[fourteen410]

Headed up to the Deception Pass area to get some knee-friendly miles in. Started at the northern trailhead at Donnell Road, which required a half mile road walk. Before long, we headed into the woods. After a short bit of uphill, we came upon the old copper mine. The inside was more flooded than I expected, likely due to the recent rains.

Just down the hill from the mine was the old miner's cabin, which has seen better days.

The trail continued through fern filled forest to a decent viewpoint of nearby Rodger Bluff. Madrone trees were in abundance here, as were their berries.

Soon we came to the old red rock quarry. Apparently this quarry provided the rocks for a park in Anacortes 100 years ago.

Shortly after the rock quarry, the John Tursi trail connected to the Ginnett Trail, which passed by the site of the old Ginnett Homestead. All that is left is a cement foundation and a pile of wood rubble.

The trail then descended into a green valley with lots of boulders and moss.

The trail became less pleasant as it turned south toward Pass Lake. Lots of mud and lots of highway noise. After leaving the lake and heading north on an old road, the noise faded away as the trail entered a forest with large cedars.

We took the Big Cedar trail back down to the Ginnett Trail to close the loop. Then we retraced our steps on the Tursi trail, where I saw a Varied Thrush for the first time. I've heard them countless times in the past, so it was nice to put a face to a name.

Back at the trailhead, a family of quails was hanging out.

A short half mile roadwalk brought us back to the car just before the rain, wind, and darkness settled in. Approx. 6.75 mi / 1500 gain RT and lots of solitude.

[kitya]

Beautiful dougie! I love how they get rounder in winter! I love varied thrush song in the forest and in my backyard too. In winter, they come to backyards, if you have a safe backyard and put seeds on the ground, you will see them every day. They prefer ground feeding to hanging feeders. In summer, they spend time in the mountains. It is super important to keep them safe, because varied thrush is while a common bird, is one of several common birds in very steep decline. It is estimated between 1966 and 2015 populations of varied thrushes declined by 73%.

[puzzlr]

Nice. I've never heard of this trail so thanks for the report. You have many great photos, but I especially like this one

[Schroder]

Interesting report. I thought I had been on all the trails around there but missed this one. I've gone north from Pass Lake to the top of the hill at that foundation but didn't know it kept going.

[Fedor]

Seeing this makes me want to view trip reports more often. Beautiful photography, thanks for sharing.