Dungeness – Page 41 – Sequim Daily Photo

Dungeness School

The Dungeness School was opened on February 27, 1893 with 73 pupils aged from five to 20 years old. The school’s teacher lived in quarters that were provided on the second floor. The original building was rectangular; the wing you see to the left, with the door, was added in 1921 with modern heating, plumbing and wide stairs to the second floor.

By 1923 two teachers taught eight classes. After 1940, seventh and eighth graders were sent to Sequim High School. School districts were consolidated and the Dungeness School was closed in 1955. The land and building was purchased from the Sequim School District by the Dungeness Community Club in 1967 and refurbished and maintained through extensive volunteer work.

The facility was donated in 1995 to the local Museum and Art Center which now maintains and rents it to the community.

The Dungeness School was designated a Washington State Historical Site in 1973 and listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1988.

At Cline Spit

Two men fit in a last minute boat ride before sunset on a bitterly cold autumn day.

The lighthouse

Here’s a view of the New Dungeness Lighthouse.

This post is for my lighthouse buddy, Sylvia. Here’s to taking long walks on the beach again soon!

Theme Day: The Water’s Edge

It’s the first of the month and the City Daily Photo is back in business, which means today is a theme day. This month’s theme is “The Water’s Edge.” Here’s a shot of one of those golden autumn sunsets looking from the Dungeness bluff onto the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Click here to see other participants from around the world.

Clouds and light

It’s always nice to see seemingly unending clouds shot through with light. This is a view across the Strait of Juan de Fuca toward Port Angeles.

The harrier on the post

I’ve mentioned my frustration with the harriers that land on a post alongside the trail at Dungeness Recreation Area. How they’re always there when I’ve left the camera home. And at times I’ve gotten ridiculously close, without, of course, a camera. That white line in the picture above is one of the favored posts. And that tiny dot on top? That’s a harrier. If I didn’t know better I’d say he was teasing me.

I approached, up the grade, toward the perch. Quietly. Not too intent. I swear critters can feel the energy of an excited photographer.

Here’s the cropped last shot before he glided off. “Okay,” he seemed to say. “You can show that I perch here but I’ll be darned if I’m going to give you a shot with high definition feathers, you crazy paparazzi. Get a life!”

There goes the neighborhood

We love to walk to and along the bluffs overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. On clear days the view extends west to Port Angeles and beyond and north to Vancouver Island and the San Juans. Lately, though, we’ve been looking down. As in, down the bluff just past the edge of the trail.

We began looking down because we heard the rush and tumble of sand and cobble in motion and one afternoon watched a steady flow, creating an alluvial fan as it landed on the beach. It’s hard to get a good perspective looking downward but what you’re seeing is active erosion on what’s typically a fairly vertical cliff. The two grassy chunks in the middle of this flow previously lived close to the top of the bluff.

There are already spots along the bluff trail where the fencing has been moved and the trail rerouted inward as nature has eaten into the sandy cliffs. We’re guessing it may not be long before we see changes in this part of the trail. We took a ranger-led walk a year or two ago where it was estimated that the bluffs around here may recede up to 18 inches a year.