Monday, December 01, 2008

Perego's Lagoon




It was a foggy Sunday afternoon and we could barely see the beach from the trail along the top of the bluff. On a nice day, the views from this spot on the west side of Whidbey Island are spectacular. It was nicer weather last February (Perego's Lagoon), although I didn't get to the north end on that trip. This trip left me wanting to come back and spend more time checking out the lagoon itelf, particularly the washover fans and what appear to be small marshy barriers inside the lagoon.

The ridge that separates the northern portion of the lagoon formed sometime between the late 1970s and the early 1990s (the 1979 storm that took out the Hood Canal Bridge may be the best candidiate), but as recently as last winter was the site of additional washovers. There are several more fans on the back side of the barrier along its central section, though none extend as far across the lagoon as this one.
The beach - typical of the western shore of Whidbey - is a wonderful mix of gravel and sand in patterns that are sometimes rhythmic and sometimes not.