Fri, Day #6. Cypress Island

Echo Bay, from the beach.  A couple of camping kids play with sticks.

     Another glorious morning!  Robert & Michelle take a kayak tour at dawn to scope the place out.  Upon return, they report that a family of otters was frolicking in the water nearby.

Sucia geology

      At every anchorage, one of the first things we must do is find those all-so-important land-based toilets.  Yes we have a head (i.e. toilet) on board, but unlike the tropical areas we've visited, they REALLY discourage boaters from dumping sewage anywhere near the islands.  Thus, we all avoid poop in the head as much as possible.  So that means that each morning, anyone with the need must head for shore for their "morning constitution".  And sometimes, that means a rather long kayak or dinghy ride, usually followed by a steep stairway climb.  Sucia Island is part of the Washington State Park System, and as such, they have composting toilets.  Interestingly enough, these toilets rarely have odor.  Emily, our onboard expert on waterless sanitation systems, approves of the design.

       But one thing the Park System does NOT provide is trash cans.  Thus, we must bag it up and save it till we get to a proper facility.  After a few days, the trash aboard Escape starts to pile up.

       At all of these remote parks, including Sucia, there are always campers ashore, with their tents.  Many were families with kids.  They bring lawn chairs, stoves, ice chests, and other creature comforts, and haul it from their nearby yacht via dinghy or kayak.  It's kind of a bummer, however, that they cannot have campfires.  How can you camp without a campfire?!?

Sign at Fossil Bay

      Robert has been really excited about coming here to Sucia.  Nearby Fossil Bay was aptly named, and being a hardcore fossil hound, he was off early to explore, "specimen bag" in hand.  He did find some fossils, but it turned out that actually gathering them was prohibited.  But, he got some great photos.

Fossils everywhere, but you could only take photos.

       Echo Bay was a superb place for kayaking.  Mitch and I spent a good chunk of the morning exploring the shoreline, above the shallow rocks.  I had seen photos of the shore in the cruising guide, but when you see those massive, fractured, layered, weathered, high bluffs in person, you realize that the photos just don't do it justice.  We also found a small SANDY beach tucked in a small cove.  (All the other beaches were really gravel.)  A lady was there playing fetch with her two dogs. 

David exploring by kayak in Echo Harbor

and Mitch, too.

      Kayaks are the ideal vessel for this kind of exploring.  In a kayak, you can go anywhere.  In a way, kayaking was like snorkeling, and a good substitute when the water was too cold.  Yes you still need a dinghy for hauling multiple people, provisions, and other stuff, but it's too bulky and noisy for real exploring.

On the trail to Johnson Point.  David in the foreground.

      Robert & I took the hike to Johnson Point, the eastern-most tip of one of the "finger" peninsulas.  Along the way we heard a knocking sound, looked up, and saw a MONSTER-sized woodpecker hammering away at a dead fir tree.  And the end of the trail, we were greeting with an awesome view - a 270⁰ panorama of the surrounding waterways, about 50 feet up.  Wow!  Mt. Baker was off in the distance, and Orcas Island was in the foreground.  There was a bench and some sort of geological survey marker.  Powerful currents in the water below ripped and roiled.  On the hike back, Woody was still hard at it up there.

Johnson Point.  That's Robert in the foreground.

Seals frolicking on the rocks

    We pulled up anchor at mid-afternoon for our "sail" to Cypress Island, over in the eastern part of the SJI archipelago.  I say "sail" in jest because, just like yesterday, the wind was a big fat zero.  Again I must use that dreadful diesel engine.  This boat has SAILS - I want to use them!

       But, as we approached the eastern tip of Orcas Island, I could see a different surface texture of water up ahead.  And as we cleared the point and entered the Rosario Strait, the wind came up.  Raise the sails!  Engine off!  Yes, life was good again.

      However, a mere 20 minutes later, the wind died as quickly as it came up.  Engine back on.  Sigh.

Robert pulled this monster seaweed off our rudder.

      We entered Eagle Harbor, on the east side of Cypress Island.  This was to be our "staging" anchorage for our final leg into Anacortes tomorrow morning. 

      Fill in the blank:  Eagle Harbor was __________.   

      If you said "gorgeous", you are correct!  Heck, ALL of the places we went were gorgeous!  Eagle Harbor was a bit smaller than the others, had high barren rock walls, and a perfect view of Mt. Baker.  About a dozen boats were there.  First things first:  drop the kayaks, go exploring, find the toilets.

      The map at the trailhead ashore showed a half-mile hike up to Duck Lake.  Hey - a lake - with ducks!  What's not to like?  So Emily and I took off on the rather steep trail that looked like it hadn't been maintained for awhile, so it was sorta in its "natural" state.   Clearly, it was the path less traveled. 

This is Duck Lake?!?

      Well, it turned out that Duck Lake was rather overgrown with reeds, lilly pads, and other vegetation so thick that you couldn't even see the water.  There was even the remains of what USED to be a bench long, long ago.  No ducks, tho.  Well anyway, it was a nice side trip.

       After dark, the sky above was ablaze with millions of stars.  The Milky Way stood out like a swath of white paint.

Robert & Michelle, with Mt. Baker in the background