Wildflower Wonderland

This is the big one - a trip I took to Ebey's Landing the day before yesterday. It's nice, but it's not for the faint of heart. You should only visit the Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, and the adjacent Robert Y. Pratt Preserve (owned by the Nature Conservancy), if:

1. You like wildflowers
2. You like sunshine
3. You don't mind strolling through the quiet countryside

If any of the above sound disagreeable to you, you should avoid walking in this area. Here is a picture from a vantage point toward the north of the reserve:

It's not terribly remote - it's on Whidbey Island, just off Highway 20 - but it's surprisingly quiet, and there were a lot of moments when the only sounds I could hear were the chirping of the birds, the breezes in my ears, the buzzing of bees, and the crashing of waves when I was close to the beach.

A nice trail runs along the top of the bluff, into the Pratt Preserve. There are a lot of nice flowers along the trail and some great views.

The real highlight of the park was the diverse wildflowers. I was disappointed that I didn't find any golden paintbrush - an endangered flower species that supposedly calls this area one of its few remaining habitats. Nevertheless, there are a lot of other cool-looking flowers, some rare, some not. I'll see if I can cut the gab here and just post some of the pictures:

You can always see more on my Picasa, of course.