Two posts from high points above the greater Skagit Delta. This one is from the Samish Overlook above Chuckanut Drive, which provides spectacular views of both the northern Skagit Delta (now adopted by the much smaller Samish River) and the San Juan Islands. Nice contrast of river delta and rocky coastline.
The Skagit River now flows out to the southern portion of this great flat piece of farmland, but the Skagit, Samish, and Padilla Bay areas are all basically part of the same system - and a bulk of the sediment is probably Cascade Mountain dirt delivered by the Skagit River. The foundation of this delta may be Fraser sediment, since as the ice receded, that much larger Canadian River may have dumped into this area, too, though not for long as it shifted north a dozen millenia ago.
The seaward edge of the delta along Samish Bay (seen here) has been heavily diked for a century or more. And it's been longer than that since the Skagit actually flowed into this northern bay - except perhaps in an occasional really big flood?
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