SAN JUAN ISLANDS NORTHWEST VACATIONLAND

Mount Baker in the massive North Cascades Range of Washington State is visible from most of the northwest, including the San Juan Islands that are scattered across the Salish Sea between Bellingham WA and the popular city of Victoria BC. The geologists and geographers say there are 172 such US islands, but only four of them are served by Washington State Ferries, These  are large vessels the size of small cruise ships for cars and trucks, people and all else from Anacortes to the port of Victoria on Vancouver Island . The rest of us get to our cabins on  the smaller islands by people-only boats from Anacortes WA or Bellingham (hundreds of personal boats). Others fly to small airstrips by private pilots or the few commercial airlines of various sizes. Once there and have unloaded the groceries one has a delicious feeling of being remote, of few cars and limited marinas or stores, but more crab pots, kayaks, orcas and even humpback whales at seasons. It is a collection of places where residents can temporarily forget the hubbub of commerce. The area has year-round moderate temperatures with ideal climates from about May to October from the 60s to 80s and in winter still in the 40s and 50s with the rainy season only less than 30 inches over a six-month period mostly, virtually 0 inches in the dry season.

My own extended family has had a toehold on one delightful island area for fully fifty years, with the generations continuing to spend summer sun on the beaches digging for geoducks or swimming in small lakes on an upper island site, setting out crab pots or hiking on old logging trails that have gradually been reinvaded by wild strawberry patches or pesky blackberry vines (with yummy berries galore in late summer). Dinners are late in this far northwest, making it possible to enjoy radiant sunsets framing the sky.

Relatively few native Americans settled on the islands, preferring to make them a source of hunting and fishing forays, partly because the Washington tribes were wary of northerly groups who came without warning from western Canada or Alaska in their 11-man war canoes to carry off the locals as slaves when they could. But that was a long time ago, and today the groups meet to have canoe races and barbecued salmon, instead.  In the upcoming posts I will tell you more about those early days and more.  The same publishers who told you about The Columbia River published my book about the later years of the SJI, San Juan Islands:Into the 21st Century. Even though I thought I knew everything about these lovely places by just living there part-time, I found I had to do much research and many personal interviews with residents to truly know what had happened in the last 75 years or so.