Mukilteo & Whidbey Island, WA

Multikeo is north of Seattle on the shore of the Puget Sound.  A ferry runs to Whidbey Island. 

Mukilteo also has a historic light house

 

At the northern end of Whidbey Island, a bridge at Deception Pass goes to the mainland

 

Leavenworth, WA and vicinity

Leavenworth was officially incorporated on September 5, 1906. A small timber community, it became the headquarters of the Great North Railroad in the early 1900s.  The railroad relocated to Wenatchee, WA in the 1920s, greatly affecting Leavenworth's economy.  In the 1960's, a group of citizens had the idea to transform the city into a mock Bavarian Village to revitalize the economy.  The project  was a success and now Leavenworth is a popular location.

 

 

Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery is in a beautiful location near Leavenworth on Icicle Creek

 

 

The most interesting things at the hatchery was the tribal fish piers on Icicle Creek (hatchery fish ladder on left side of the picture).  We saw a tribal member catch a salmon.

 

 

 

On the property of the catholic church in Leavenworth is a beautiful area depicting the stations of the cross

 

West of Leavenworth is a rest stop located near the 1892 rail line of the Great Northern Railroad, Iron Goat Trail.  A historic caboose is on display and several trails to various historic sites.

The remains of the concrete wall (approx. 1/3 mile long) that supported the railroad snow shed

Stevens Pass - 4,056 ft

 



Fishing Day-Winthrop National Fish Hatchery, Winthrop, WA

Winthrop National Fish Hatchery held its annual Fish Day on Saturday, June 14. Kids visited various educational stations before they were allowed to fish in the rainbow trout pond. Each kid (3-12) was allowed to keep the first fish they caught.  Biggest fish caught was about 10 lbs.  Most other fish were in the 3-7 lb range.  About 290 fish were taken from the pond, but many still remain.  It was a fun and successful event with about 720 folks attending.

 

 

Hatchery staff netted and scanned 6 salmon from the fish ladder.  A tribal member smoked the salmon at a cooking demonstration station.  Visitors got to sample the salmon.  It sure was good!!

 

Rocky Reach Dam-near Wenatchee, WA

 

Fish Ladder

 

 Juvenile Fish Bypass Pipe

 Notice the bypass pipe going across dam

  End of bypass pipe into Columbia River

 

 

 

 

 

Blackpine Lake-near Twisp, WA

Blackpine Lake is in a beautiful location in the eastern Cascade Mountains.

Excess Fish - Winthrop NFH

More salmon than are needed for the hatchery spawning program return to the hatchery, so excess fish are given to Native American tribes in the area.  It's quite an amazing process to observe.
Salmon come down the "channel like tube" into a tank filled with carbon dioxide.  This makes them sleepy and easier to work with.  Each fish is scanned for a "coded wire" which is a magnetized stainless steel wire about 0.25 mm in diameter with numbers that indicate the hatchery and year spawned.  The wires are cut by an injector that hypodermically implants them into suitable tissue on the fish, usually the snout.  If the scanning indicates that the fish is "ok", it's snout is placed in the blue looking machine on the table which "zaps" it.  Then another group of "fish guys" take measurements and cut off the head of every 4th fish for sampling.  The fish are placed in large containers with salted ice.  The tribal members leave the hatchery with hundreds of salmon.

Overview of facility

Fish in the carbon dioxide tank.

 

Scanning the fish

 

(Didn't show pictures of all the bloody stuff!)

Lids will be placed on containers and fish are ready to be transported.