San Juan Islands and Victoria, BC, Canada
Picturesque and rugged, the Cone Islands just off the eastern shore of Cypress Island greeted us as we began our morning explorations of the San Juan Island archipelago. Zodiacs and kayaks created perfect platforms for viewing intertidal wonders like purple and orange sea stars reminiscent of impressionist paintings beneath the rippled water and rocky outcrops covered with both brilliant and subtle hues of lichen. That this is the last week of summer is evident in the splashes of bright autumn leaves amongst the dark green conifers.
Our morning walks were charming. Mosses and sword ferns draped the trailside as we sauntered along surrounded by tall western red cedar and Douglas fir trees and the rust-red splashes of the more drought tolerant arbutus trees. A rough-skinned newt was a special find as well as a very surprised and adventurous mouse caught munching ripe seeds high in the top of an ocean spray bush. These islands support a more diverse plant community than most of the Pacific Northwest’s temperate rainforest as they are in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains and only receive 30 to 50 inches of rain per year. By contrast, just across the Strait of Juan de Fuca perhaps 50 miles away, Mt. Olympus receives 180 inches!
The bustling small seaport of Friday Harbor on San Juan Island drew our attention this afternoon and many of us visited the small but excellent Whale Museum and some of the fine local shops and galleries. San Juan Island was the site of the Pig War, an interesting conflict in the late 1800’s around resolving the final borders between the United States and Canada. The good news is that the only blood shed during the dispute was that of a vegetable garden raiding pig belonging to the Hudson Bay Company.
Late afternoon found us watching interesting seabirds, harbor seals and harbor porpoises from the bow while down below, the steadfast and talented galley crew prepared our evening repast of fresh Dungeness crab, caught so recently in these productive ocean waters.
Picturesque and rugged, the Cone Islands just off the eastern shore of Cypress Island greeted us as we began our morning explorations of the San Juan Island archipelago. Zodiacs and kayaks created perfect platforms for viewing intertidal wonders like purple and orange sea stars reminiscent of impressionist paintings beneath the rippled water and rocky outcrops covered with both brilliant and subtle hues of lichen. That this is the last week of summer is evident in the splashes of bright autumn leaves amongst the dark green conifers.
Our morning walks were charming. Mosses and sword ferns draped the trailside as we sauntered along surrounded by tall western red cedar and Douglas fir trees and the rust-red splashes of the more drought tolerant arbutus trees. A rough-skinned newt was a special find as well as a very surprised and adventurous mouse caught munching ripe seeds high in the top of an ocean spray bush. These islands support a more diverse plant community than most of the Pacific Northwest’s temperate rainforest as they are in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains and only receive 30 to 50 inches of rain per year. By contrast, just across the Strait of Juan de Fuca perhaps 50 miles away, Mt. Olympus receives 180 inches!
The bustling small seaport of Friday Harbor on San Juan Island drew our attention this afternoon and many of us visited the small but excellent Whale Museum and some of the fine local shops and galleries. San Juan Island was the site of the Pig War, an interesting conflict in the late 1800’s around resolving the final borders between the United States and Canada. The good news is that the only blood shed during the dispute was that of a vegetable garden raiding pig belonging to the Hudson Bay Company.
Late afternoon found us watching interesting seabirds, harbor seals and harbor porpoises from the bow while down below, the steadfast and talented galley crew prepared our evening repast of fresh Dungeness crab, caught so recently in these productive ocean waters.
