On a recent Sunday morning I joined nine of my cycling friends on a flight from Oakland to Seattle (Sea-Tac) where we met up with Fred our cycling guide from Black Sheep Adventures for six days of cycling in the San Juan Islands. Fred had driven up from Oakland in 'Dolly' his Sprinter van towing a trailer with our gear and bikes. We loaded up and headed to Anacortes, where we began our week by ordering large lunches at the Rockfish Grill (I had fish and chips - great way to start the week).
We spent the first night at the very comfortable Majestic Hotel and enjoyed regaling our adventures of the day over dinner at Anthony’s At Cap Santa Maria restaurant.
Monday - Lopez Island
Our first full day started with a genuine cooked breakfast (included with
our rooms) at the Majestic, and I need to mention their bear claw. It was a bit small, but packed with scrumptiousness. In fact, in an unselfish action, I actually passed a few bites around. On the
way out I complimented the waitress on the bear claws, she asked if I wanted to
take one to go – and why not. She wrapped one up that I stashed and enjoyed the next morning.
After
breakfast, we took a short bike ride to the ferry terminal to catch the boat to our next stop, Lopez Island. Luckily,
with assistance from a very observant and helpful dock worker, we managed to
avoid getting on the Friday Harbor ferry (not our destination), and were
soon on our way to Lopez. We all made sure our bikes were secured for the trip.
Here is our Big Leader (Black Sheep Fred) herding some of his dwarf followers, and Sally and Chris enjoying the cruise.
Lopez Island is a delightful place to bike, with smooth, roads, minimal traffic, great views of forest, farmland, and small, deserted bays. The route around the island is 27 miles with 1800 ft of ascent, definitely enough to qualify as a workout.
After admiring the tractors I cycled past Duck Walk Ln, Wild Goose Chase, and Rum Runner Rd. Lunch was in Lopez Village at the APIZZAPIE food truck. After devouring several pizzas we rode a couple more miles to the ferry dock, and arrived a bit early for our 3:40 ferry to Orcas Island. Now, 3:40 island time actually means whenever the boat arrives after 3:40. In this case, it was 2 hrs after. But the ferry dock didn’t lack for scenery and as we were replete from pizza, so No Problem. Martine and Sally found a nice spot to chat.
But it soon became apparent that rather than approaching the opposite shore, we were going nowhere, stationary in the channel. It turns out we were still on island time. Long story short - our target dock on Orcas Island was occupied by another ferry that wasn’t leaving. This is the view we had for another 45minutes.
We did eventually dock, and arrived at the very comfortable Outlook Inn in East Sound. Our only excitement there was the fire alarm that went off around 9pm. Turns out someone plugged too many ‘devices’ in their room, which triggered the alarm.
Tuesday-Wednesday Orcas Island
Tuesday started with a short and scenic walk to breakfast. Gail took a moment to admire the wood sculpture along the way.
The descent down Mt. Constitution was fabulous and after a bit more biking we had a nice picnic lunch (with libations) at Cascade Lake, before heading back to East Sound. After a shower, a few of us paid a visit to Orcas Island Pottery studio and shop, which is located in an area of old growth cedars and Douglas fir.
On our way
back to the hotel we were treated to some Mozart, courtesy of a local pianist.
At Deer Harbor we turned our bikes over to Fred and embarked on a whale watching cruise with Deer Harbor Charters. Our captain was in touch with other whale watching boats and after about an hour of motoring we arrived at Orca central for that day. It seems that Krish and Martine enjoyed the ride.
Mt Baker made its presence known, as did the orcas!
The Orcas gave us a good show for nearly an hour, then moved on. It was interesting to note that on the water, laws are enforced (unlike here in Oakland). Boats are required to stay 200 m from Orcas, and there were 5 or 6 boats along with ours more or less circling the Orcas at a distance. We had been watching for a while, when a small small cabin cruiser came along at speed and cut straight through the pod. To our surprise, and seemingly out of nowhere, a police boat appeared and chased him down! We were some distance away, but our captain figured the boater got a hefty fine. After the Orcas moved on, we headed to a couple of small islands to view some seals and eagles along our way to Friday Harbor.
That night at dinner we once again ran into folks we knew from our time on Orcas, and shared our maritime adventures. After dinner a few of us wanted ice cream and it turned out that the only ice cream in town was at the county fair, happening a few blocks away. We walked the short distance to the fair ground, arriving at 7:55. Turns out that admission was free after 8, so we hung out for 5 minutes enjoying the vibe and then wandered in. We found the ice cream and continuing to revisit my childhood, I had to admire the collection of old tractors on display.
Thursday - San Juan Island.
The adventure today a was a forty mile ride circling the island. Our first stop was the San Juan Islands Sculpture Park near Roche Harbor at the north end of the island. This is open to the public and covers about twenty acres.
After roaming the park for a bit, took a short walk over to Roce Harbor for coffee and a donut. The Roche Harbor website says it is a ‘world all its own’ and I have to agree. It is a tiny village with an historic hotel named after Spanish explorer Gonzalo López de Haro. It is a small, rather posh village, and takes its history very seriously as one can ‘watch the evening flag ceremony during the summer, complete with cannon salute and U.S., British and Canadian national songs.’
Visit the website https://www.visitsanjuans.com/roche-harbor-san-juan-island for a nice description of this unique place.
After our donut we pedaled south along the western side of the island to Lime Kiln State Park where we found a lighthouse, some fabulous cliffs and a bit of sea life.
We continued to the south end of the island for a picnic lunch at scenic Cattle Point in San Juan Island National Historic Park.
Our schedule allowed time for a short visit to Pike Place Market. It was a beautiful day and the market was packed. We braved the crowds and procured Blackened Salmon Sandwiches from the Market Grill. Chris then led the way to Daily Dozen where she picked up a delicious dozen - figuring eating donuts was an appropriate way to finish the trip.