August Camping on San Juan Island

Our second big camping trip this summer took us to San Juan Island for a long weekend mid August with friends Sophia, Jenny, and Mike.  Good food and drinks, lovely company, and a killer view from our campsites made for a nice time.  That and no burn ban in the San Juan County Park where we camped, so we got to roast our marshmallows.  Yay!

Aside from our ongoing battle with the yellow jackets at our camp site and pretty much everywhere else on the island, we had an incredible time seeing the wildlife.  Herons and kingfishers, salmon running, Orcas, dolphins, a fox, tide pool creatures, and even a few friendly does and fawns at our camp site.  Wyatt spotted kayakers like they were wildlife too.  I had never seen salmon running in the open ocean (we were told they were Pinks).  Nor had I ever seen Orca whales. Both were incredible.  We got in some hikes around Limekiln State Park, Cattle Point, and American Camp.  Wyatt still tells me that any rock he finds around the house is from Grandma's Cove. Apparently that spot made a big impression on him.

Our weekend, Thursday through Sunday, gave us a good amount of time to unwind and just be.  To start with, the ferry ride was lovely.  Foggy and mysterious most of the way.  Once on the island, we had time to sit and watch the waves or the fire, ride on shoulders, skip rocks, notice things, take pictures, and in some cases to sit on each other and wrestle. 

The ever-popular red chair.

Limekiln State Park

Sophia riding to Grandma's cove at American Camp.

Grandma's Cove -- not great tide pools, but we saw a fox!

Part of one day included a quick visit to Roche Harbor, which I haven't seen for 20 years.  It has changed a bit as you can imagine.  The ice cream is still terrific though.

This visit convinced us we've spent far to little time on any of the San Juan Islands, and we vowed to change that in the coming months.  That and to also start sea kayaking with Wyatt when he's old enough.