FINDING THE
ISLANDS A TRIP THROUGH THE SAN JUANS
Getting here is half the fun Reservations for the Washington State Ferry are now available to help make trip planning easier for your adventure throughout the islands. 1
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Orcas Island Step onto horseshoe-shaped Orcas Island, drop your suitcase or backpack, and drink in the green paradise the locals call “the gem of the San Juans” — a happy combination of stunning shoreline, the highest mountain in the islands, and a handful of charming hamlets, including Eastsound, the main village on “the Emerald Isle.” Most of Orcas Island’s 57 square miles are rural and hilly, a pleasure for drivers and a challenge for cyclists, with curving roads that wind through forests and past artists’ studios, fields with old apple barns, and the occasional turn-of-the-century prune drying barn. Visit one of the nation’s most beautiful parks to hike, bike, swim, or go horseback riding through the forest—the 5,252-acre Moran State Park, with several lakes and more than 38 miles of hiking trails. There, you can drive, bike, or hike up Mount Constitution, the islands’ highest point, for a spectacular view of island-dotted sea and snow-capped Mount Baker. Head out on the water on a kayak trip (guided or alone), whale-watching tour, or fishing or sailboat charter. You can book any of these 3
adventures on the island, as well as rent bikes and check out guided horseback rides. Cycling, kayaking, hiking and boating are all favorite activities on Orcas Island. You can also visit Eastsound for a great espresso or delicious locally grown food. Visit a farm, hear great music or just wander the many beautiful beaches on this tranquil island. South of Moran State Park, the little hamlet of Olga is famous for its artists’ co-op, Orcas Island Artworks, with an extensive selection of pottery, painting, jewelry, art glass, fiber and wood by more than 50 island artists. You’ll find
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it housed in a historic 1936 strawberry packing plant along with the popular Cafe Olga, a charming eatery renowned for its homemade cinnamon rolls and delicious fresh-baked pies. Past Olga on the water, you’ll come upon Doe Bay Resort & Retreat, where you can dine over the water at the Doe Bay Café on mostly organic food, often harvested just hours earlier. A rustic Northwest icon, Doe Bay Resort & Retreat offers lodging, massage, yoga, sea kayaking, hot tubs and relaxing Adirondack chairs overlooking the spectacular water view. On the other side of the island, at the farthest western point, Deer Harbor is a hub for all things marine — kayak (and bike) rentals, whale/
wildlife tours, sailing excursions, power and sailboat rentals, and Deer Harbor Marina which features the Marina Barge Gift Shop, wood sculptor’s studio, eateries and lodgings. At the Orcas Island Historical Museum you can see a fascinating collection of six homestead cabins transformed into this island icon, housing photographs and artifacts of Orcas’ Native American and settler history, including the skull of a 14,000-year-old bison preserved in one of the island’s numerous marshlands. At the Orcas Island Historical Museum you can see a fascinating collection of six homestead cabins transformed into this island icon.
At the Orcas Island Historical Museum you can see a fascinating collection of six homestead cabins transformed into this island icon, housing photographs and artifacts of Orcas’ Native American and settler history, including the skull of a 14,000-year-old bison preserved in one of the island’s numerous marshlands. The Crow Valley School Museum, built in 1888, held up to 47 students whose families worked in the orchards at the turn of the century. More forested and mountainous than the other islands, Orcas Island developed communities primarily along the coastline. Early Salish tribes, primarily the Lummi people, lived here, fishing and foraging in both summer and winter. When European settlers arrived, they, too, built
settlements along the fertile shoreline. In 1843, the Hudson’s Bay Company sent trappers to Orcas, and established farming, sheep ranching and trade with the locals. Lime kilns and lumber were big business in the 1870s and 1880s. By the 1910s, the fruit trade was booming, but hit a bust in the 1930s, when competition from the mainland rose. Over the decades, most of the communities were accessible only by boat – Deer Harbor, West Sound, Dolphin Bay, Orcas, Ocean, Eastsound, Olga and Doe Bay all had their own post offices in 1900. After the fruit production boom and bust, sport fishing and tourism became big business, and visitors have been coming to enjoy the beauty of Orcas ever since. The 5,252-acre Moran State
Park – Washington’s fourth largest – was donated by former Seattle mayor and shipbuilder, Robert Moran, and includes Mt. Constitution, the highest point in the islands at 2,409 feet and a historic stone tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Historic Orcas Hotels and Restaurants At the Outlook Inn on Orcas, built in 1876 by ‘49er Charles Shattuck, trappers and lime kiln workers could order a bear steak, get a tooth pulled or get their horses shod; now, you can enjoy delicious Happy Hour appetizers at the New Leaf Café. The Orcas Hotel, built in 1904 with barely enough rooms to house the original owner’s family, closed in 1977 when the fire escape consisted of a knotted rope 5
tied to a third floor ceiling. Thanks in part to letters written by islanders, the hotel was saved from becoming a ferry parking lot in 1978, and finally restored by private owners in 1985. Now, you can enjoy a drink at the bar while listening to Sunday night musical performances. At Rosario Resort on Orcas Island, enjoy a presentation of music and photography that takes guests back through the history of the Moran family and the Rosario estate each Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Highlights include the historic Moran photograph collection and original Phantom of the Opera music performed on the Mansion’s 1,972 pipe Aeolian organ along with the silent film. Doe Bay Resort & Retreat was one of the first post offices (and taverns) on Orcas Island, and had a dock that welcomed the “Mosquito Fleet” boats in the 1920s; in the 1970s, it housed the Polarity Institute, an intentional community of people studying “astral energies.” Now, the energy comes from the one-acre organic garden that supplies delicious produce for Doe Bay Café.
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Mt. Constitution Atop the 2,409-foot-high Mt. Constitution, the highest point on the San Juan Islands, there stands a stone observation tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936. The tower offers panoramic views of surrounding islands, the Cascade Mountains and a variety of Canadian and American cities. Inside the tower, a historical display tells the story of the tower's construction and the history of Robert Moran, the shipbuilder and former Seattle mayor who donated this land beginning in 1911, and worked toward the development of the park, which was dedicated in 1921. A gift shop and learning center operated by the Friends of Moran offers maps, unique gifts, cards and information about the park and its fascinating past. One can easily spend several days enjoying all the activities and opportunities Moran State Park has to offer. If you are not in the mood to hike up or hike down Mount Constitution one can find a much less strenuous hike down the road at Cascade Lake. It makes for a great picnic and fishing spot plus it has a nice trail circumnavigating it. There are no gift shops, snack bars, restaurants, or any other services at the summit so prepare accordingly. The road to the summit is closed in the evenings. 10
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Mount Constitution was named by Charles Wilkes during the Wilkes Expedition of 1838-1842. Wilkes’ named Orcas Island “Hull Island”, after Commodore Isaac Hull, the commander of the USS Constitution, who won fame after capturing the British warship Guerriere in the War of 1812. Like many of the names Wilkes’ gave, the name “Hull” was replaced with “Orcas” by Henry Kellett in 1847 while reorganizing the British Admiralty charts. The three-masted heavy frigate USS Constitution was nicknamed “Old Ironsides” and is assumed that Mount Constitution was named after it.
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Shaw Island The community of Shaw Island stretches beyond its 240 full-time residents to include part-timers, relatives and friends living around the globe. Our small island is almost entirely residential. There are no restaurants, B&Bs, motels or hotels. We do not have a public dock, gas station, boutique, hardware store, movie theater, fast-food outlet, bank or an airport. There are no sidewalks or street lights, bike trails or a doctor. The ferry rarely stops here very often, so you must plan in advance. We do have a volunteer fire department and volunteer certified EMTs. We have a newly remodeled general store that supports many of our activities, county park with rustic campsites but no hook-ups, K-8 public school, post office, island-funded library and a log cabin museum. Our community organization is Shaw Islanders Inc. Residents’ initiative, involvement and fundraising have created landmarks (a beautiful playfield, Community Center), entertainment (concerts, plays, talent shows), educational opportunities (guest speakers, scholarships, literature classes), Sunday Church Fellowship, public meetings, yoga and exercise classes, 4-H, 15
senior dinners, Holiday Boutique, an old-fashion 4th of July celebration with a parade and picnic, all-ages softball games, ice cream and a huge auction to raise funds for community activities.
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Shaw Island has an operational historic oneroom school, a second room was later added, with classes for elementary and middle school students. Known as the Little Red Schoolhouse, it has been in continuous use since it was built in 1890 and is the longest- running school in the state of Washington. The building is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
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Cedar Rock Preserve This is a 370 acre property composed of 10 contiguous parcels that form roughly a pentagonal shape, given to the University of Washington by Robert Ellis of Shaw Island in 1973 and 1983; two more small parcels were added to the Preserve in 1986. The Preserve lies on the south-central shoreline of Shaw Island and is bounded to the west by Hoffman Cove Road, to the north by Squaw Bay Road, to the east by the waters of Squaw Bay and to the south by Upright Channel. Road access is by Hoffman Cove Road or Squaw Bay Road. The upland portion of the Cedar Rock Preserve is a mosaic of second-growth, Douglas fir-dominated, mixed conifer forest with a number of open rocky balds, old fields that were used for farming and for an airstrip until the mid-1970s, several orchards of various sizes and in various states of disrepair, a small central pond, and a narrow strip of coastal prairie bounding much of the shoreline. The homesteading histories and more recent agricultural use of these properties have led to the rich and varied (open and forested) nature of the present Preserve lands. The shoreline of the 18
Cedar Rock Preserve is mostly made of a low-bank bedrock, interspersed with gravel/cobble beaches. A resident part-time caretaker lives in one of two small houses on the Cedar Rock Preserve and is available to oversee all of the UW properties on Shaw Island, although his primary responsibility is
to the Cedar Rock Preserve. There are minimal facilities for individual researchers or classes to stay overnight on this Preserve, or it can be reached by small boat or car-ferry by researchers or students choosing to stay in housing across San Juan Channel at the Friday Harbor Laboratories on San Juan Island.
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Lopez Island Don’t be startled on your first visit to Lopez Island when people wave to you from their cars. This is “the Friendly Isle”—15 miles long with 63 miles of shoreline and 2,500 year-round residents. The Lopez landscape blends forests with rolling farmlands, and quiet bays and driftwood-strewn beaches with distant views of mountain ranges and snow-tipped Mount Baker. Lopez’s natural beauty and quality of life have attracted a variety of residents—artists, craftspeople, entrepreneurs, musicians, farmers, fishermen and nature lovers. Scandinavian farmers arrived here in the 1850s, drawn by the island’s gentle topography, and Lopez Island farms today raise an eclectic range of products, from sheep to llamas, wine grapes to apples, pears to kiwis. Cycling, kayaking, hiking and boating are all favorite activities on Lopez Island. You can also visit Lopez Village for a great espresso or delicious locally grown food. Visit a farm, hear great music or just wander the many beautiful beaches on this tranquil island. Lopez offers the easiest cycling of the three main San Juan Islands. Consider bringing your bike for a day or weekend of scenic cycling, or rent one
from Lopez Bicycle Works or Village Cycles. (The interisland ferry from Orcas Island or San Juan Island is free for walk-on passengers and cyclists.) You may want to schedule your Lopez visit to coincide with one of the island’s special annual events—the Tour de Lopez bicycle tour each spring. Always scheduled for the last Saturday in April, Tour de Lopez is a non-competitive, rural road tour that offers short and long routes through the island’s varied landscape. You can also explore Lopez Island through a cycling or driving tour, paddle the rocky shoreline on a kayak tour, take a long walk on one of the islands many beaches, or hike the forest and byways of this tranquil island. A visit to the Lopez Historical Society & Museum provides an overview of the rich and varied past of Lopez Island. Here you can learn how Lopez Island’s relatively flat landscape, abundant fishing, mild weather and fertile land was a draw for coastal tribes for thousands of years, and how the first non-Native settler came to Lopez around 1850, and settled in what is now Lopez Village. Hiram E. Hutchinson married a Tlingit woman, Mary. Hiram’s sister, Irene Weeks, arrived in 1873 and became the first postmaster. In 1870, just 70 people lived on Lopez; by 1930, 134 farms were growing apples, cherries, apricots, plums and vegetables, as well as sheep and cattle. One hundred forty years later, a community of about 2,400 people call Lopez home. 21
Visit the Port Stanley Schoolhouse to see one of the historic buildings the Lopez community has restored over the years. Now a museum and event space, it served the island as a school for the children of farmers and orchard workers from 1917 to 1941. At the Lopez Island Library, you can feel island history envelop you as you walk through the doors of the former Little Red Schoolhouse. The library began its life at the end of World War II, when Otis and Nan Perkins created Lopez Island Memorial Library in their home to honor their son, Warren, who died in the war. By the 1970s, it needed a new home, and the Lopez Library League raised money and found a turn-of-the-century schoolhouse, then moved the building to its present location and renovated it. The library opened its doors in 1986, and has been the center of Lopez intellectual life ever since.
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Iceberg Point Iceberg Point offers majestic views of rugged bluffs and rocky shorelines on the south side of Lopez Island. Iceberg Point is available for dayuse only. Recreational activities include hiking and wildflower, waterfowl, and marine mammal viewing at overlooks. A network of hiking trails provides easy access to sweeping vistas. Parking and outhouses are available at the San Juan County Park day-use area at Agate Beach.
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Otis Perkins County Day Park Past Lopez Village on the island’s west side, Otis Perkins County Day Park sits on a slender spit in Fisherman Bay. Enjoy one of the longest beaches in the islands, and nearly a mile of waterfront to explore to the north of the parking area, with great views of the San Juan Channel and the distant shoreline of San Juan. It’s also a prime spot for watching float planes land and take off from the bay. If you’re a birder, the sheltered side of the shore, a salt marsh teeming with waterfowl, will keep your binoculars and spotting scope busy.
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Friday Harbor You’ll discover something new around every bend in the road on San Juan Island—an alpaca ranch, a sweeping valley dotted with cows or sheep, the terraces of a lavender farm, vineyards with a tasting room in a historic schoolhouse, deep forest giving way to shining sea, a pod of orca whales, and two iconic lighthouses. Variety, beauty, serenity... day after amazing day. Friday Harbor is the Gateway to the San Juan Islands − Caution: many of the 8,000 year-round residents of San Juan Island fell in love with it during their first visit, and the town of Friday Harbor is where it all began. Historic and just one square mile in size, Friday Harbor is the very walkable hub of San Juan Island, the most populated of the San Juans. Browse art galleries, bookstores and antique shops. Sample a bouquet of boutiques, stop for a cafe lunch or enjoy a fresh seafood dinner overlooking the harbor.Stop by and visit The
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Whale Museum and the San Juan Historical Museum, or just meander through the marina. In this visitor-, family-, and dog-friendly town of Friday Harbor, you’ll find many of the San Juans’ whale and kayaking tour headquarters, the Chamber of Commerce Visitors’ Center, historic Palace Theater (first-run movies on two screens), the San Juan Community Theatre for plays and musical events, and a plethora of B&Bs and other lodgings. No need for a car to see Friday Harbor. Everything is within walking distance of the ferry landing, including San Juan Transit shuttle buses to take you around the island, as well as bike, threewheeled Scootcoupe, and moped rentals. You can catch an inter-island ferry from Friday Harbor to Lopez, Orcas and Shaw Islands.
Visit Friday Harbor for a great espresso or delicious locally grown food. Browse shops, galleries & museums. Visit a farm, hear great music or just wander the many beautiful beaches on this tranquil island. Whale watching, cycling, kayaking, hiking and boating are also favorite activities on San Juan Island. When you travel San Juan Island beyond Friday Harbor, you’ll journey through miles of farmland and stretches of forest on your way to American Camp or English Camp, both part of the San Juan Island National Historical Park, or to the two waterfront state and county parks. You’re bound to hear about the 1859-1872 Pig War ”Crisis,” when Great Britain and the United States settled ownership of the islands through peaceful arbitration—the national park marks the sites of the U.S. and British encampments.
American Camp includes the island’s longest stretch of beach, South Beach, and a network of forested and open trails along the coast, Jakle’s Lagoon and Mt. Finlayson. Orcas occasionally swim past this beach, and sharp-eyed youngsters may spot agates among the beach’s colorful stones. Close to Friday Harbor lies Jackson Beach, a popular picnicking, wading, and dog-walking/swimming spot. Lime Kiln Point State Park on the island’s west side is also known as Whale Watch Park for good reason—the three local orca pods are frequent summer visitors. This is the only park in the world dedicated to shore-based orca whale watching. A seasonal interpretative center offers information on orcas and a history of the lime kilns and the nearby lighthouse, and you have a choice of forest and shoreline hiking trails. Other popular stops: Pelindaba Lavender Farm in the middle of the island, one of the largest in the country, for a taste of all things lavender in the aromatic store, housed in a historic island home—and host to the July lavender festival. Krystal Acres Alpaca Farm, also mid-island, where more than 50 endearing alpacas roam the gentle pasture slopes. Stroll around the
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farm and browse the store for alpaca everything. At historic Roche Harbor on the north end of the island you’ll find several waterside eateries, a marina full of beautiful yachts, and local artisans’ booths in summer—showing off jewelry, wool, paintings, pottery, and more. The resort’s centerpiece, the Hotel de Haro, has stood since 1886, when what was a sleepy Hudson Bay Company camp became a full-fledged lime works and company town—remnants of the giant lime kilns are still there. Near the entrance to Roche Harbor you’ll find the San Juan Islands Sculpture Park—more than 125 sculptures placed in an open, 19-acre, natural setting. You can ramble among the sculptures or follow the nearby nature trail that takes you into a native forest and close to Westcott Bay Shellfish Company, home of the world-famous oysters. You can also visit the Westcott Bay Cider and San Juan Island Distillery, near Roche Harbor. From tales of early Coast Salish settlements and Captain Vancouver’s explorations, to a near international war started over the death of a pig, there is plenty of history to discover in the San Juan Islands. Visit the century-old Roche Harbor Resort that played a major role in the industrial development of the West Coast, or the historic Moran Mansion at Rosario Resort. Wander Friday Harbor, one of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Dozen
Distinctive Destinations. Visit farms following traditions of the past, yet with modern crops and technology. Sail aboard a historic schooner. Relax and imagine yourself in a simpler time. With three island historical museums, the San Juan Island National Historical Park and 18 National Historic Registry sites, there are dozens of additional attractions for the history buff or the merely curious to explore. Whether you stay at the historic Hotel de Haro, visit from your boat in one of the marina’s 377 slips or anchor out, or spend an afternoon exploring the tiny village and its environs, Roche Harbor and its setting will capture and stay in your heart forever.
Taking in the View
The views from the yellow-brick road of old kilnfired bricks, from the fragrant flowering arbor, or from a path above the town are the kind that make painters reach for their easel and watercolors. Enjoy a meal in one of three waterfront restaurants (one on the dock itself), watch the evening flag ceremony during the summer (complete with cannon salute and recorded U.S., British and Canadian national songs), or gasp at the size of some of the vessels in the Roche Harbor Resort marina.
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Exploring
Step into history on a self-guided tour, which might start at the hotel, named for Spanish explorer Gonzalo López de Haro, perhaps the first European to discover the San Juan Islands. The building dates from 1886, when the village became a company town for John McMillin’s lime works (remnants of the lime kilns are still there, along with the now-scenic quarries). Past the tiny 1892 Our Lady of Good Voyage chapel, the San Juan Islands Museum of Art Sculpture Park, and the pioneer cemetery, you can hike up to the imposing 34
Romanesque McMillin family mausoleum. After this warm-up, you might explore some of the 6.3 miles of hiking trails around the Roche Harbor quarries and through the forestland around the resort. Or enjoy a swim in the only heated outdoor pool on the island. You can also sign up for kayak and whale-watching tours.
And then . . .
Treat yourself to the steamrooms, hydrotherapy, massage, or other personal pampering at the Afterglow Spa in Quarryman Hall, fine dining
at McMillin’s Dining Room on the water, or a more casual meal at the waterside Madrona Bar and Grill or the Lime Kiln Cafe. From June to Labor Day, stroll through the artist kiosks in the village center to discover handmade pieces by local artists. It’s a showcase of island talent, from watercolor, oil painting, and photography to jewelry, hand knits, and candies.
Lime Kiln Lighthouse Lime Kiln Lighthouse, located on the west side of San Juan Island, the second largest island in the archipelago, borrows its name from the lime kilns built in the area in the 1860s. For roughly sixty years, the area surrounding the kilns was quarried for limestone, and a good portion of the island was logged to feed the fires that transformed the limestone into lime, which was then used in mortar. Remains of the kilns can still be seen today, just north of the lighthouse, and one of them has been renovated and interpreted for the public to view. Lime Kiln Lighthouse tenderly watches over the whales and waterways at the entrance to Haro Strait, a major shipping route that links Puget Sound to the Strait of Georgia. The Lighthouse Board first recommended a lighthouse on the western side of San Juan Island in 1908, noting: All commerce between Puget Sound and Alaska and between Cape Flattery and points in the Gulf of Georgia will be benefited by the establishment of a light and fog signal at this point. Several large vessels have been ashore in the vicinity of Kellett Bluff, and casualties have been avoided merely through fortunate circumstances 35
attending the grounding of the vessels. The Board therefore recommends that an appropriation of $30,000 be made for the establishment of a light and fog-signal at this important point. Consisting of a thirty-eight-foot octagonal tower rising from a concrete fog signal building, Lime Kiln Lighthouse was the last major light established in Washington. Proposals for the construction of the station were invited, but the resulting bids were considered excessive, and the work was instead done by hired labor. Construction commenced in August 1918, and the light from the tower’s fourth-order Fresnel lens was first exhibited on June 30, 1919. Two dwellings, also built of reinforced concrete and containing six rooms – a bath, and a basement, were provided for the keepers. The lighthouse is built atop solid rock, about twenty feet above high water. The tower’s helical-bar lantern room, which was fabricated by Wisconsin Iron and Wire Works of Milwaukee, has a diameter of just over seven feet, and is encircled by a concrete deck and gallery. The original Fresnel lens had three 60° panels, situated opposite a 180° spherical mirror, and revolved atop a mercury float to produce a group of three flashes every ten seconds at a height of fifty-five feet above the surrounding water. Kerosene for the incandescent oil-vapor 36
lamp was stored in a tank at the foot of the tower and forced to the service room by compressed air.
can be seen in the woods near the lighthouse and are used to house Lime Kiln State Park personnel.
The station’s first fog signal was a third-class reed horn operated by compressed air furnished by a duplicate set of oil-engine-driven compressors. Two large horns, mounted on the north and south walls of the lighthouse, sounded a group of two blasts every twenty seconds when needed. A six-inch well, driven into solid rock and located 100 feet southeast of the lighthouse, provided a plentiful supply of water for the station.
On December 15, 1978, Lime Kiln Light Station was declared a Historic Site by the Washington State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and placed on the Washington Heritage Register and the National Register of Historic Places.
Lime Kiln was the last lighthouse in Washington to be electrified, not receiving this modern convenience until well after World War II. The Bonneville Power Administration laid a submarine power cable from Anacortes to the San Juan Islands in 1951, and power lines were then run to Lime Kiln Lighthouse. The Fresnel lens was eventually replaced by a nonrotating, 375-mm drum lens with an electric light bulb, and two electric foghorns were installed. The station’s light was automated in 1962, and a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire was built around the lighthouse to deter vandals. Today, the tower flashes a white light once every ten seconds, and the fog signal has been discontinued. The two original keeper’s dwellings
In 1985, the lighthouse and surrounding sea were dedicated as a whale sanctuary and research station for marine mammal scientists. Under the direction of the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, scientists based in the lighthouse track the movements and behavior of the orca whales, which reside in the area. Webcams and a hydrophone are located at the lighthouse to facilitate remote tracking of the whales. With the lighthouse “staffed” once again, the chain-link fence encircling it was removed, making it accessible for visitors to view. On a clear day there is a commanding view of the Olympic Mountain range and the shores of Vancouver Island from the lighthouse. On many days though, it’s misty and soft. If you listen real close…you just might hear a whale sing.
Cattle Point Lighthouse Located at Cattle Point, near American Camp. The name stems from the appearance of cattle in 1853. The major trading company, Hudson’s Bay, came here to establish a ranch of sheep and cattle, which they dropped off near the current location of the lighthouse. In 1857 a ship was stranded there, and the cattle it carried swam ashore near the point. It wasn’t until 1888, though, that the area became a navigational aid using a lens lantern. A soldier named Jekle, who had chosen to stay on the island after it had been officially named part of the United States, served as its keeper. Over 30 years later, a radio compass station was established by the U.S. Navy, and seaman were put in charge of maintaining it. Using bearings from that station and others, ships sailing around the island could pinpoint their location in any weather. The lighthouse as we know it today, standing 34 feet tall, was erected in 1935 after the compass station closed.
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Roche Harbor Mausoleum Afterglow Vista, as it’s called, is not your runof-the-mill mausoleum. As you approach the forested monument, you’ll think you stumbled on a misplaced bit of Rome. A circle of pillars rises high over a limestone table around which sit seven stone chairs. 38
Everything at Afterglow is symbolic from the winding stairs leading to the table — that represents the winding path of one’s life, to the broken column on the memorial’s west side. That’s an ode to the “unfinished state of man’s work when the string of life is broken.” A proud Methodist, Republican and Mason, McMillin turned to the Masonic Order when he designed the mausoleum. One chair is conspicuously missing, the one in front of the broken pillar, and local rumor has is that it’s symbolic of one of McMillin’s sons who
married out of the family’s Methodist religion. Getting to Afterglow Vista requires a half-mile walk through forest, which is interesting in its own right. The trail snakes through a wooded graveyard in which several graves are surrounded by wrought iron or picket fences. It’s an easy trail to follow with plenty of signs pointing the way to the mausoleum.
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Credits
Photo Credits
visitsanjuans.com thesanjuans.com/orcas-island-places/orcas-parks-forest/orcasislands-mt-constitu.shtml shawislanders.org faculty.washington.edu/cemills/UWSanJuanPreserves.html lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=105 fridayharbor.com/san-juan-island-lighthouses/ sanjuanislands.kulshan.com/Washington/San%20Juan%20County/ San%20Juan%20Island/Friday%20Harbor/Outdoors/Afterglow%20 Mausoleum.htm
Amanda Pfeiffer