{"id":1028,"date":"2017-06-17T22:47:52","date_gmt":"2017-06-18T05:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mwenda.com\/creatures\/?p=1028"},"modified":"2026-01-05T19:38:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T19:38:59","slug":"fort-ward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mwenda.com\/seacreatures\/?p=1028","title":{"rendered":"Fort Ward"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On two of my earlier trips I had neglected\u00a0the area between Rich Passage and Restoration Point. \u00a0This left a tiny sliver unexplored at the south end of Bainbridge Island — and a chance to visit the park at the site of historic Fort Ward.<\/p>\n

For half a century, starting in 1903, the fort stood guard at the narrow pass leading to the Bremerton shipyards and other important installations. After spending another fifty years as a state park, it\u00a0is now part of the Bainbridge Island park system, and a stop on the Cascadia Marine Trail<\/a>. \u00a0There are\u00a04300 feet of shoreline, a path that can be part of a loop for hikers and joggers, a boat ramp, and campsites.<\/p>\n

I finally got there early in June, and set out on a short trip that was notable for its wildlife encounters. \u00a0First, a seal surfaced quite near me, possibly distracted by the teeming, unattainable aquaculture in giant pens nearby.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then I paddled around a rocky little point with a ruined structure where perched a good-sized Bald Eagle. \u00a0A photo from the other, sunlit side shows it to be a juvenile, despite its bulk. \u00a0That’s Blake Island, by the way, between us and Mt. Rainier.<\/p>\n

I saw an adult perched on another structure on my way out, and on the trip back there were two, probably the parents. \u00a0They posed patiently as I paddled by, but moments later I heard a lot of loud, high-pitched chirping behind me, and then watched them being chased away\u00a0by a crow. \u00a0Our northwest crows are not particularly\u00a0large, but they do possess considerable self-confidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On two of my earlier trips I had neglected\u00a0the area between Rich Passage and Restoration Point. \u00a0This left a tiny sliver unexplored at the south end of Bainbridge Island — and a chance to visit the park at the site … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mwenda.com\/seacreatures\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mwenda.com\/seacreatures\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mwenda.com\/seacreatures\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mwenda.com\/seacreatures\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mwenda.com\/seacreatures\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1028"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/mwenda.com\/seacreatures\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1549,"href":"http:\/\/mwenda.com\/seacreatures\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions\/1549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mwenda.com\/seacreatures\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mwenda.com\/seacreatures\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mwenda.com\/seacreatures\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}