As we continue to explore Washington state's San Juan Islands for an upcoming summer paddle, we had to stop by Roche Harbor. Located on San Juan Island, Roche Harbor has a lot going on. It is a popular port of entry for boats entering the US from Canada, especially in the summer. The historic buildings and lime kilns are what's left of a once thriving lime business - the company once upon a time shipped island lime to major west coast cities (read more about the industry in another ETC post here).

   If you head to Roche Harbor by car like we did, you'll arrive in 'town' after you drive under a big resort sign. We actually avoided the road at first - not knowing anything about the history of the Harbor - but eventually had no other choice, there is pretty much just one road.
   "I don't want to go to a resort," I said to my wife. "I want to go to Roche Harbor - the town."
   Well, it turns out the resort is the town. The town is the resort…hmmm…interesting. The details of how this town/resort came to be is best explained here & here. 
   It's quite simple really. What you've basically got historically is a late 1800s British/American border feud that escalated into a full-blown pig war (with apparently only one casualty…uh…the pig), mixed later with a discovery of precious limestone and land claim by a Tacoma dude ("there's lime in them hills!"), a later purchase of the grounds by a family who started making the marina nice and welcoming guests, and then another purchase of the same land by some Seattle business folks who have really made the resort into, well, a resort. 
   Roche Harbor went from native land, to a pig war zone, to a bustling lime operation, to a boatel (before the old hotel was refinished), to what it is now - a great marina and resort village with condos sprinkled amongst ruins & a few 100 year old buildings (including the iconic Hotel de Haro).

   Stuff to do. In the summer - tons. Check out the link here to see the varied activities available at the resort (we didn't see too much of this stuff, we were there in the winter/off-season). 
   The things that concern us are the kayak launch area at the marina docks - it looks great - and the trail system that connects the resort to nearby British camp and beyond. We plan to return to check out both the British & American camps on foot - a pretty extensive trail system makes it all happen. The other thing we somehow missed? The creepy - I mean interesting - mausoleum of the former Lime company founder from back in the day (read about it here…guess who's ashes are locked in the seats of the chairs?). Maybe we'll check it out at the summer solstice and see if the light on the table rumor is true…oh ya - by the way, there is a light on the table rumor...interesting.

   So much history! I'll admit - once I found out the town was actually a resort I almost wrote it off as, well, a made-up town that is just a resort (Seaside Florida anyone?). After reading up on the history behind the place I am officially blown away. I know we'll be back on foot and by kayak. You should go too!  Meet you at the mausoleum at solstice?
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC                                                                                    www.rocheharbor.com

   The club is in wintertime-research-mode - preparing for a multi-day San Juan Island adventure this summer (see our earlier post from the Islands). Our plan for now is to leave our car on the mainland and take a boat from Anacortes or Bellingham to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. I say boat because we may approach a few local charters and see if we can hitch a ride (that would be sweeeet). Taking the Washington state ferry is our other option - it's what we took last month when we set out to explore San Juan Island by car.

   The ferry ride from Anacortes to San Juan Island (where we want to start our summer adventure) takes just over an hour. We tested it out over Veterans Day weekend last month, leaving on a Sunday and coming back on Monday. We had no problem with crowds while getting on - we arrived about 10 minutes ahead of time and made it right on (I'm sure this wouldn't be the case in the summer). We noticed a nice parking lot here too - almost fenced in - probably not a bad place to leave a car (it costs $20 to leave it here for a week). The ferry ride costs about $50 (roundtrip fare to San Juan Island for car & two passengers). 
   The plan in the summer is to leave a car  on the mainland and head as passengers to Friday Harbor (on San Juan Island), take all of our gear with us (our Innova kayaks pack small) & paddle back, camping along the way back to the terminal & our car.

   Things we still need to figure out - what's it like to leave the car for a week or so at the ferry terminal? Is it safe? Would leaving it at the Bellingham marina be better? (we read of a passenger ferry that leaves Bellingham in the summer). Can we fit two kayaks plus all of our camping gear on us to walk on as passengers in the first place? Will people look at us like we're crazy when we walk on with giant packs full of kayaking goodies {yes they will - kinda like they did when we hiked to Lake Serene for a paddle}. Will they be jealous when they learn of our plans {yes}. Should we fly to the islands via seaplane from Seattle?

   Can we do it? {We must!} The planning continues...     ~Paul & Amber      ETC

P.S. A few links:
Cascadia Marine Trail from www.thesanjuans.com 
Washington Water Trails Association {we just joined to gain access to printable maps!}
Anacortes Ferry Terminal

   {No} Well, kinda. We'll call it the last paddle of Autumn. It usually takes me a few weeks to accept that my paddling-in-a-t-shirt days are behind me and it's time to break out the xtratuf boots, dry-suit, neoprene gloves, crazy Canadian mountie fluffy hat and head out on the winter water. The good news? It's not crowded out there. The bad news? It's dark at 4:15 so it might be weekends only. Here's some pics from the final days. The final days of t-shirt kayaking in the Northwest…until March at least!
                                                         ~Paul, Vic, Keith      ETC

   Once upon a summer day, Captain wifey and I were looking for a land adventure. We were in the area and discovered Meadowdale Beach Park in Edmonds. It turned out to be a strategic visit, I'll explain more later, and we ended up hiking from the upper parking lot down through the woods following Lunds Gulch all the way to the beach (about 1.4 miles down hill, one-way). The whole park is around 100 acres of valley/trees/beach. 

   You're almost to the beach when you come upon a quaint little park ranger residence (pictured above). There did appear to be a parking lot down here too - that might be a good idea if you had a lot of beach gear for the day. However, with limited parking spaces, I bet it fills up pretty quick so plan accordingly! Pictured below - the beach.

   What's so strategic about this little picnic visit you say? Well, captain wifey thought this was just a nice summer walk for the sake of summer walking…turns out I was scoping out possible stops for a future paddle - Edmonds to Mukilteo. I'm actually trying to paddle northward from Seattle in small sections - I've done Golden Gardens to Edmonds, and I'm looking at the next leg of the journey (and places to stop along the way). Edmonds to Mukilteo, then Mukilteo to Everett, Everett to Camano Island, etc… Meadowdale Beach Park - a nice stop along the way!
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC