Tag Archives: san juan islands

Jones Island Loop Located in the San Juan Archipelago, Jones Island is a place apart: rocky shores, sculpted cliffs, beautiful madrone forests, and impressive groves of weather-beaten Garry Oaks. From the dock on the northern shore of Jones Island, an ADA-accessible trail crosses through deep coastal forest to the southern shore and the delightfully named Raccoon Island Campground. From here, …

For many outdoor enthusiasts, the idea of adventure is closely tied to disconnection. The Pacific Northwest, with its dense forests, alpine lakes, rugged coastlines, and volcanic peaks, offers countless opportunities to unplug from daily noise. Whether hiking in the Cascades, kayaking along the San Juan Islands, or road-tripping through Oregon’s high desert, getting away often means stepping outside of routine …

Eagle Creek For waterfall lovers, it doesn’t get much better than the Eagle Creek Trail, one of the premier hikes in the Columbia Gorge. This supremely well-engineered trail follows its namesake creek up through a verdant gorge that’s as green as St. Patrick’s Day. In places, Italian engineers blasted the route out of the basalt cliffs, and chain “handrails” are …

I noticed once that if you turn a map of the Salish Sea about 90 degrees counterclockwise, squint with one eye, and allow for some abstract deformity, the general outline of our great inland sea resembles the head and neck of a great blue heron. Vaguely anyway. It’s not a bad metaphor in a place with so many of these …

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 …