Blogger's day on Yellow

I have three friends that are active bloggers: Shann, Alex and Monika. Each has her own unique style and I thoroughly enjoy all three. To inspire myself to start a blog I invited the three of them with their respective partners to join me for an afternoon on Yellow Island with the requirement that each of them blog about it. So this being my first blog entry, it is about them prepping for their umpteenth entries.


When we left Friday Harbor the day was cloudy but calm. Today was one of the lowest tides of the year, -2.5 feet, so the easiest, safest landing point was the north side of the East Spit. Once ashore, Shann headed to the cabin to drop off gear while Monika and Keith headed over Hummingbird Hill. I walked the first part of the trail with Alex and Dan before leaving them to their own devices.  Back in the cabin I had a nice chat with Shann before setting her free to enjoy the island.


It was a day off for me but I couldn't help checking emails. Once caught up on those I headed out to see how the group was doing. Shann was settled into the middle of the trail on the west side observing the seals on Seal Rocks. I had just counted 30+ on the north end of the rocks. I continued up the Breezy Point Hill where I ran into Monika and Keith. I answered a couple plant questions before suggesting we go back to the East Spit where I could show them the naked broomrape and check the boat.

Naked broomrape (purple flower) parasitizing broadleaf stonecrop (yellow flower, red leaves)

Since leaving the boat, not only had the wind increased but it also rotated 180 degrees from being an easterly to a westerly. The boat was fine so we headed slightly off trail to a relatively large patch of naked broomrape, Orobanche uniflora. On the way back up the trail I showed Monika the difference between our two Lathyruses, Lathyrus nevadensis (Sierra Nevada pea) and Lathyrus japonicus (beach pea). 


Monika and Keith continued back over Hummingbird Hill and I headed back down to the broomrape with Alex, Dan, and Shann. The boat still looked fine as it was mostly sheltered from the WSW winds. 


We all headed back to the cabin where we had a late lunch while we enjoyed good conversation getting to know each other. We were a group of friends that knew each other at different levels and through different experiences but had a common love of the natural world. Now we are all a little closer.


It was a slightly bumpy ride back to Friday Harbor but all were experienced boat people and all went well.

Weatherside cabin from Hummingbird Hill the day before the bloggers arrived.