Teddy Bear Cove

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Today was a beautiful clear day in the upper 60s so Chance and I took to a trail with great views. We parked at the North Chuckanut Mountain Trailhead and then ran .5 miles on the Interurban Trail. Teddy Bear Cove Trail is a switchback trail down 200’ through the forest that leads to wonderful shoreline views of Chuckanut Bay and Clark’s Point. There are portions of white sandy-ish beach, the result of centuries of crushed clam shells. It apparently once was Bellingham’s most popular clothing optional beaches. It’s now illegal, but supposedly doesn’t stop many, mainly Western Washington University students. This was the main reason I went here without Joe the first time. Of the handful of people I saw, no nude sunbathers. The small south facing cove has large driftwood logs. There are honeycomb formations that occurs in Chuckanut sandstone. Round pockets in the rock are eroded caused by the evaporation of saltwater spray. 

A path continues up the bluff that forms the headland. You can see Dot Island in the center of Chuckanut Bay. From Teddy Bear Cove Park I could also see Clark’s Point, which I was in love with and desperately trying to photograph from the Interurban Trail a few posts ago. On the beach of the small ground up pieces of sea shell there were also fragments of red brick. Apparently the former name of this short was Brickyard Beach named for the brick factory located directly behind it across the railroad tracks between 1915-1925.

On the north side of the headland, the waves were blocked so Chance was interested in getting in the water. I tricked Chance into chasing a rock I threw out into the deep water where she’d have to swim to get. I loved watching probably as much as she enjoying the swimming and sprinting around the shore. I got some great action shots running through the water and shaking the water off. 

The Burlington Northern railroad tracks run along the shoreline from Seattle to Canada. It was a fun place to walk. Maybe it was the sense of danger and rebellion walking along the tracks. Chance became my subject of the day to photograph. I’ve taken enough of the landscape. It’s time for more pictures of my baby girl. 

Chance and I continued down the railroad tracks. The track curves right through the middle of the bay. It’s narrow and a little sketchy with signs that it was private property of BSNF railways. I paid close attention to vibrations on the track so we had enough time to run back to a wider shoreline. There was a large speedboat in Chuckanut Bay making a beeline to where we were on the tracks. They spooked me into thinking it might be the Coast Guard coming to ticket me for being on private property so we turned back. Of course once we were back to a more stable flat shoreline, the boat turned and headed back out to the Puget Sound. 

It was so beautiful, I just wasn’t ready to leave. I made Chance walk along the rocky shoreline, which I can only imagine was twice as difficult for her to find stable footing for all 4 paws. I loved it out here. I’m definitely coming again next time with Joe.

A train did come by once Chance and I were almost the whole way back up the 200’ hill to Chuckanut Drive. I wish I would have stayed 10 minutes longer to get pictures of the train going by in the cove. After the strenuous hike back up the hill my heart was pounding, but I kept the good workout going with another .5 mile run on the Interurban Trail back on to the car. I think there will be some soreness from this workout, but it is my favorite way to workout. Breaking it up with exploring somewhere cool definitely makes it enjoyable.