Kayaking the San Juan Islands

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During our August 2006 trip to Seattle, Katherine and I got the opportunity to take a guided kayak tour of the San Juan Islands, situated right in between the U.S. and Canada. Our journey began with a car trip to Anacortes, WA, where we caught a ferry to Friday Harbor. Even the ferry ride was breathtaking; the morning sun glinting off the wake and highlighting the fog above the water was beautiful.

Once we arrived at Friday Harbor, our guide came and picked up our group. We drove across to the other side of the island. Once there, we helped unload our boats from the trailer behind our van, and then sat down on the shore for a half-hour lesson on the basics of entering, exiting, and steering kayaks. We were issued our ever-so-fashionable spray skirts and made ready to hit the water. Katherine and I decided to share a kayak, and Katherine's brother and his friend (who were touring with us) buddied up for another.

We got into our boats and paddled around our departure cove a bit to get the hang of it. It definitely took some getting used to. Fortunately, this cove was sheltered from the waves out in the strait and wasn't crowded. Once everyone was in the water, our guide explained that we'd need to keep away from the shoreline as we traveled south through the strait in order to take advantage of the current. With that, we set off.

We paddled out into the strait, and weren't gone more than five minutes before our guide pointed out a bald eagle flying along the shoreline to our left. I couldn't really see what he was pointing at, but was still excited by the apparent abundance of wildlife. As we paddled along, our arms tired quickly, but fortunately our guide stopped us every few minutes to point out some fascinating detail of the landscape around us.

One of the most alien (and annoying) features of the island ecosystem to me were the huge stalks of kelp floating just beneath the surface. Our guide told us that August was the height of the kelp growing season, and the plants were a full 1 to 2 inches in diameter. The long, ribbonlike leaves felt weirdly slimy to the touch and were apparently edible (I didn't partake).

A few stops later we were treated to a view of a bald eagle. Following our guide's gaze, we could just make out the majestic bird perched in a tall tree along the shoreline. This wasn't exactly an up-close encounter, but it was the first time I had ever seen these birds in the wild, so I was excited.

After about 2 1/2 hours on the water, we pulled into a scenic cove just north of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Although getting out of the boat was a bit of a challenge (I decided to jump out a little too early...), once we hauled our kayak ashore and broke open our lunch, the scene was absolutely idyllic. By this time the air was warm, we could feel a cool breeze blowing off the Strait to the south, and our lunch of gourmet sandwiches was outstanding. As I looked out onto our group's brightly colored kayaks lined up on the gravel toward the mouth of the cove, I couldn't help but feel like I had stepped right into a magazine cover. I've placemarked my best guess of the location here.

After about a 45 minute lunch break, we set off again to head back north to our departure point. This time, our guide explained, we would have to stick as close to the shore as possible to avoid the currents. This proved harrowing, not only the because of the occasionally violent boat wakes and sharp rocks, but but because the kelp near the shore was so thick that our kayak kept getting stranded on the stalks. With arms already tired from a morning of paddling, having to heave with all our might to get our boat floating again was not a pleasant task.

In spite of the difficulties, the return leg of the trip offered a lot of interesting scenery. We paused near a historic lighthouse, and drifted by a group of harbor seals sunning themselves on some rocks. At one point, our guide plucked a dead dogfish out of the water and strapped it to his kayak, hoping to bait an eagle with it later on. He tried, but the eagle stubbornly remained perched in its tree.

After about 2 hours of return paddling, we made it back to our launch point exhausted and happy. The tour was very physically demanding, and everyone in our group sported some nice blisters from holding the paddles all day long, but the scenery, wildlife, and up-close experience of this gorgeous region was worth every minute in my book. We weren't fortunate enough to see any of the orcas that ply the waters in which we paddled, but that didn't detract from the harbor seals, bald eagles, and porpoise we did get to see. All in all we paddled about 5 hours, during which we covered close to 7 miles. The tour was an exhilarating way to explore the beautiful environment surrounding the San Juan Islands.