Biking Skagit County

Thursday's weather at home wasn't great, overcast and predicted rain. My husband had the great idea that if I biked at Skagit County perhaps the weather would be better, he could take the dog and drive up and meet me here and there. Perfect.

I started riding in Mt. Vernon at the corner of Cleveland ave. and W Hazel st., I followed the road that parallels the Skagit river dike to the Fir Island road. I was hoping to see some Snow Geese on this section of the road as we had seen our first ones of the year last Wednesday along this route.

First Snow Geese sighting of the year, photo from Oct. 11.

I saw some Geese fly over and some excited dogs barked at me from their yards. If I'd had a bag with me I could've filled it with red Potatoes. They've been harvesting in the area and some must have bumped out of the trucks as they were driving along. There were quit a few along the shoulder of the road. That was about all of the excitement on that section of the road. There was a good wind against me for most of the days ride, so I got a good workout in.

When I got to the Fir Island road I turned right and crossed the bridge that crosses the Skagit river. I was now on Fir Island, the land of Snow Geese and Swans in the winter and Humongous ice cream cones at the Snow Goose produce in the Summer.

I turned right at Skagit City road and rode along the dike for this next section too.

Just at the intersection of my turn there is a beautiful Dahlia garden.

This side of the river is a favorite of mine. After turning right onto the Moore road, we enjoyed stopping at the The Bike Stop Farm. We like to go there this time of year to get some items to decorate the shelves by our front door. We also try to get some squashes for cooking. My "we" this time refers to my husband, he did the shopping while I continued on down the road. He did a great job picking out some good ones from their great variety on display. I think the orange ones look like Swans. 

Several large flocks of Snow Geese flew overhead as I rode along this section, but not one was on the ground. I continued on past the Best rd . junction and joined the Fir Island road for just a short ways before turning right onto the Rawlins road. A left turn of the Maupin rd. till it rejoined the Fir Island road again. I did see a flock of Snow Geese in a field on this section and a flock of decoys before making my right turn onto the Wylie rd. If you were to continue on the Wylie rd. it would lead you to the Skagit Wildlife area, a great birding stop. I however, turned left at the Mann rd. I love this road because it used to have a tree with Jell-O molds attached to it. It no longer has these, I'm so glad I took photos from that day. I made a collage of the wonderful sight from that day. Who decides that it's a good idea to do this?! I don't know what they were thinking but years ago, it brightened my day.

Click to enlarge to see them better in detail.

At the end of the Mann rd. I stopped to gaze across the fields. The sky was overcast like this most of the day with just sliver of sky showing. 

Then I crossed the Fir Island road again for my finish. My husband was waiting at the parking lot across from the spectacular Dahlia garden.

It was a cool, windy ride but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I did a point to point description of my route so that it could be reproduced by someone else that just might want to try it. My Garmin tracked it at just under 21 1/2 miles. 

Let me know if you try it, I'd love to hear what you enjoyed along the route.