thereat all year, like, that's a
great, great place to visit justinto and there's
Craig Romano (08:46):
some nice trails in that area. And I've got that
area covered in my day hikingOlympic Peninsula book. Yeah,
I've got cool all of Long Beach.
It's a, it's an area that a lotof hikers don't think about
sending the bay. There's beensome new trails expanded in
there. It's a great area forwildlife, yeah, so same thing.
There's Scarborough Hill on forColumbia. You've got some some
(09:08):
access there along the mouth ofthe Columbia which is such a
productive area
Jennie Flaming (09:14):
for wildlife.
Yeah, definitely. I was, I was
Craig Romano (09:17):
just thinking again about the mouse. So Cape
Flattery on the macaw nationlands is another great place to
see whales, too. You ran at themouth of the Strait of Juan de
Fuca, which is very, very widethere. And there's not as much
offshore islands and shelf. It'smore trench there. It's a great
place to see whales. Yep,
Jennie Flaming (09:38):
yep, and gray when, when we typically see gray
whales off the Washington coastis, I believe, kind of late
March and April. Yes, is thatyou're under? Yeah, it's kind of
a short because they'remigrating past us. They're not,
you know, staying here for thewhole summer.
Craig Romano (09:59):
Normally never. Up to your summer stomping grounds.
Yes,
Jennie Flaming (10:02):
exactly, yeah.
Okay, so a couple other placesthat I have seen orcas that I'll
just add to your list is forworden. There by Port Townsend,
there are some trails aroundthere, and those really cool,
(10:23):
like, old, you know, militarythings, creepy military
buildings, like climb aroundPort
Craig Romano (10:32):
wardens, wonderful. It's about 10 miles
of trails there. It's a reallynice park, yeah, yeah. And
Jennie Flaming (10:36):
it's near Port Townsend, which is a super fun
little town to visit
Craig Romano (10:41):
one of the coolest things at Fort word, and I had
experienced about 30 years agoduring the Tom Clancy days, and
I'm like, all sudden, I'mlooking out at the water, and I
watched this giant sub just comeout, like, Hunt for Red October.
Yeah, because you're near,you're near the nuclear sub base
across, right? So if you don'tsee a whale, there's always a
good chance of
Jennie Flaming (11:01):
seeing a nuclear submarine instead, and that'll
be just as exciting. It waspretty exciting. I know it is
pretty bizarre, um, you know, soif you're listening and you're
like, What are they talkingabout? So there are, there's a
trident submarine base in HoodCanal near paulsbo, and at times
the submarines will come and gothrough the canal out to the
(11:25):
ocean, obviously, but they have,like, a significant escort. And
you could just kind of Yeah, butit's, it's pretty bizarre when
you see them definitely. And Ithink you know one of the things
that I'm not an a whale expert,and I know you aren't either,
but appreciation doesn'tnecessarily equal expertise, but
(11:47):
I know that a lot of placeswhere there are very confused
and mixed currents in the SalishSea are places that tend to Have
more orca activity if they'refeeding, you know, there's more
food there, that kind of thing.
So that is definitely the casethere off of Port Townsend
(12:08):
where, you know, there's thecurrents and the winds in the
Strait of Juan de Fuca, and thenthe ones coming up from
Admiralty inlet and anywherealong Admiralty inlet. So, like,
west of Whidbey Island is also apretty good like, EBS landing
places like that, in
Craig Romano (12:30):
those areas too.
Yeah, you want to have a littlebit of elevation so you can
Outlook. So 40 EB um, for Casey,all those areas you're up on
some nice, you know, some, somegood bluffs, yeah. And that
really,
Jennie Flaming (12:41):
really helps.
And I've also seen orcas inbetween Whidbey Island and
Camino Island. What is thatwater called? Well the Salish
Sea, but it has Sarasotapassage, so some of those state
parks that are on the coast ofCamino are also places where I
Craig Romano (13:04):
have cama beach over there, and Camino Island
State Park and there, andthere's a trail that connects
them as well. So some some nicehiking in that area too. Um,
yeah, wonderful, wonderfulplaces.
Jennie Flaming (13:17):
I'm also just looking Craig. There's an app
that, if people don't know aboutthat I want to tell you about.
It's called whale alert, and youcan put it on your phone, and
then you can, you can kind offollow along with, like, Wait,
recent whale sightings that arenear your location. It is kind
(13:40):
of designed for people who areboating up like, part of the
purpose of it is to avoidunsafely encountering a whale.
But you can absolutely use itfor hiking as well, because you
can be like, Oh, hey, look, youknow, here's where different
whales have been seen recently,and it's on a map. It's a pretty
cool app. So if you're, ifyou're wanting to do a whale
(14:02):
hike, a good idea is placeswhere whales have been recently,
yeah, and I know people seethem, you know, from time to
time. You know, at point Rustinin Tacoma, oh, yeah, the Alki,
Seattle, Edmonds. You know,those are all anywhere along the
(14:24):
shore of the Salish Sea. Youdefinitely have a chance. But
then there are those places thatwe've talked about that are
better than others. You know,Craig last summer, there was a
humpback whale near, kind ofbetween Edmonds and Whidbey
Island. I remember reading aboutthat, yeah, being around for a
while. And so if that happensagain, I mean, it was really
(14:51):
cool. I've seen lots of humpbackwhales in Alaska, but it was
pretty it was pretty awesome.
And in the summer is whenthey're feeding, and so they're
a. Lot more active than theyare, like in Hawaii or Mexico,
where they're mostly just givingbirth and, like, chilling as
they sit
Craig Romano (15:09):
down in Baja.
Yeah, it's a good
Jennie Flaming (15:11):
activity there, but so another place that would
have been would have been good,would be like meadowdale Beach
Park, which is a really nicehike that I feel like not that
many people have heard of.
Craig Romano (15:26):
That was one of my hikes of the week just recently.
Yeah,
Jennie Flaming (15:30):
I saw that, and I was like, oh, Craig, that's a
great one. Yeah,
Craig Romano (15:33):
meadowdale is a great little place, yeah, yeah.
And
Jennie Flaming (15:35):
it's, if you're like, where is that? It is kind
of in North Edmonds to muckle toarea. It's technically in
Lynwood, I think, but I woulddescribe that area as like
between Edmonds and muckle Tioby meadowdale High School, where
my niece goes and my brotherwent anyway. Any other goodwill
(16:01):
places you want to call outCraig before we wrap up today.
No,
Craig Romano (16:05):
you those are all good play. And of course, the
wild Olympic Coast definitely,you know there's, there are a
chance of seeing whales hikingalong that area too. When you're
hiking along that area, also,you're just going to be out
farther. But I do have to relateto you. And I think I talked
about this on one of our otherpro so one of my most memorable
whale experiences was was on thewild Olympic coast north of
(16:28):
Rialto in the summertime, hotsummer day, going around to
where the Chilean Memorial isbeing a pro one of the most
foul, rancid, putrid, disgustingsmells I have ever experienced
in my life. It was a big deadwhale. Oh, no, hey, bend your
(16:49):
foil and let me tell you, theytake forever to break down.
Yeah, and so lots of animals,you know, are going to feed it,
but it you've got this huge massof decaying flesh on the beach.
I mean, girls die like anythingelse. And if you know, if their
body comes to shore, if thesharks, it's going to be really
intense. It's intense one of thecraziest anybody, any old timers
(17:12):
here in the Northwest willremember in the early 70s when
one washed out in the coast ofOregon. And this is classic. And
if you want to some entertainingyou can look this up. They
thought it would be smart publicofficials to blow it up.
Remember, have you? Have youseen the video? It did the
footage of this? No, I see this.
So showed up. Watch this. Theyblew it up, and it rained
(17:36):
rotting
Jennie Flaming (17:41):
flesh. No, that's not ever okay.
Craig Romano (17:44):
This is a classic.
People still talk about this.
You can look this up. What notto do with a dead whale, blow it
up.
Jennie Flaming (17:53):
Yeah. It's a really bad idea. Terrible idea.
Craig Romano (18:00):
Yeah. Anyways, one of the many enlightened things
our public officials have donefor sure, because that one did
less damage than some of theother things that they do. So
we'll go with that.
Jennie Flaming (18:11):
Yes, oh man, oh
Craig Romano (18:16):
well, yes, whale watching is great. And yeah,
that, if you're looking to do itby hiking, check those areas.
And then, of course, throughoutthe summer and all head to
Anacortes, there's some greatway of watching tour companies
there, yep and Yep. You know,environmentally sound. And just
on top of things, I think couldbe really, really happy with it.
(18:37):
Yeah,
Jennie Flaming (18:38):
lovely. Well, I hope. I wish all of you
listening many whale sightingsthis spring and summer, and
we'll see you next week. You.
Jennie, welcome to the Washington State hiking
podcast. I'm your host. JennieThwing Flaming,
Craig Romano (00:10):
and I'm your co host. Craig Romano
Jennie Flaming (00:12):
Craig and I are happy to have you here. We
provide practical and timely,seasonal hiking advice for
hikers, trail runners andpotential hikers and trail
runners of all skill and abilitylevels that is helpful,
accurate, fun and inclusive.
Well, hey, Craig, we're talkingabout whales today.
Craig Romano (00:31):
Hey, Jennie, you know, I live in Skagit County,
close to Anacortes. You know, Ilove whales. I I've seen him
several times, just just on thefairies. So, yeah, whales, great
topic, great topic, whales.
Jennie Flaming (00:44):
Whales are amazing. I mean, they're just,
they're just incredible. Andwe're so lucky to live somewhere
where we can see them. So rightnow, you know, we're talking
about late March, right? That'skind of where we are in time.
And so we're starting to havegray whales migrating past the
(01:07):
coast of Washington up furthernorth for the summer. And we
also, of course, have ourresident and transient orcas
that are in our waters all thetime. So Craig, what are some of
your favorite hikes aroundWashington to see whales, and
then maybe also just share whattypes of whales you tend to see
(01:29):
there.
Craig Romano (01:29):
So getting back to us saying earlier with being
close to the antiquaters and theSan Juans and ferries, let me
tell you that whole area, theSan Juan and the Gulf Island,
the archipelago, the in thesailor sea, the Gulf, the Strait
of Juan de Fuca, the Strait ofGeorgia. Dude just said all that
this is brine for for seeingorcas and of course, and that
(01:53):
resident pod moves around. Sothere's no guarantee where
they're going to be. They movearound. I've actually seen them
right in the harbor inAnacortes, and then I've seen
them more out off of San JuanIsland, Friday in Friday Harbor.
So it's gonna be a crap shoot.
When you go out there lookingfor them, you never know. And
Jennie Flaming (02:10):
you know, I think that's an important thing
to just mention quickly. So thisis a hiking podcast. We're
talking about hikes where youhave a chance of seeing whales,
but if you're, if you're,especially if you're visiting
Washington, and you want, liketo see whales, for sure, then
you definitely want to do awhale watching trip, you know,
instead of what we're talkingabout. Um, so, yeah, right to
Craig Romano (02:31):
the whales we're here. Yeah, it's a matter of you
might happen to be, yes, hikingby when they jump,
Jennie Flaming (02:36):
yeah, which is pretty awesome.
Craig Romano (02:40):
Yeah. So, so where do you want to go for good
chances of that? Well, the SanJuan's, of course, San Juan
Island, lime killing Park is oneof the best places for seeing
whales. They tend to congregatea lot out there the feeding
you're hiking along shoreline,cliffs and bluffs, some great
views, even, even though youknow you're right on the water,
(03:02):
should always you want to bringbinoculars and everything. Yeah,
a few of them, you'll see themjump and you'll see the spout.
But if you really want to getthe view and telephoto lens, if
you're trying to photographthem, um, other, I mean, other
places you know, in on LopezIsland, Chadwick Hill, there's,
there's some, some cliffs inthat area. You can see what mo
(03:23):
Bay, Colville point, Colville,iceberg point, which is also on
Lopez, great place to see whaleson Cypress Island, wonderful one
of my favorite places. There'sno ferry service there, so you
have to either Kayak or get awater taxi to take you up.
There's over 20 miles of trailson Cyprus Eagle cliff, although
(03:44):
Eagle cliff is closed right nowfor peregrine falcon nesting,
but it'd be a good one in thefall. Yeah, see, you know to
see, but there's other areas,shoreline hikes and cypress that
are good for whales and even inAnacortes right in Washington
Park. Yeah, there's some greattrails there. You may see weymus
(04:05):
islands, another one, goodopportunity to see whales in
that area. So right in the SanJuans, you chance you hike
enough there, you probably goingto see sea orcas at some point.
Jennie Flaming (04:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Doesn't lime kiln park have,like, not, but what are those
things? It's like binoculars,like a sliding scope that's
like, attached to the ground.
Craig Romano (04:30):
Scopes, yeah, they're pretty much, I mean,
they're no lime kills, though,for a couple It has beautiful
lighthouse. It has a lime, ofcourse. You know, hence the
name. You know, what'sinteresting, the San Juan
Islands at one point back in the1870s booming with the ship
industry, with with with limekilns and lime quarries. So this
is a great place to see a prettymuch restored lime quarry, lime
(04:54):
and lime kill much, much bettershape than the one in Snohomish
County that's the. It kind oflooks more like a Raiders the
lost art, you know, because theright the vegetation is growing
all over. It's a little drierout of yeah on Friday, yeah. But
outside of the history in thelighthouse and all that, it's
known for its whales, it's justone of the best places to to see
(05:17):
whales. And the State Park hasnice trails, but it actually
borders much larger areas. Partof I believe it's a San Juan
concert, San Juan Island LandTrust, either that or so land
bank. It's one of those two thathas adjacent land, which even
with even more trails, withshoreline access, so there's
(05:38):
lots of room to roam, and goodchance you're going to be able
to be able to see whales out
Jennie Flaming (05:42):
there. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So if you're
interested in
Craig Romano (05:45):
a lot of this, especially those non my day
hiking, the San Juan Islands andGulf Islands book has all these,
these hikes in it. I've got,it's a really good book. It's a
good guide for whale watchingand hiking, because it also has
all the Canadian Hot spots too,yes,
Jennie Flaming (06:01):
yeah. And you know, definitely the Gulf
Islands, there's also lots ofwonderful places to you. Hi
everyone, it's Jennie. I justwanted to quickly break into
this spring episode to tell youthat I am offering a special
discount on my hike planners andmy Seattle seasonal hiking guide
(06:24):
in my shop. And you can get tothe shop. It's shop, dot
ordinary adventures.com, and thelink is always in the show
notes. And if you use thediscount code, spring 30, you
will get a 30% discount throughMarch 29 to welcome spring and
(06:45):
say thank you for listening tothe podcast. What about Craig?
Have you ever seen I have not,but I'm curious. If you have,
have you ever seen gray whaleslike out on the coast at this
time of
Unknown (06:58):
year? Yeah, I have.
People
Jennie Flaming (07:02):
have, I'm so curious, if you Yeah, not at San
Juan. I meant, I meant out onthe Washington on the Pacific
coast, yeah, Long
Craig Romano (07:09):
Beach. Long Beach area is a good place there, you
know, because in the San Juans,you're still, you're you're
inland, yes. And grays will comein occasionally, but it's not
part of their migration, yep. Soyou want to be out. And the
thing is, some of the theOlympic like OSET area, that's
tough because you've got the,got a lot of offshore islands,
the whales are going to be muchfarther out. There's a lot of
(07:30):
shelf, you know, a lot of shelfareas in there, yep, that's
tough. But when you get outtowards Long Beach, you're there
right the ocean. And a lot ofLong Beach, of course, is flat,
so it's, it's hard to to see.
That's where you go to CapeDisappointment. And you're up on
on North Head, which is a prettyprominent headland at the mouth
of the Columbia River. And also,because the mouth of Columbia
(07:53):
River, there is a lot ofnutrients coming out in that
area, it's a great feeding area.
So that's a good place. Stand upthere with another beautiful
Lighthouse you can check out,but with some binocular scope
during the migration, and you'regoing to see the spouts going
off as working away. So that'sone of the best places. Yeah,
you could see him in a few ofthe other, you know, the other
(08:16):
places along the coast. But itgets a little tougher because
you're lower but, but there'scertainly you're going to have a
better, a better chance there, Ithink, than in a lot of the wild
Olympic coast, where you havejust a lot of offshore islands
and shelf land. Yeah,
Jennie Flaming (08:29):
yeah, that makes sense. And I would just add that
both Long Beach and, well, CapeDisappointment, State Park is
right by Long Beach. But that isa really, I mean, there are lots
of really fun things to do thereat all year, like, that's a
great, great place to visit justinto and there's
Craig Romano (08:46):
some nice trails in that area. And I've got that
area covered in my day hikingOlympic Peninsula book. Yeah,
I've got cool all of Long Beach.
It's a, it's an area that a lotof hikers don't think about
sending the bay. There's beensome new trails expanded in
there. It's a great area forwildlife, yeah, so same thing.
There's Scarborough Hill on forColumbia. You've got some some
(09:08):
access there along the mouth ofthe Columbia which is such a
productive area
Jennie Flaming (09:14):
for wildlife.
Yeah, definitely. I was, I was
Craig Romano (09:17):
just thinking again about the mouse. So Cape
Flattery on the macaw nationlands is another great place to
see whales, too. You ran at themouth of the Strait of Juan de
Fuca, which is very, very widethere. And there's not as much
offshore islands and shelf. It'smore trench there. It's a great
place to see whales. Yep,
Jennie Flaming (09:38):
yep, and gray when, when we typically see gray
whales off the Washington coastis, I believe, kind of late
March and April. Yes, is thatyou're under? Yeah, it's kind of
a short because they'remigrating past us. They're not,
you know, staying here for thewhole summer.
Craig Romano (09:59):
Normally never. Up to your summer stomping grounds.
Yes,
Jennie Flaming (10:02):
exactly, yeah.
Okay, so a couple other placesthat I have seen orcas that I'll
just add to your list is forworden. There by Port Townsend,
there are some trails aroundthere, and those really cool,
(10:23):
like, old, you know, militarythings, creepy military
buildings, like climb aroundPort
Craig Romano (10:32):
wardens, wonderful. It's about 10 miles
of trails there. It's a reallynice park, yeah, yeah. And
Jennie Flaming (10:36):
it's near Port Townsend, which is a super fun
little town to visit
Craig Romano (10:41):
one of the coolest things at Fort word, and I had
experienced about 30 years agoduring the Tom Clancy days, and
I'm like, all sudden, I'mlooking out at the water, and I
watched this giant sub just comeout, like, Hunt for Red October.
Yeah, because you're near,you're near the nuclear sub base
across, right? So if you don'tsee a whale, there's always a
good chance of
Jennie Flaming (11:01):
seeing a nuclear submarine instead, and that'll
be just as exciting. It waspretty exciting. I know it is
pretty bizarre, um, you know, soif you're listening and you're
like, What are they talkingabout? So there are, there's a
trident submarine base in HoodCanal near paulsbo, and at times
the submarines will come and gothrough the canal out to the
(11:25):
ocean, obviously, but they have,like, a significant escort. And
you could just kind of Yeah, butit's, it's pretty bizarre when
you see them definitely. And Ithink you know one of the things
that I'm not an a whale expert,and I know you aren't either,
but appreciation doesn'tnecessarily equal expertise, but
(11:47):
I know that a lot of placeswhere there are very confused
and mixed currents in the SalishSea are places that tend to Have
more orca activity if they'refeeding, you know, there's more
food there, that kind of thing.
So that is definitely the casethere off of Port Townsend
(12:08):
where, you know, there's thecurrents and the winds in the
Strait of Juan de Fuca, and thenthe ones coming up from
Admiralty inlet and anywherealong Admiralty inlet. So, like,
west of Whidbey Island is also apretty good like, EBS landing
places like that, in
Craig Romano (12:30):
those areas too.
Yeah, you want to have a littlebit of elevation so you can
Outlook. So 40 EB um, for Casey,all those areas you're up on
some nice, you know, some, somegood bluffs, yeah. And that
really,
Jennie Flaming (12:41):
really helps.
And I've also seen orcas inbetween Whidbey Island and
Camino Island. What is thatwater called? Well the Salish
Sea, but it has Sarasotapassage, so some of those state
parks that are on the coast ofCamino are also places where I
Craig Romano (13:04):
have cama beach over there, and Camino Island
State Park and there, andthere's a trail that connects
them as well. So some some nicehiking in that area too. Um,
yeah, wonderful, wonderfulplaces.
Jennie Flaming (13:17):
I'm also just looking Craig. There's an app
that, if people don't know aboutthat I want to tell you about.
It's called whale alert, and youcan put it on your phone, and
then you can, you can kind offollow along with, like, Wait,
recent whale sightings that arenear your location. It is kind
(13:40):
of designed for people who areboating up like, part of the
purpose of it is to avoidunsafely encountering a whale.
But you can absolutely use itfor hiking as well, because you
can be like, Oh, hey, look, youknow, here's where different
whales have been seen recently,and it's on a map. It's a pretty
cool app. So if you're, ifyou're wanting to do a whale
(14:02):
hike, a good idea is placeswhere whales have been recently,
yeah, and I know people seethem, you know, from time to
time. You know, at point Rustinin Tacoma, oh, yeah, the Alki,
Seattle, Edmonds. You know,those are all anywhere along the
(14:24):
shore of the Salish Sea. Youdefinitely have a chance. But
then there are those places thatwe've talked about that are
better than others. You know,Craig last summer, there was a
humpback whale near, kind ofbetween Edmonds and Whidbey
Island. I remember reading aboutthat, yeah, being around for a
while. And so if that happensagain, I mean, it was really
(14:51):
cool. I've seen lots of humpbackwhales in Alaska, but it was
pretty it was pretty awesome.
And in the summer is whenthey're feeding, and so they're
a. Lot more active than theyare, like in Hawaii or Mexico,
where they're mostly just givingbirth and, like, chilling as
they sit
Craig Romano (15:09):
down in Baja.
Yeah, it's a good
Jennie Flaming (15:11):
activity there, but so another place that would
have been would have been good,would be like meadowdale Beach
Park, which is a really nicehike that I feel like not that
many people have heard of.
Craig Romano (15:26):
That was one of my hikes of the week just recently.
Yeah,
Jennie Flaming (15:30):
I saw that, and I was like, oh, Craig, that's a
great one. Yeah,
Craig Romano (15:33):
meadowdale is a great little place, yeah, yeah.
And
Jennie Flaming (15:35):
it's, if you're like, where is that? It is kind
of in North Edmonds to muckle toarea. It's technically in
Lynwood, I think, but I woulddescribe that area as like
between Edmonds and muckle Tioby meadowdale High School, where
my niece goes and my brotherwent anyway. Any other goodwill
(16:01):
places you want to call outCraig before we wrap up today.
No,
Craig Romano (16:05):
you those are all good play. And of course, the
wild Olympic Coast definitely,you know there's, there are a
chance of seeing whales hikingalong that area too. When you're
hiking along that area, also,you're just going to be out
farther. But I do have to relateto you. And I think I talked
about this on one of our otherpro so one of my most memorable
whale experiences was was on thewild Olympic coast north of
(16:28):
Rialto in the summertime, hotsummer day, going around to
where the Chilean Memorial isbeing a pro one of the most
foul, rancid, putrid, disgustingsmells I have ever experienced
in my life. It was a big deadwhale. Oh, no, hey, bend your
(16:49):
foil and let me tell you, theytake forever to break down.
Yeah, and so lots of animals,you know, are going to feed it,
but it you've got this huge massof decaying flesh on the beach.
I mean, girls die like anythingelse. And if you know, if their
body comes to shore, if thesharks, it's going to be really
intense. It's intense one of thecraziest anybody, any old timers
(17:12):
here in the Northwest willremember in the early 70s when
one washed out in the coast ofOregon. And this is classic. And
if you want to some entertainingyou can look this up. They
thought it would be smart publicofficials to blow it up.
Remember, have you? Have youseen the video? It did the
footage of this? No, I see this.
So showed up. Watch this. Theyblew it up, and it rained
(17:36):
rotting
Jennie Flaming (17:41):
flesh. No, that's not ever okay.
Craig Romano (17:44):
This is a classic.
People still talk about this.
You can look this up. What notto do with a dead whale, blow it
up.
Jennie Flaming (17:53):
Yeah. It's a really bad idea. Terrible idea.
Craig Romano (18:00):
Yeah. Anyways, one of the many enlightened things
our public officials have donefor sure, because that one did
less damage than some of theother things that they do. So
we'll go with that.
Jennie Flaming (18:11):
Yes, oh man, oh
Craig Romano (18:16):
well, yes, whale watching is great. And yeah,
that, if you're looking to do itby hiking, check those areas.
And then, of course, throughoutthe summer and all head to
Anacortes, there's some greatway of watching tour companies
there, yep and Yep. You know,environmentally sound. And just
on top of things, I think couldbe really, really happy with it.
(18:37):
Yeah,
Jennie Flaming (18:38):
lovely. Well, I hope. I wish all of you
listening many whale sightingsthis spring and summer, and
we'll see you next week. You.
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