Ibike USA/Canada Program
Rolling the Islands of the Salish Sea
   
 

 

Photo essay: Rolling the Islands of the Salish Sea: San Juan Island
   

Swinomish to FRIDAY HARBOR (25km, 15mi).  Learn about the revival of traditional culture, and a beautiful ferry ride.
Points of interest: Anacortes, Mt. Baker, Lopez Is, Shaw Is., Orcas Is, Mt Constitution, English Camp (Lummi winter village), Lime Kiln, Whale Watching Point and American Camp.
  Marsh Point oil refinery Marsh Point oil refineryOur non-petroleum economy whizzes by the petroleum economy. On the out-skirts of Anacortes is the Marsh Point oil refinery, one of the major oil refineries in Washington State.
  Anacortes is one of those towns that is keeping it history alive by installing murals around the city.  We posed with this inanimate group at the hardware store trying out a bicycle built for two.  Most of the murals depicted scenes of life in the town in the late 1800's or early 1900's.
 
Washington Park, Anacortes		 A couple of late afternoon scenes from picturesque Washington Park, near the ferry dock in Anacortes.  The park must have a pretty healthy deer population because there were several out grazing during our quick ride through the woods.
 
Sailing through the San Juan Islands		 It is hard to capture the beauty, in pictures, of sailing through the San Juan Islands.  It is a 360o experience, in three dimension, but the camera only captures a couple of those degrees and reduces them to two dimensions. I guess this is were we thank Mother Nature for ice ages, glaciers, wind and water erosion, biodiversity and the power and profoundness of nature.  The visual experience is a dynamic collage, primarily in shades of blue, green and white, that continually rotates by.  Islands and "islettes" approach and recede.  Birds glide in and out, overhead.  The color and the texture of the water change with the depth, currents and surface breeze.  Roy Lichtenstein "Maybe" (1963)It probably can never be the same configuration twice, so the show is always new.  The cultured cyclists would note that this visual environment clearly was not the inspiration for Roy Lichtenstein (sample right) or Andy Warhol paintings.
  Washington State Ferry at Lopez Island dock
Washington State Ferry at Lopez Island terminal.		 Washington State Ferry at Lopez Island dockThe ferry at comes from the mainland to Lopez Island dock about a dozen times a day.  Often only zero to ten vehicle drive off.  The water, and the time and cost of getting a car to island do a nice job on keeping a lid on cancerous motorization of the islands, but still their numbers are growing and the experience keeps getting incrementally less idyllic.
 
Disembarking ferry		 If bicyclists and pedestrians arrive at the ferry early enough to board first, they also get to disembark first -- before they get gassed by the cars. The pleasure lasts as long as it takes the first car, racing off the boat, brushes you off the road, and then you stand there, along the road, getting gassed until the last car has raced past, rushing to their relaxing retreat on paradise island -- yes, there is some irony here..
  Smart Bike sign
"Smart Bike" sign.
What does it mean?		 Instead of "Bike Routes", on Lopez Island they have signs for "Smart Bike."  May be it is a model they picked up from the transportation department in Lake Woebegone.  Even being familiar with variations in bike route design, and having ridden a good distance following the "Smart Bike" route, I am still not sure what it is trying to convey.  The traffic volume is low but that is true of every road on the island, there were hills so it is not a flat route, there are gaps in the signage so it is not a complete system and it doesn't seem to have any distinctive theme or destinations.  What does it mean?  In any case, it out smarted me.
  Rural bicycling on Lopez Island

Lopez Island barn

 Rural bicycling on Lopez IslandLopez Island is considered the flattest of the major islands in the San Juan Island group, but don't tell anyone it is flat!  Both the north and east sides of the islands have some contour.  Nothing very long, so nothing very high but there are some short steep sections that will have bicycling on Fisherman's Bay Rd, Lopez Islandyou reaching for the gear shift.  Mostly Lopez Island is an idyllic mix of forest and farmland.  Most of the traffic we saw was vehicles from the big "Put-your-bike-on-the-van-tour" company.  It is a bit of a mystery why they need to do that much motoring about on a island, the bulk of which is 12 miles by 3 miles.
  Barn with bicycle art Bicycle art on barnAbove the door on this Lopez Island barn (left) is a bit of bicycle art (right).  It is amazing how intriguing bicycles look just about wherever they are and whatever covers them.
 
Mt Baker in the background		 Sailing through the San Juan Islands, Mt Baker frequently provides a photogenic backdrop.  For mainlanders, Mt Baker is a comforting landmark, visible from many places in the San Juan Islands, the Canadian Gulf Islands and from the southeast Vancouver Island.  It is elegant in itself but perhaps it is also represents reassurance that the main land is still out there and we are slipping off the edge of the earth.
 
Friday Harbor, San Juan Island		 A logical next stop, on an island hopping odyssey, is Friday Harbor, San Juan Island -- an increasingly "boutique village".  It has boutique hotel, boutique bakeries, boutique shops, boutique galleries, boutique restaurants ... you get the pictures.  The arts and crafts in the galleries definitely have the gentle island feel and theme to them -- no Lichtenstein's here!
  A curious camel is certainly not native wildlife, and I like camels, but even in a culture that feels constantly compelled to try and out do the Jones, it is a bit of a mystery why and one would import a camel to watch traffic on San Juan Island.  But sure enough, if you head out Roche Harbor road you are likely to see a camel watching traffic.
  A nice diversion from bicycling, and a chance to workout some other muscle groups is a sea kayak trip.  They can require a little adjustment for each clients (left), but eventually every is set and pulling out (right).
  Heading out in search of giant sea mammals and other smaller things.  It is possible to get good looks at Orcas, but it is more likely that you will only get a glimpse, or no sightings at all.  The kayaks are at their best for viewing smaller sea mammals (seals) and birds.
  Whale watch road, San Juan Island
View from "Whale Watch Road"		 Whale watch road, San Juan IslandWestside Road, San Juan Island, is often referred to as "Whale Watch Road".  Even when the orcas aren't frolicking off shore it is a beautiful ride.  When the whales are in the area it is a real treat.  They rarely move on very fast so you can watch at your leisure.  Unfortunately, the population of whales is decreasing as the quality of their habitat is decrease so there are increasing fewer to see.
  After a busy day kayaking, circumnavigating the island and taking in the scene, we relaxed for dinner at a roof top restaurant overlooking Friday Harbor marina and docks.
   
 

Travelogue Main PageTour InformationTour mapRegister for this tour
 

Please write if you would like to be added to Ibike's mailing list or have questions, comments, criticism, praise or additional information for us. (Also, please let us know how you learned about us and found this site.) Privacy policy.

  IBF's Homepage           Ibike Programs            Search

"Hosted by ThinkHost - earth friendly web hosting"
Created by David Mozer
Copyright 1993-2008 Ibike Tours. All rights reserved.