On the Great Washington State Birding Trail: Lake Easton & Cooper Lake
July 14, 2010 
Cooper LakeHere's the next entry in an on-going series of reports back from the Great Washington State Bird Trail. This trip: east on I-90 to Lake Easton and Cooper Lake, stops 2 and 3 on the Sun and Sage Trail. Once again, this is less stops than I had intended, and some questionable planning resulted in me having my first case of Angry Birding. Nevertheless, I came away with some recommendations for best ways to plan a trip to these two spots and some general life lessons.
Previously in this series:
- Nisqually Wildlife Refuge
- On the Great Washington State Birding Trail: Everett Destinations (Part 1)
- On the Great Washington State Birding Trail: Everett Destinations (Part 2)
For larger views of these photos and more pictures, see the gallery.
This past weekend I took a native herbs class out at the Cedar River Watershed. (I'll be posting about that on Fresh-Picked next week.) Since I was going to be already heading east on I-90, I decided to attempt to hit a few spots on the Sun and Sage Loop of the Great Washington State Birding Trail.
It was a ridiculously gorgeous day and I was feeling pretty excited about this trip. I was prepared! There would be no Powerbar or Smoogle Smaps debacles on this trip. No, I made myself a full info packet, I loaded the coordinates into my GPS machine, I bought some vegetarian BLT's and an apple from PCC. I was ready for some nausea-free birding at the correct and intended destinations.
After the herb class, I headed out to my first destination: the first stop on the Sun and Sage Trail, Gold Creek Pond, a 1-mile loop noted as being great for kids.
I found the area with no problem, but as I turned off the Forest Service road down to the pond, I noticed a sign that gave me a twinge of worry: something about a Forest Pass. I drove on, hopeful that this pass might be something I could purchase at the Pond.
I arrive to find myself out of luck. Pass required, but none available there and I couldn't really figure out on the fly what my options were locally.
This was frustrating on a couple levels: the first, obviously, was that I was looking forward to birding at this spot and now I couldn't.
The second, there is something mildly humiliating about not being able to recreate properly. I mean, I made an info packet. How had I missed this? It was even something recently mentioned at an REI backpacking class I took but I guess it just didn't occur to me that that much preplanning was required for a non-overnight stay.
Well, I guess each of these expeditions is going to come with its own disappointments and attendant lessons, and this was the first from this trip.
LESSON#1: If you are planning a trip to a natural area in WA or OR, and you, too, are a remedial recreator, check out this tool to help you determine what kind of pass you need.
I had two other stops to try though, so I continued east, to Lake Easton State Park, "1000 acres of fir, pine and vine maple forest" and stop #2 on the Sun and Sage Trail.
Lake Easton
And here is where I went from simply being mildly out of sorts to what one might call Angry Birding. Upon arriving, the park was not the bucolic setting I'd hoped for. There was loud noise from the freeway and it was crowded (I mean, for a 1000 acre park), and full of folks there to enjoy the lake on a hot day.
Now this is fine, but it somehow made me even more out of sorts. I was feeling hot myself, and having one of those days where every poor caloric choice you've ever made in your life comes back to kick you in the shins emotionally.
And it seemed that it was the people who were half-naked and jumping happily into the cool water with their friends were the folks who'd made the right decisions with their lives, not me with my fully-clothed, solitary nature-communing.
Photo taken from a place of mild regret
But it is times like those that having a blog is helpful. Where one might turn back and say "Screw this, I'm hot and uncomfortable and grumpy and this trip is really making me question the choices I've made in my life in a way that is only making me grumpier" when there is a blog post at stake, you push on, in hopes of getting some material, something to write about.
So I dragged my overdressed and deadweight carcass away from the lake-goers and into the forest.
Here, though, I found something new to be grumpy about. Where the hell were the birds? It was once again, a bad time of day for birding, but I also realized that this particular kind of forest has its own complication.
There was a movie in the '90's called Crazy People. It starred Dudley Moore, about an ad exec who's put in a mental institution for wanting to try some truth in advertising. He teams up with the mental patients and develops several ad campaigns, including one for Sony that chalks up their products' quality to an unexpected rationale: "Because Causcasians are just too damn tall."
Too tall.Well, evergreen forests are just too damn tall. I could hear some birds, but I couldn't see a thing. And after a while, when you are hot, grumpy, out of sorts and having a relatively minor existential crisis loop running in the back of your head, this elusiveness makes you stop thinking of birds as friendly, magical emissaries from another, more pure world of nature. No, they just start to seem like cold soulless beasts who are taunting your heavy, leaden earthbound coil and failing eyesight.
Of course, I wasn't thinking this consciously – it's ridiculous – but it's just the kind of full-on grump I was in by the time something happened to lighten my mood.
I'd been hearing a trill the entire time I was walking along. I thought it was a Spotted Towhee. I have a specific, Towhee-shaped amnesia. Although their calls are quite distinctive, I somehow always forget them. Then I hear them, and think (or ask) "What on earth is that?" And then it's confirmed for me it's a Spotted Towhee and I think, "But I knew that! Why can't I ever remember it?"
So I had heard a trill all along, and told myself, "Leslie, it's a Towhee. You do this every time, and every time it's a Towhee."
Finally, as I was on my way back, I heard the trill so loud and so clear – and at long last – SO LOW. A bird was within spotting range. Now you can't see it in the below video, but here's the sound.
And here's my Zapruder film-style photograph of the bird.
Dark-eyed Junco
Not a Towhee! A Dark-eyed Junco. Juncos are birds I have heard mentioned often, and somewhat dismissively from other, more experienced birders. Like, "Oh, they're so common, just tune them out." But I had never seen one in person, so this was special for me. And in that moment, my grumpiness fell away and the trip seemed worth it, at least for that. Thank you, cooperative Dark-eyed Junco!
Also I came across this, a Tiger lily, which I realized I'd never seen before. So in one hike, two references to favorite comedies of my youth.
Tiger lily - Lilium columbianum
While I managed to wrestle back success from the potentially disappointing birding outing, I will still make this recommendation. If you plan to go to Lake Easton on a warm summer day, don't go just to bird. Even if you go with friends, even if you have tons and loads of birding success, you will feel that sort of melancholy that comes from not using something for its intended purpose. On a hot day, Lake Easton is a place that wants to be used for floating and hanging out with your friends. Take them, play in the water, and make the birding a nice break in your day.
Also LESSON #2: be very careful and stick close to the speed limit. I was stopped on my way out (and I generally drive like a granny, speed-wise). Fortunately for me, my insurance rates and my grumpiness level, I was let off with a warning. Thank you, Attractive Ranger, for letting the second lesson of my trip be instructive without being a total buzzkill.
Then I drove on to the next destination: Cooper Lake, stop #3 on the Sun and Sage Trail. (Photo of the lake at the top of this post.)
While my visit here was short as it was getting late in the day, I really enjoyed this spot. It was beautiful and just had a nice energy. There were many people there camping, but it didn’t seem overrun or too busy. The trail by the lake was easy to follow (although it ran into running water at some points, so keep that in mind for the footwear you choose).
I still didn't see a ton of birds (tall trees! fist shaking!), but again, I was only there for about an hour. During that time, I saw and/or heard Goldfinches, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Cedar Waxwings, and one that I'd never seen up close – a Western Tanager.
Zapruder Western Tanager
So that was exciting. Here's some video (well, mainly audio) of two Yellow-Rumped Warblers peeping at each other.
There were also a lot of wildflowers to enjoy.
Bunchberry or Ground Dogwood Cornus canadensis
I would have taken more photographs, but by that point, I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
LESSON #3: Bug spray.
My recommendation for Cooper Lake – make a weekend of it and stay to camp. It's a nice campsite by a stunning lake. Bring your camera for some wildflower photographs, and some vino for relaxing by the campfire, and enjoy yourself.
1 out of 1 portly, possibly pregnant chipmunks agree: Cooper Lake was made for chilling.
So while this trip was not quite the carefree romp in nature I'd hoped for, I still was glad to explore these new-to-me spots in Washington and hope to plan some longer trips back in the future.
Reader Comments (1)
"Photo taken from a place of mild regret"
best tag line for a photo ever!