Dungeness River Audubon Center and Railroad Bridge Park, Sequim, Washington
2013.09.06
Driving from Portland to the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula takes about four hours; I-5 to Olympia, then US-101 along the Hood Canal. We drove through heavy rains most of the way up as the storm system was still moving through.
Our first destination was the Dungeness River Audubon Center in Sequim, Washington. Sequim is usually pronounced skwim, though the original Klallam language is more complex: sxwčkwíyəŋ. Outside the center are some bird feeders and native plants. Inside, the main attraction is a large collection of mounted specimens of native and some non-native birds and animals.
On the other side of the parking lot is an old railroad bridge and trestle which is now a walking path. The bridge was completed in 1915 by the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway, and carried rail traffic until 1985. It is a modified Howe truss in timber and steel, one of the last of that design built in Washington. The truss spans 150 feet across the Dungeness River, and the trestle continues about 580 feet over the flood plain.
The Dungeness River is one of the steepest in North America. From headwaters on Mount Deception it drops about 3,300 feet in the first four miles before leveling out as it continues to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, about 30 miles away. The river flows vary widely through the seasons and years, with a record low of 65 cubic feet per second and record high of 7,120. The river supports nine salmonid species: Pink, Chum, Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye Salmon; Steelhead, Cutthroat, Dolly Varden, and Bull Trout. The Dungeness River Management Team recently reported the largest pink salmon run since 1963, though still only about a quarter of that record.
Red Alder (Alnus rubra) trees are a pioneer species and do well in moist areas. This fuzzy caterpillar is probably a Spotted Tussock Moth (Lophocampa maculata).
Olympic Peninsula