One month after DNR 'reduced services this beautiful island grassy viewpoint became a firepit?!
April camping on Strawberry (note frost on grass & snow on top of Orcas island)
no more welcome sign
a month or two after DNR 'reduced services' on Strawberry island this sign appeared
2009- Without notice, one week it was 'ours' (free to the public) the next week....
snowy island top views of Orcas from Strawberry - early spring '09
frosty spring flowers on Strawberry island - 2009
Strawberry island - spring 2009
Strwabery island (these stairs have since been removed by DNR making access to this beach treacherous
no more stairs- DNR removed them...why?!
early season kayak-camping on Strawberry island
kayak-camping on Strawberry island - now not allowed :(
spring blossoms contrasted by the chilly frost - Strawberry island - spring 2009
survey marker - Strawberry island
Strawberry Bay on Cypress island
Strawberry island
former campsite on Strawberry island (DNR has since removed everything seen in this photo via helicopter)
boats of spring campers on Strawberry island (ours on left & Seattle family on right)
tea lights & campfire illuminate our Strawberry island campsite - 4/09
spring kayak-camping on Strawberry island
My dad demonstrating the perfect forwared stroke...on a 20 mile training paddle around Cypress island, w/ a quick stop at Strawberry- Easter 2009
Little did we know this would be our last night camping on Strawberry island- less than a week later, with no notice, DNR removed all of the amenities
spring blossoms on Strawberry island
fire ring on Strawberry island - one month after DNR 'reduced services'
sunset views from Strawberry
full moon rising- as seen from Strawberry camp
full moon rising over camp on Strawberry - with no notice, this picnic table was airlifted off of the island less than a week later :(
full moon reflecting on the water & the 'Chiquita Nootka'
Due to budget cuts, two weeks ago DNR air lifted the fire pits, picnic tables & outhouses off of here and 'closed' Strawberry island campsites....:(
sawd-off posts= Welcome sign no more - DNR suddenly w/out warning 'reduced services' on Strawberry island & removed all signs, outhouses, fire pits, picnic tables & staircases (?!)
where the DNR Strawberry island sign used to be
free public campsite no more= fire ring & table GONE
DNR filled in the former campsites with sand in their closure efforts
Here used to be an outhouse in the woods, now it's a pile of sand that SMELLS BAAAAD :(
DNR removed the outhouses on Strawberry island & filled the holes with sand....not quite “Leave No Trace”, it SMELLLLLLS TERRIBLE
this sinking pile of sand SMELLLLLLS SOOOOO BAD across half the island :(
former outhouse- current biohazard site
bushes shredded apart where DNR dragged outhouses & air lifted them off ( a bit extreme, no ?!?!?)
DNR removed all of the other signs on Strawberry island, should we tell them they forgot this one?
views over Rosario Channel from Strawberry island
former campsite on Strawberry island
harbor porpoise feeding in the currents along with the heavy holiday boat traffic
DNR left this nice piece of plastic as a reminder of the previously public Strawberry island campsite
at least they left these stairs!
arriving on Strawberry island you will find no more welcoming, informative signs from DNR
4th of July paddle around Cypress island- we stopped on Strawberry to check out the conditions since DNR 'reduced services'
one month after DNR 'reduced service' on Strawberry- used toilet paper begins appearing in bushes
Can you spot the used toilet paper along the rocks?- view from former campsite
evidence of fire in grass where former campsite was on Strawberry island- July 2009
Strawberry island - July 2009 - signs of recent, reckless campers, lighting fires in grass- since DNR removed firepits one month earlier
used toilet paper next to sawed off posts where DNR removed signs one month prior - Strawberry island
nice, eh? - NOT. bring back an outhouse, please!
the island formerly known as Strawberry...should now be more appropriated renamed Becoming Trashed.
3 months after 'reduced services' on Strawberry island...the tree limbs on the right of this sandpile have been put here since our last visit one month ago...underneath are piles of used toilet paper
these tree limbs are hiding some campers recent littering of piles of used toilet paper- next to the sandpile where the outhouse used to be
piles of used toilet paper hidden under branch pile next to former outhouse sandpile on Strawberry island- 9/09
used toilet paper littering the woods on Strawberry island - 9/09
Throughout the woods, along the trails & beside sandpiles where former outhouses were, we found countless piles of used toilet paper over the past 3 months since DNR 'reduced services' on Strawberry island
Where's Waldo?- no, where's the used t.p. = Everywhere :(
used toilet paper in woods on Strawberry island 9/09
Grosser than gross?= This rock was used to cover a pile of human feces
even more piles of used toilet paper in woods - only 3 months after DNR removed outhouses
Strawberry island - 9/09
Strawberry island- 9/09
Who would do this?!?!?! Beyond Unbelieveable. This pile of used tp emerged in the month since our last visit- 9/09
men's underwear- discarded next to former campsite on Strawberry - 9/09
men's underwear tossed in bushes- Strawberry island- 9/09
presumably human feces in grass- Strawberry island- 9/09
kayak-camping at Pelican Beach - 5/09
sunset from Pelican Beach
Saturday morning sunrise at Pelican Beach - (wake up!we've got a 30 mile paddle to get to Stewart & gorgeous weather, let's go!)
waking to stronger than predicted winds - Pelican Beach - 9/09
Pelican Beach -storm paddling trip- Labor Day Wknd '09
morning fog rolling over the Cone islands
DNR compound - Cypress island- fall 2008
plastic bags of composted human waste piled up at the Cypress island DNR compound - fall 2008
bags & bags of composted human waste- overgrown at the DNR compound on Cypress island - fall 2008
(not even 20 feet from the DNR compound this pit toilet was boarded up, yet a pile of toilet seats & bags of waste from the other island toilets sit, waiting for a state employee....!)
Secret Harbor cabins, formerly used by school for troubled teens - why can't the kayak tour business base-camping at Pelican Beach rent these cabins from DNR??
Secret Harbor demolition - Cypress island- spring 2009
Secret Harbor demolition - Cypress island - spring 2008
Secret Harbor dock - Cypress island
abandoned vehicle - Cypress island- (near Cypress Head)
Cypress island (near Cypress Head)
lots of logging & fishing garbage lining the shoreline - Cypress island
abandoned vehicle - Cypress island
lots of plastic & styrofoam garbage along Cypress island shoreline
Eagle Harbor, Cypress island - full of boaters this holiday weekend
Bradberry Lake
Reed lake
....we saw so many varieties of mushrooms on the trails, and like this one, some little critter had taken nibbles out of it!
Cypress island - polluted shorelines
views from Cypress island trails...
Bradberry Lake - Cypress island
Cypress island airstrip
Cypress Head- northerly view
Anacortes-based commercial kayak tour tents usually occupy most sites here at the DNR Pelican Beach campground during summer high season months (yet DNR has received ZERO $$ from this outfitter & is being forced to close this popular campground ??)
Cypress island outhouse- gloves, dustpan & broom in one of the toilets at Pelican Beach labeled "Cyress Is.Stewards"- 9/09
the 'Stewards' arrived at Pelican Beach too late- a racoon problem has recently started at this DNR beach campground- a sign of careless campers
Our tax dollars hard at work? Expensive composting outhouse-missing an important part! - Pelican Beach, Cypress island - Sept 2009
Sign Posted AFTER closure, yet no notice PRIOR.
