Hi Folks -

We got cabin fever this a.m., and figured that we'd try to get out before
the rains began for the week. So, we followed a tip from the Daily
Olympian's Tuesday edition (
http://news.theolympian.com/stories/20020319/SouthSound/128449.shtml ), and
drove over to Mud Bay to check out the new "The William Cannon Footpath".
This trail begins at the state DOT's park-and-ride lot at Mud Bay and
meanders for 4,000 feet with the roar of U.S. Highway 101 traffic to the
west.

>From the Daily 0:

"The project is a collaborative effort of private property owners, Duke
Energy Co., the state Department of Transportation, community groups and
former Secretary of State Ralph Munro. In a distance of less than a mile,
the public can:

" - Stand where an overland party of the Hudson's Bay Trading Co. became the
first non-native Americans to see Puget Sound. The trail is named for one of
the party's members, William Cannon.

" - Look across the bay at a 500-year-old Indian village that was discovered
on Munro's property.

" - Observe a variety of wildlife, including a great blue heron rookery,
river otters, salmon and one of the largest congregations of shorebirds in
Puget Sound during the spring migration.

"This is going to be a great viewing site for wildlife," Munro said during a
tour of the trail Monday. The project is part of an ongoing effort to
preserve undeveloped property in the Mud Bay area, Munro said. It combines
habitat restoration with public access, said Betsy Peabody, the executive
director of the Puget Sound Restoration Fund.

"Two dump truck loads of garbage were removed from the mudflats and
surrounding area to make way for the trail, said wetland restoration
consultant Dave Pearsall, who provided much of the equipment used to build
the trail. Duke Energy, which is building a gas-fired power plant at
Satsop, donated $30,000 to the project and planted 1,000 trees to buffer the
trail from businesses.

"Trail dedication: A ceremony to open the William Cannon Footpath on lower
Eld Inlet is set for 1:15 p.m. April 3 at the state Department of
Transportation's Mud Bay park-and-ride lot. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is
scheduled to attend. "
The Olympian Copyright 2002

>From the trail, you can see the archaeological site on the east side of Mud
Bay that Ralph Munro is allowing to be excavated, and all along the public
trail, there is the evidence of shell middens, historical debris from
historical logging and oystering, as well as the more recent debris that we
will call 'trash' until it becomes old enough to become 'artifacts'.....

It took us about a half-hour's meandering to take the trail. We opted to
walk out-and-back, rather than making a 'loop' along Madrona Beach road from
"the Place" (cafe') back to the Park & Ride. In that half-hour, we saw:

Horned Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Glaucous-winged Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Greater Yellowlegs (about a dozen)
Canada Goose (B.c. moffitti)
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback - 1
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Crow
Starling - 1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Brown Creeper
American Robin
Varied Thrush
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
House Finch

The web-site has a map to get you there, but just for your info: From I-5,
take the Hwy 101 exit to the west and go about 4 miles to the Mud Bay exit
(those folks coming from the west probably already know where the exits on
Hwy 101 are....). At the stop sign, turn right, then immediately left onto
Madrona Beach Rd. Go about 1/4 mile to the Park and Ride, and the trail
begins at the interpretive signs at the SE corner of the lot.

Not a bad little walk to interrupt the daily grind.

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net