| Wednesday - Seattle to San
Juan Island, San Juan Brewing Company, Orcas, Lori & Ryan, camp at San Juan County
Park |
| S: You better talk about the
orcas and the camping. Y'know hold forth on campfire theory... <g> T: San Juan was a really rewarding stop on our trip. We drove north from Seattle, about an
hour and a half, to Anacortes. From Anacortes we drove onto the ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan island. We
did the right thing by going straight to San Juan County Park and reserving a camping site
for the night - as we were driving out, we met other traffic heading in and the number of
available spots was dwindling rapidly. After getting our site, we went back into town and
checked out the rather touristy shops. Lunch was at the San Juan Brewing Company. The food
was pretty good, and the beers mostly ok. Their brews tended to be on the sweet side;
Diablo Ale, infused with jalepenos and other peppers, was surprisingly good, but probably
only in small doses. The Starboard Porter was probably our all-around favorite, and we
bought a pint bottle to add to our camping rations.
As we were driving back to the campsite, we spotted an orca offshore and
pulled over to watch. We were next to Lime Kiln park, where they're known to pass
frequently, so we went on and watched from there for a while before continuing on to San
Juan park. |
The tiny black spot in the water, to the right a bit, is
an orca…I gave up on trying to photograph them.
|
| At the park we waited for a
while as other people gathered and were rewarded with 15 or more passing orcas. The boats
started coming in to watch, too, which seemed to increase the whale activity - I'm not
sure if they were showing off or agitated…one of the boats in particular seemed to be
going too fast and too close to them. It was hard to know where to look - you'd hear a
splash and know that one had breached, but by the time you looked in that direction,
another one somewhere else would be doing interesting things. We learned later from Lori
and Ryan that there were three pods mingling in the strait, and it sounds like we were
really lucky to see so many of them at one time. That was pretty cool - it was like having
tour guides that let you check everything out and *then* answer your questions about
it…which tends to be what I do with the various site brochures anyhow. The kayakers
seemed to have the best views, and as the strait seemed relatively calm, this sounds like
something fun to do in the future. |
| S: I have to say again that it defies words,
because I said earlier I’d say it more than once <g>. The Puget Sound really is
one of the prettiest places you can go in the US. The water was mirror-calm, with forested
islands dotted throughout. From our campsite, we could look directly across a small strait
to the Canadian island where the town of Victoria is located. The sun set magnificently
out there. We sat at our picnic table drinking Pyramids (Hart Brewery, Seattle),
occasionally stirring the fire, having many laughs and also many awed quiet moments. This
spot was not much changed from before Man arrived, yet we drove right up to it, sprung the
tent, spread out our stuff, and sat there enjoying it. The fact that such a place remains
relatively untouched is almost enough to restore one’s faith in the human race. |
 Evening
on San Juan Island
|
| T: Relatively untouched, yet
still managing to feature flush toilets. I was honestly (and pleasantly) surprised about
how common these turned out to be at the campsites. |
Lori and Ryan visiting us at our campsite. |
We'd purchased a Northface "Cirrus" model tent, which
worked really well throughout the rest of the trip. It features a length-wise door which
makes getting in and out really easy, and a mesh top and sides which are great when the
rain-fly isn't necessary (and provide nice ventilation when it is).
Camping was a real highlight of the trip for me - I've always wanted
to do more of it, but never before had much opportunity. Perhaps the best thing about
camping (and maybe the biggest reason for it) is the opportunity to play with fire and
sharp implements. We did pretty well with the fire part, but probably need to add an ax
and a knife (or two, or three) to our gear. |
 Our new tent, with rainfly
|
Evening
on San Juan Island 
