No. 287 Jetty Island, Everett Washington

Jetty Island
Everett, WA
Website : http://www.portofeverett.com/home/index.asp?page=87

The Short Stack 
Jetty Island Ferry runs from July 5th through Labor Day 2014
departure times
M-Th 10am-6pm
F, Sa 10am-9pm
Su 10am-7pm
Pick up boarding passes at the boat launch kiosk. Select return passes on the island. 

Sand, Surf, Wind and Waves just minutes from downtown Everett

Everett's industrial look of concrete and manufacturing disappears in a matter of minutes on the west side of Jetty Island. More than 50,000 residents and tourists visit this 2 mile long man made island which is only a few hundred feet across Port Gardner Bay from Port of Everett. 

The steady afternoon winds which attract kite boarders from around the area today to Jetty Island have been around much longer than the island itself. Dunes, sandy beaches, birds and plants are a recent addition to the seascape around Everett. 

During Everett's heyday and expansion in the 1890s plans were drawn up to add a fresh water harbor at the mouth of the Snohomish River for ships to import and export goods from the surrounding area. This required controlling the Snohomish River and changing the seascape around the waterfront.

Construction on the training dike to divert the Snohomish River began in 1896 but a poor design and increased competition from Seattle for monies from the Army Corps of Engineers hampered the project and many parts of the original construction where never completed. 

Throughout the decades the Army Corps of Engineers continued to dredge Snohomish River to keep up with the amount of sediment being deposited in Port Gardner Bay and redepositing it on the west side of the 1920's bulkhead increasing its land mass above the waterline. After nearly 80 years of dredging the river enough material had been transplanted that a man made island started to take shape. By the 1970s local interest in the island for recreation and wildlife habitat surpassed support for a commercial use.
Today Jetty Island is 2 miles long and is a top tourist destination and wildlife conservation area. Its sandy beaches, mud flat and salt water marshes provide important habitat to over 115 species of birds.

Jetty Island is open year round to those with means to make the float across Port Gardner Bay and that can put up the elements such as tidal shift, winds and inclement weather.
The City of Everett runs a free ferry service to the island during the summer for those with out a paddle or boat.

How to get to Jetty Island
Park at the Marine Park and head to the Ferry Information booth behind the Whale Tail Sculpture. Ferry departs every 30 minutes but you must collect a boarding pass for everyone in your party before getting on the boat. The small ferry boat is limited to 60 passengers per crossing so you might have to wait until you get aboard. Once on Jetty Island you pick up your return time boarding card. Same as with departure, every one in your group must have a boarding pass. 2pm-4pm return crossings are very popular so you might have to spend a few hours on the island before the next available boat. People do tend to run late and miss their scheduled time so there is a "Standby Line" for those that want to leave earlier than planned. Its first come first serve. If you are late to your scheduled departure they will give those seats to people waiting in the Standby line. Crew members will explain this procedure on land, on the boat and again on the island.
Picnic Shelters and Bathrooms are located near the ferry dock on the island. Also the ONLY ones, so plan bathroom breaks accordingly to how far down the beach you are headed.
Jetty Island is tidal so check the current tides before heading out and also plan on bringing warmer clothes for the winds and lower temperature. Kite Boarders love this place for a reason ..THE WIND.

Here's how the ferry service works: When you arrive at the Everett public boat launch, there is a Jetty Island kiosk near the water, where you pick up a placard with a time on it (the next available ferry). About 60 people fit on the ferry, which runs every 30 minutes. When you get across to the island, pick up a placard for the time you want to return. - See more at: http://www.seattleschild.com/article/parent-review-jetty-island-days-in-everett#sthash.8y5NSCzo.dpuf

Here's how the ferry service works: When you arrive at the Everett public boat launch, there is a Jetty Island kiosk near the water, where you pick up a placard with a time on it (the next available ferry). About 60 people fit on the ferry, which runs every 30 minutes. When you get across to the island, pick up a placard for the time you want to return. - See more at: http://www.seattleschild.com/article/parent-review-jetty-island-days-in-everett#sthash.8y5NSCzo.dpuf

Here's how the ferry service works: When you arrive at the Everett public boat launch, there is a Jetty Island kiosk near the water, where you pick up a placard with a time on it (the next available ferry). About 60 people fit on the ferry, which runs every 30 minutes. When you get across to the island, pick up a placard for the time you want to return. - See more at: http://www.seattleschild.com/article/parent-review-jetty-island-days-in-everett#sthash.8y5NSCzo.dpuf

Here's how the ferry service works: When you arrive at the Everett public boat launch, there is a Jetty Island kiosk near the water, where you pick up a placard with a time on it (the next available ferry). About 60 people fit on the ferry, which runs every 30 minutes. When you get across to the island, pick up a placard for the time you want to return. - See more at: http://www.seattleschild.com/article/parent-review-jetty-island-days-in-everett#sthash.8y5NSCzo.dpuf

Support Puget Exposure

 We love to bring you guys the updates to best and greatest photography locations in and around Seattle and the greater Puget Sound area, photography tips and gear related stuff. However, we can’t keep doing that unless we have your continued support. If you would like to purchase any of images featured in an article, please do so by clicking HERE or on the Post Cards and Prints tab above in the header. You can also make secure donation to the travel fund via PayPal. If you frequently shop on Amazon.com, by clicking on the Amazon links listed below you can continue to browse Amazon and any purchase you make will give us a small portion of the sale to continue to run this website. Washington State travel, Washington State travel, Washington Destinations, Photography, Photography spots, best things to do in Seattle, Best things to in Washington State, Washington Tourism Alliance, Washington State Tourism board, recommendations, recommendations for things to see in washington state, things to do in washington state, things to do in seattle, things to do in Tacoma washington, Washington Photographers, Washington nikon shooters, best seattle photography, washington exploration, experience washington, what to do while visiting seattle, seattle top attractions, seattle food, Space Needle, Explore Washington State, Puget Exposure Photography, Puget Exposure, Road Trips through Washington State, Weird Washington, King County, Snohomish County, Seattle, Everett, Tacoma, Kent, Redmond, Kirkland, Washington Sunrises where and when, Washington State Weather, Jetty, Jetty Island, Washington

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No. 286 Edgewater Beach Park, Mukilteo

Edgewater Beach Park
920 1st St
Mukilteo, WA
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Last week the city of Mukilteo, Washington State Ferries and City of Everett opened up a temporary pedestrian path to access Edgewater Beach Park. The 22 acres of shoreline north of Mukilteo Ferry Terminal have been closed to the public for over 40 years. A temporary path is located at the north end of the parking lot for the Mukilteo Train Station. It is about a 1/3 mile walk to the beach area. 

There is a small beach area behind the Silver Cloud Inn that is accessible on the north side of building depending on the tide level. 
Next to the Silver Cloud Inn is the 2 story NOAA Mukilteo Research Lab. For 40 years NOAA scientist have been looking into why certain areas of the ocean are more acidic than others and how fish are affected by water pollution. The waters around Point Elliott / Mukilteo are some of the cleanest waters and being so close to shore makes it an ideal location for a research. The sea floor of Possession Sound drops quickly to 600 feet keeping the waters clean, a constant temperature and average salt content. That makes Point Elliott a good sampling area for collecting uncontaminated samples of marine life for study. Future plans may include expanding the NOAA Lab to be more accommodating to the public by including educational exhibits. 
The land on which the NOAA Lab is located on was owned by the United States Air Force from 1951 to 2013. 
From 1951 to the mid 1980s the U.S. Air Force maintained the Mukilteo Fuel Farm as part of a network of Puget Sound area bulk fuel farms. The fuel farm supplied aviation fuel, crude and lubricants to the aircraft stationed at Paine Air Force Base. Additionally there are 38 storage tanks holding up to 60 million gallon of fuel and 11 miles of pipeline under the Puget Sound to that now supply fuel to area military branches such as the submarine base, Army bases, Naval Air Stations and US. Coast Guard Stations. 
In 2013 the United States Air Force turned over the decommissioned fuel farm and property to the City of Everett. Future plans include upgrading the train station, reposition the Washington State Ferry Terminal to the former fuel dock and turning the waterfront into a multi-use business and recreation destination over the next 15 years. 

Over grown train tracks leading up to the decommissioned Air Force Fuel Dock

The former fuel dock stretches 800 feet into Point Elliott where Tanker Ships delivered aviation fuel for the Air Force

Low Tide at Edgewater Beach 

Driftwood piles up at the tidal plane at Edgewater Beach 

at the north end of Edgewater Beach is Port of Everett's Mount Baker Terminal

Port of Everett Mount Baker Terminal receives barges filled with Boeing fuselage part from over 40 international suppliers including China, Japan. Cargo containers are placed on train cars and then taking up to the Boeing Everett Plant along one the steepest track grades in the US. 

Mukilteo fuel farm, exploring mukilteo history, the air force in mukilteo, paine field air force base, planes, snohomish county tourism, port of everett, city of mukilteo, puget sound waterfront

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No. 210 Longest Beach in the USA is right here in Long Beach, WA

City of Long Beach, Washington
Distance from Seattle: 171 miles
Distance from Portland, Oregon: 112 miles

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 Long Beach Peninsula was established into a resort area in the 1880s by Henry Harrison Tinker who invested monies into land claims, built hotels and infrastructure to attract vacationers from the Portland area to western Washington's coast. People would board a ship in Portland, Oregon and float down the Columbia River to the Port of Ilwaco and would ride on horse drawn wagons up to "Tinkerville" now called Long Beach. In 1889 the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company laid  a narrow gauge railroad that ran up the whole peninsula which was in service until 1930 when automobiles and the push for a national highway system arrived in western Washington.
The 28 mile long peninsula lies between the Pacific Ocean and Willapa Bay is known for its abundant seafood harvest including the largest salmon run in the world, razor clams, halibut, cod and oysters. Half of the oysters harvested in the State of Washington come from the Long Beach Peninsula.
The soft yellow sand and warm summer temperatures attracted thousands of visitors to make the 8 hour ship/train voyage to Long Beach back in the late 1880s. Today people still converge on Long Beach for its resort town feel. Although there are no longer horse drawn wagons making their way up and down the beach you can still bring your own horse or take a guided horse back ride on the beach. Restaurants, museums, gift shops and kite shops keep downtown Long Beach bustling in the summer months.
There are around 1,300 people that live year round in Long Beach but during the summer months population numbers swell as tourists, vacationers and vacation home owners arrive in great numbers.
There are many fishing, food, and kite flying festivals that are held at Long Beach every year.
Although the temperatures can reach the mid 80s in the summer the pacific ocean is still very for swimmers but the wide beaches and boardwalk make beach walking easy and fun.

Orca Statue downtown Long Beach

former "World's Largest Frying Pan" cast for the Razor Clam festival in 1941

Jake the Alligator Man Mural in Fish Alley

Evening Beach Trot

 Please Support Puget Exposure 

 We love to bring you guys the updates to best and greatest photography locations in and around Seattle and the greater Puget Sound area, photography tips and gear related stuff. However, we can’t keep doing that unless we have your continued support. If you would like to purchase any of images featured in an article, please do so by clicking HERE or on the Post Cards and Prints tab above in the header. You can also make secure donation to the travel fund via PayPal. If you frequently shop on Amazon.com, by clicking on the Amazon links listed below you can continue to browse Amazon and any purchase you make will give us a small portion of the sale to continue to run this website. Banner Links for PEP Gear Used:
 

Washington State travel, Washington State travel, Washington Destinations, Photography, Photography spots, best things to do in Seattle, Best things to in Washington State, Washington Tourism Alliance, Washington State Tourism board, recommendations, recommendations for things to see in washington state, things to do in washington state, things to do in seattle, things to do in Tacoma washington, Washington Photographers, Washington nikon shooters, best seattle photography, washington exploration, experience washington, what to do while visiting seattle, seattle top attractions, seattle food, Space Needle, Explore Washington State, Puget Exposure Photography, Puget Exposure, Road Trips through Washington State, Weird Washington, King County, Snohomish County, Seattle, Everett, Tacoma, Kent, Redmond, Kirkland, Washington Sunrises where and when, Washington State Weather, Long Beach Washington, history of long beach, jake the snake fish, meet jake

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No. 208 Jetty Winds on Everett Washington Man Made Island

Jetty Island
Everett, WA
Website : http://www.portofeverett.com/home/index.asp?page=87

The Short Stack 
Jetty Island Ferry runs from July 5th through Labor Day 2014
departure times
M-Th 10am-6pm
F, Sa 10am-9pm
Su 10am-7pm
Pick up boarding passes at the boat launch kiosk. Select return passes on the island. 

Sand, Surf, Wind and Waves just minutes from downtown Everett

Everett's industrial look of concrete and manufacturing disappears in a matter of minutes on the west side of Jetty Island. More than 50,000 residents and tourists visit this 2 mile long man made island which is only a few hundred feet across Port Gardner Bay from Port of Everett. 

The steady afternoon winds which attract kite boarders from around the area today to Jetty Island have been around much longer than the island itself. Dunes, sandy beaches, birds and plants are a recent addition to the seascape around Everett. 

During Everett's heyday and expansion in the 1890s plans were drawn up to add a fresh water harbor at the mouth of the Snohomish River for ships to import and export goods from the surrounding area. This required controlling the Snohomish River and changing the seascape around the waterfront.

Construction on the training dike to divert the Snohomish River began in 1896 but a poor design and increased competition from Seattle for monies from the Army Corps of Engineers hampered the project and many parts of the original construction where never completed. 

Throughout the decades the Army Corps of Engineers continued to dredge Snohomish River to keep up with the amount of sediment being deposited in Port Gardner Bay and redepositing it on the west side of the 1920's bulkhead increasing its land mass above the waterline. After nearly 80 years of dredging the river enough material had been transplanted that a man made island started to take shape. By the 1970s local interest in the island for recreation and wildlife habitat surpassed support for a commercial use.
Today Jetty Island is 2 miles long and is a top tourist destination and wildlife conservation area. Its sandy beaches, mud flat and salt water marshes provide important habitat to over 115 species of birds.

Jetty Island is open year round to those with means to make the float across Port Gardner Bay and that can put up the elements such as tidal shift, winds and inclement weather.
The City of Everett runs a free ferry service to the island during the summer for those with out a paddle or boat.

How to get to Jetty Island
Park at the Marine Park and head to the Ferry Information booth behind the Whale Tail Sculpture. Ferry departs every 30 minutes but you must collect a boarding pass for everyone in your party before getting on the boat. The small ferry boat is limited to 60 passengers per crossing so you might have to wait until you get aboard. Once on Jetty Island you pick up your return time boarding card. Same as with departure, every one in your group must have a boarding pass. 2pm-4pm return crossings are very popular so you might have to spend a few hours on the island before the next available boat. People do tend to run late and miss their scheduled time so there is a "Standby Line" for those that want to leave earlier than planned. Its first come first serve. If you are late to your scheduled departure they will give those seats to people waiting in the Standby line. Crew members will explain this procedure on land, on the boat and again on the island.
Picnic Shelters and Bathrooms are located near the ferry dock on the island. Also the ONLY ones, so plan bathroom breaks accordingly to how far down the beach you are headed.
Jetty Island is tidal so check the current tides before heading out and also plan on bringing warmer clothes for the winds and lower temperature. Kite Boarders love this place for a reason ..THE WIND.

Here's how the ferry service works: When you arrive at the Everett public boat launch, there is a Jetty Island kiosk near the water, where you pick up a placard with a time on it (the next available ferry). About 60 people fit on the ferry, which runs every 30 minutes. When you get across to the island, pick up a placard for the time you want to return. - See more at: http://www.seattleschild.com/article/parent-review-jetty-island-days-in-everett#sthash.8y5NSCzo.dpuf

Here's how the ferry service works: When you arrive at the Everett public boat launch, there is a Jetty Island kiosk near the water, where you pick up a placard with a time on it (the next available ferry). About 60 people fit on the ferry, which runs every 30 minutes. When you get across to the island, pick up a placard for the time you want to return. - See more at: http://www.seattleschild.com/article/parent-review-jetty-island-days-in-everett#sthash.8y5NSCzo.dpuf

Here's how the ferry service works: When you arrive at the Everett public boat launch, there is a Jetty Island kiosk near the water, where you pick up a placard with a time on it (the next available ferry). About 60 people fit on the ferry, which runs every 30 minutes. When you get across to the island, pick up a placard for the time you want to return. - See more at: http://www.seattleschild.com/article/parent-review-jetty-island-days-in-everett#sthash.8y5NSCzo.dpuf

Here's how the ferry service works: When you arrive at the Everett public boat launch, there is a Jetty Island kiosk near the water, where you pick up a placard with a time on it (the next available ferry). About 60 people fit on the ferry, which runs every 30 minutes. When you get across to the island, pick up a placard for the time you want to return. - See more at: http://www.seattleschild.com/article/parent-review-jetty-island-days-in-everett#sthash.8y5NSCzo.dpuf

Please Support Puget Exposure 

 We love to bring you guys the updates to best and greatest photography locations in and around Seattle and the greater Puget Sound area, photography tips and gear related stuff. However, we can’t keep doing that unless we have your continued support. If you would like to purchase any of images featured in an article, please do so by clicking HERE or on the Post Cards and Prints tab above in the header. You can also make secure donation to the travel fund via PayPal. If you frequently shop on Amazon.com, by clicking on the Amazon links listed below you can continue to browse Amazon and any purchase you make will give us a small portion of the sale to continue to run this website. Gear Used:
 

Washington State travel, Washington State travel, Washington Destinations, Photography, Photography spots, best things to do in Seattle, Best things to in Washington State, Washington Tourism Alliance, Washington State Tourism board, recommendations, recommendations for things to see in washington state, things to do in washington state, things to do in seattle, things to do in Tacoma washington, Washington Photographers, Washington nikon shooters, best seattle photography, washington exploration, experience washington, what to do while visiting seattle, seattle top attractions, seattle food, Space Needle, Explore Washington State, Puget Exposure Photography, Puget Exposure, Road Trips through Washington State, Weird Washington, King County, Snohomish County, Seattle, Everett, Tacoma, Kent, Redmond, Kirkland, Washington Sunrises where and when, Washington State Weather, Jetty, Jetty Island, Washington

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No. 180 Low Tide at Howarth Park

Location
1127 Olympic Blvd.
Everett, WA 98203
 
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Size
28 Acres

Amenities
• Picnic/BBQ
• Trails
• Viewpoint
• Playground
• Tennis
• Restrooms
• Fishing
• Saltwater access
• Off-leash area (North beach only; turn right at foot of trestle and go past creek)

Park hours6 a.m.-10 p.m. April 1-Oct. 31
6 a.m.-8 p.m. Nov. 1-March 31

It is beautiful here!!!  If you park in the upper parking lot by the playground, you can walk through a beautiful forest on a trail with built in stairs and bridges while the creek babbles away on the side of the trail. After you reach the area to access the beach, you walk across a sky bridge over some railroad tracks which ends on a tall platform overlooking a very large beach and a beautiful view of the Puget Sound and islands. About 11 sets of winding steps take you down to the sand where you can either go left or right. Either way, there is usually plenty of beach for everyone and it isn't all packed the way most other beaches are. It is fairly peaceful and relaxing. BNSF at commuter trains  go by and it is nice to either walk the beach or just sit and look at the water. As with most puget sound beaches the open area depends on current tide conditions. This beach can go from 10 feet during high tide to a couple a hundred of feet during low tide. Before heading to Howarth Park its important to know the current tide levels. During High Tide there is no access to the offleash area.

The Current Tide Conditions

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Washington State travel, Washington State travel, Washington Destinations, Photography, Photography spost, best things to do in Seattle, Best things to in Washington State, Washington Tourism Alliance, Washington State Tourism board, recommendations, recommendations for things to see in washington state, things to do in washington state, things to do in seattle, things to do in Tacoma washington, Washington Photographers, Washington nikon shooters, best seattle photography, washington exploration, experience washington, what to do while visiting seattle, seattle top attractions, seattle food, Howarth Park in Everett Washington, Everett, Everett Washington, City of Everett Photography, Beaches near Mukilteo Washington, Beaches near Everett Washington, Puget Sound Beaches, sunset locations near Everett Washington, low tide photography ideas, Howarth Park Off Leash area, Howarth Park Everett Washington, Howarth Park Mukilteo, City Mukilteo, Mukilteo Off Leash Dog areas, Posession sound, Naval Air Station Everett

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