Tag Archives: San Juan Islands

Agate Beach

My first visit to Lopez Island included a stop down by Agate Beach.  When Nancy and I took a trip to the island, we headed down to the beach so I could see it again.  The weather was lovely and the beach looked at its best.  I took some panorama shots as well as regular ones to try and convey the feeling of the bay that the beach sits in.  It’s a lovely location.

Spencer Spit State Park

Come a short distance from the ferry terminal on Lopez Island and head left and you will soon be near the turning for Spencer Spit State Park.  There are camping sites throughout the park, but we were just interested in wandering down to the shoreline.  It isn’t a long descent from the parking lot to be down by the water.  It appears that the high tide can drive water into the area alongside the spit but that this then gets cut off as the tide retreats.  There seemed to be some algae on the surface of the water which didn’t look great close up but, step back a bit and it seemed more appealing.

Crabs Getting Feisty

Nancy and I were walking along the shore on Lopez Island one Sunday on a trail alongside some marshy areas.  We were discussing whether the water was connected to the sea all of the time or only at high tide when I noticed something moving in the shallow water.  When I looked closer, I realized that, not only was it a crab, but that there were tons of them.  The water was full of them, and they were pretty aggravated.

It didn’t seem to matter what size they were; they were all picking fights with each other.  Some of these were brief hit and run type efforts but others seemed to be engaged in battles that were going on for a while.  Most were in the water but occasionally they would come out onto the land.  One walked right up to my shoe.  Spaces under rocks or wood seemed like prime spots with smaller crabs trying to get under there while the larger inhabitants fended them off.  It was hilarious to watch once you could see that they were there.  I could have spent ages watching them but that wasn’t the purpose of visiting the island, so I left them to their battles.

Tour de Lopez

I get plenty of emails about cycling events taking place in the Pacific Northwest.  Some of them are of interest, some are way too hard for me, and some are not at a time that works for me.  However, the Tour de Lopez ticked all the right boxes.  It was a ride around Lopez Island in the San Juans so I asked various people to see whether they would be interested in taking part.  I got a few positive responses, so I registered.

The ferry times to Lopez are not normally good for an early start but Washington State Ferries had arranged for the 7:30 from Anacortes to make an extra stop at Lopez for the event.  This was good but it did mean an early start from home to get up to Anacortes in time to put the bike together, get a ticket and board.  Unfortunately, in the days prior to the event, everyone progressively bailed on me.  The night before, it was just me.  I decided to go for it anyway.

The weather on the island was forecast to be nice but the temps are significantly lower on the islands at this time of year, so I decided to layer up.  This worked well.  I also decided to take my old GoPro with me to record the day.  I was glad I did.  It was an excellent ride.  The route winds around the island and comes through a variety of bays.  With the sun shining, these bays look so idyllic.  On a normal ride, I might be more focused on keeping moving but on this I was in no hurry so I would stop to make sure I could get some video of the ride.

There were a bunch of rest stops along the route.  Plenty of cyclists were taking part – it was sold out – but it never felt crowded.  You would see people passing by but wouldn’t be in large groups.  The nice thing about the island is that there is not a huge amount of traffic, so it is a great place to ride.  I would occasionally see some familiar faces from earlier in the ride too.  It ended up back at Lopez Village where they had laid on some food.  I bumped into a couple of guys I had seen before, and we had lunch and then rode back towards the ferry.

The ferry ride back was a nice way to end off the day and I was able to pack up my stuff in the car and head home.  The day was so much fun, and I hope the video shows just how good it was.  The guys that had been unable to join clearly liked the video because we ended up setting up a second attempt.  We did this a few weeks later and used a later ferry to start the day so it was a more relaxed affair.

Shells, Shells and More Shells

The beach in Eastsound seems to be made up heavily of shells.  Walking across it felt like a very destructive act as the shells crunched under foot.  I don’t recall ever being somewhere that was made up of so much shell material.  It looked very attractive but I didn’t like the breakage that came with it!

Clouds Rolling Over The Hills

As we took the ferry to San Juan Island, I spent a bit of time wandering the car deck and looking out at the other islands.  One of the hills to the north of us clearly had the wind running in from the water and, as the air rose up over the hill, the water vapor condensed out to form some nice clouds. They were rather distant but I figured I would try my luck with getting a shot.  The processing is a little harsh but I still like the shapes of the clouds and put up with it not being perfect.

Ferries Bunching Up At Lopez

We took the ferry to Friday Harbor when mum was staying and there is no way that I am going to be on a ferry for a while without the camera coming out to shoot the other ferries we passed.  We were on the direct service from Anacortes to Friday Harbor but there are the other services that stop at the other islands.  Our route took us passed the terminal on Lopez Island and, both outbound and return, we saw ferries docked there.

It seems that the schedule results in one ferry arriving at Lopez shortly after the preceding one departs.  I assume that this doesn’t make it too tricky to stack up the awaiting vehicles but there doesn’t look to be a huge amount of space at the terminal.  Then again, Lopez is a quieter destination than Friday Harbor.  It was fun trying to get shots that combined both ferries in one frame and they passed on their respective routes.

Island Ferry Terminals

The San Juan Islands were our escape a couple of times during the limits on travel that COVID provided.  Getting to the islands involves a ferry trip and I will always enjoy that.  One of the things that I find interesting about the ferry terminals on the islands is how simple they are.  When we lived in the UK, the ferries were constantly expanding in their usage and the terminals were all getting upgraded to accommodate more vehicles.  They also had shops and food outlets.

The San Juans are far lower key.  The terminals are often in remote locations (accepting that the islands are generally pretty remote anyway) and they are tucked away looking far more like part of the coastline.  As we travel on the ferries, we get to see some that we stop at and others we pass.  Here are a few of the ones I have photographed from the water.

Moss Covered Bridge

Moran State Park provided a great place for some hiking.  It is a pretty shady and damp environment, though.  As we were heading down one trail, we came to a bridge over the river.  The bridge seemed to have most of its surfaces covered in moss.  The lack of direct light must have made it an ideal location for the moss to thrive.

Family of Swans

A small bay on Cascades Lake was a spot that a family of swans was hanging out as we hiked by.  The cygnets were almost fully grown but still had the darker down to show that they were still not fully mature.  The parents were still clearly paying attention to the safety of their kids, despite their size.