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Short Trips: Avoid the horders with a spring visit
Thursday, April 18, 2002
By JEFF LARSEN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER PHOTOGRAPHER
I looked up just in time to see a mature bald eagle, talons extended, make a low pass through a stand of maple trees near British Camp National Historic Park on the northwest side of San Juan Island. Suddenly there was a loud "crack," the eagle stalled for just a split second, then flew off with a dead 2-inch diameter limb about five times the length of its body.
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It's spring and nest-building season is in full swing for the 89 nesting pairs of bald eagles in San Juan County.
About the same time the eagles get settled in and start to rear their young, thousands of tourists will migrate to San Juan Island to see the sights and sounds of nature in a region still almost as fresh and exciting as it was when Great Britain and the United States tussled over the island in the mid-1800s.
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| The face of one of over 170 alpacas at the 60-acre Crescent Moon Ranch on San Juan Island. Jeff Larsen / Seattle Post-Intelligencer Click for larger photo |
San Juan Island is one of more than 700 islands -- including the Gulf Islands of British Columbia -- that make up the San Juan Archipelago. About 450 of the islands in San Juan County were large enough to be named. Forty are inhabited. Some are privately owned; others, such as Lopez, Shaw, Orcas and San Juan, besides their permanent inhabitants, are major destinations for American and Canadian tourists and outdoors enthusiasts.
The British and the Americans had a spat over who owned San Juan Island after an American settler in 1859 bagged himself a pig, which, unfortunately, was owned by an employee of the giant British Hudson's Bay Trading Co. The British wanted to arrest the guy and the American settlers asked the U.S. government for protection.
Thus began what has gone down in folklore as the "Pig War." In actuality, the only casualty in the war was the pig, as a 12-year minor military standoff on the island was arbitrated and America was given permanent possession of the island, and the final border between America and Canada was set in the archipelago.
A Canadian friend of mine insists that the British won the "war." I reminded him that he has to travel to another country to get to San Juan Island -- I don't.
Folklore aside, the island was worth fighting over. It has become one of the big guns in the Washington state arsenal of hip places to visit.
On Roche Harbor Resort property, Kay Kammerzell, whose energy level rivals most hummingbirds, has fashioned her lifelong dream called Westcott Bay Nature Reserve and Sculpture Park. Situated on 19 acres of prime waterfront property, the park showcases more than 45 works of art scattered among the natural vegetation and geology of the surroundings. Kammerzell, who has a degree in fine arts and is a sculptor herself, says the works "respond to nature with sensitivity, intelligence and sometimes humor."
The ambitious Kammerzell founded the non-profit Westcott Bay Institute to administer the project and plans to build an interpretive center and two bunkhouses for visiting artists.
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| An evening ferry departs Friday Harbor. It is one of six sailings a day from Anacortes, with extra sailings on Fridays. Jeff Larsen / Seattle Post-Intelligencer Click for larger photo |
Roche Harbor Resort itself is a jewel. Situated on the northwest corner of San Juan Island, just eight miles across Haro Strait from Sidney and Victoria, B.C., the hugely popular resort has a history that is part of its charm.
The harbor was named after a Lt. Roche who commanded the garrison at British Camp in the mid-1800s. Roche also discovered a huge lime deposit on the site that his men quarried and burned to make lime for the production of cement and iron.
Later John L. McMillin bought the property and made a ton of money mining the lime and built a hotel to host his Republican buddies, which at the time included Presidents William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt. In 1956, the property was bought by Reuben J. Tarte and transformed into the resort it is today.
The original 1886 Hotel De Haro still stands with its 19th-century charm intact, although a little tilted and warped in places from so many years of settling -- it might be wise to pop a couple of motion-sickness pills before you climb the angular stairs to inspect the bridal or presidential suites. And just like the 19th-century lodging it is, the bathroom for most of the rooms is just down the hall.
The resort has modernized some of the original lime kiln worker cottages (Country Town Cottages) and turned them into guesthouses. Well suited for a wedding anniversary are any of the four luxurious McMillin Suites, again transformed from an elegant 1930s house that was on the property.
Mostly though, the 2,200-acre resort caters to visiting and permanent-moorage boaters. The docks have showers, laundry facilities, post office, fuel facilities, gift shop and nearby is a complete grocery store. Marina guests also are entitled to use the other resort amenities, including tennis courts, swimming pool, children's playground, hiking trails and three restaurants. Roche Harbor also is a customs port of entry to the United States for boaters traveling from Canadian waters.
For some remarkable scenery, drive south from Roche Harbor on Valley Road, take a right on Mitchell Bay Road and you are on what island residents refer to as the island's "highway 101." Like U.S. Highway 101 in places, the road is windy, narrow and affords some terrific panoramas of the surrounding islands, the Olympic mountain range and pristine beaches.
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| A Rufous hummingbird, with nectar on its beak, rests on a bush at Roche Harbor Resort. Jeff Larsen / Seattle Post-Intelligencer Click for larger photo |
Before you get to Mitchell Bay Road heading south, swing into the British Camp National Historic Park (watch for very deep potholes in the road). Some call it English Camp and others know it by its National Parks Service name British Camp. Whatever, it's official name now is English Camp after years of haggling over the designation.
With a large, 330-year-old big-leaf maple tree as a centerpiece, the waterfront park is a showcase for the natural beauty and wildlife of the island. The property was occupied by the British garrison during the mid-18th-century British-American standoff.
At the south end of the island, toward the end of the scenic drive on Cattle Point Road, sits the American Camp National Historic Park. The park is where the American garrison was situated during the standoff. Again, like British Camp, the remarkable natural beauty of the beaches, vegetation and wildlife has been preserved, thanks to the area's historic designation.
At the Crescent Moon Ranch, manager Jerry Dunne told me that if I wanted to get a good picture, I should stay low with my camera so I wouldn't intimidate the herd of young female alpaca. Sure enough one of the alpacas trotted right over and put its nose on my wide-angle lens, as if I was one of the herd. The animal jumped back when I hit the shutter. Then it tilted its head and looked at me quizzically. Ah, wildlife photography -- sort of.
Alpaca -- furry, inquisitive creatures that look similar to but are smaller than llamas -- were introduced to the United States from South America in 1984. Dunne, along with Joe Nelson, Diane Nelson and Scott Miller, raise alpaca on their very tidy 60-acre ranch and sell alpaca fur-based products at their country store, also on ranch property.
To get up close with the creatures, grab a map at the store and take a walking tour of the ranch. To see this year's batch of baby alpacas, Dunne recommends visiting the ranch, which is close to Roche Harbor, during late spring or early summer.
Some hotels, motels, inns and resorts attend to details better than others. Friday Harbor House, perched on a bluff overlooking the marina and ferry landing, does detail as well as any, right down to letting guests know the home-baked raisin oatmeal cookies at the reception desk were nut-free. All 20 rooms feature a fireplace, Jacuzzi, queen-size bed, coffeemaker, refrigerator, telephone with data port, partial and complete harbor views. Guests are treated to a complimentary homemade continental breakfast in the dining area near the reception desk. The dinner menu features meals prepared with as many locally and organically grown components as possible. I recommend the fresh-baked halibut with a side of petite asparagus spears ($22). Parking is limited at best.
While you're in the ferry line at Friday Harbor and the food you packed for the trip is all gone and you're hankering for a good club sandwich, some homemade ice cream or juice and need to check your e-mail, pop into The Doctor's Office next to the ferry holding area. Half a turkey club and coffee will run about $6. It costs $2.50 for a very large scoop of homemade low-butterfat chocolate ice cream. While you eat you can check your e-mail for free at the shop's computer station.
If you go...
GETTING THERE: You can get to San Juan Island by Washington State Ferry, private boat, private airplane or regularly scheduled commercial floatplanes.
Six ferry sailings a day leave Anacortes for Friday Harbor, with extra sailings on Fridays. During off-peak times, the ferry folks recommend you arrive with your vehicle 60 to 90 minutes before the sailing. For the 2:40 p.m. and 5:05 p.m. sailings, they recommend you arrive 1 1/2 to 2 hours early. (You might be wise to add even more of a time cushion.)
For a vehicle and driver, the current charge is $28.25 round trip at peak time, collected westbound. On May 12, that goes up to $30.50. Credit cards are OK.
An alternative is to walk on the ferry. Parking at the terminal is free until mid-May, after which it will cost $5 for up to 12 hours, $7 for 12-24 hours, $14 for three days, $25 a week, $54.15 monthly. The current peak-fare, round-trip, walk-on fare is $6.80 per person, rising to $8.20 on May 12. There is a bicycle surcharge of $3.60.
For about $170-$190 round trip, Kenmore Air will fly you by floatplane from its bases in Bothell or Lake Union to either Roche Harbor on the northwest part of the island or to Friday Harbor. Kenmore Air also has hotel packages available. Reservations are recommended.
If you travel by private boat, you can moor at the Port of Friday Harbor Marina, which has room for about 150 visiting vessels. During the peak summer season, moorage rates run from 80 cents to $1.10 per foot, per night, depending on size of boat. Electricity is an extra 10 cents per foot per night. Reservations are recommended.
Roche Harbor has about 100 slips for visiting boats, averaging about 84 cents per foot, per night, which includes power, garbage drop-off and limited water. Reservations are recommended.
There are two private airstrips on the island -- one just outside Friday Harbor and the other near Roche Harbor.
P-I photographer Jeff Larsen can be reached at 206-448-8150. For personal e-mail contact: jefflarsen@seattlepi.com. For general releases: shorttrips@seattlepi.com.
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