Tag Archives: san juan islands

The air buzzes with excitement as each smiling guest, aged five to 99, boards the vessel, united by a shared mission to encounter one of the Pacific Northwest’s most captivating maritime treasures: a football-sized seabird that spends most of its life in the vast Pacific Ocean: the Tufted Puffin. As we head south from the marina, a curious nine-year-old girl …

The San Juan Islands are world famous, attracting all manner of seafarers who enjoy exploring this luscious archipelago in everything from yachts to sailboats to kayaks. They are also a playground for hikers, beachcombers, and birdwatchers. Consisting of more than 400 islands (depending on who does the counting), the San Juans have some marquee attractions: Sucia with its picture-perfect anchorages …

Breaching killer whales, soaring eagles, and sea lions hauled out on rocks along stunning shorelines—these are just a few of the sights that people travel to the San Juan Islands every year by foot, boat, or plane to behold. Of course, if you’ve been to the islands before, then you know their moniker as “the hidden gem of Washington State” …

For more than 20 years, I’ve been visiting the secluded “Three Amigos” in the San Juan Islands:  Matia, Sucia, and Patos Islands in my sailboat, Elenoa. Each voyage is different: the seasons determine what sections of the fantastical sandstone formations receive glorious lighting, whether Madrone bark is colorful, and whether spring flowers or fall colors dominate. Weather conditions and tides …

In the spring of 1984, a team of scuba divers assembled on the rough cobble beach of Legoe Bay, located on the shores of Lummi Island in the Salish Sea. Along with a crew of archaeology students, their purpose was unusual. They were not there to search out the sunken remains of a ship but rather to investigate stories that …

Most of my photography is about ‘place’. Much of it is international with the bulk of my photographs taken in regions of India, Nepal, East Timor, and Thailand. Locally my sense of place is focused on our particular part of the Salish Sea and the place where the North Cascade Range meets its shore. I have had the great good …

It has been a long and winding road to my destination. As each year passes, I become more convinced that photography chose me. Just as the persistence of dripping water hollows out stone, creative photography relentlessly knocked at my door. She became my center, my true north, my addiction, and my gravity. Without her presence, at times, I sense a …

We paddled around the small headland and entered a glassy pool that reflected dark conifers.  It was another world entirely than the one we just departed. The early evening light softened the scene into lazy shadows and rich colors. We relaxed when we heard the soft crunch of sand as our kayaks come to rest on the beach. Just an …

Mention hiking on the San Juan Islands and Moran State Park instantly comes to mind. While this large popular park on Orcas Island with its 30 miles of trails certainly is a supreme hiking destination, there are scores of great hiking spots throughout Washington’s stunning archipelago. The outer islands, beloved by boaters, paddlers and sailors also contain some exceptional hikes. …

The flat two-mile crossing was anything but notorious. I was almost disappointed. We’d dragged our kayaks onto the ferry in Anacortes at oh-dark-hundred, disembarked at the Orcas Island terminal and waited for our transportation, loaded boats and gear into a van that took us across the island through Eastsound, unloaded our boats and gear at Terrill Beach, and then began …