Our WiFi is quite slow at the Orca Inn (a place that we hate other than that), so it took forever to upload the day’s photos. I could have cut more of them out, but I decided to sacrifice narrative instead. So, just a brief description, which is fine since many of you probably are well familiar with San Juan Island anyway.
We started the day by walking down to the waterfront for an early breakfast, and were on the road by 10. It took us a while to get ourselves and our bikes out the door because we only have about five square feet of usable space to work with in our tiny room. It slows you down quite a bit if you have to wait for your partner to finish changing clothes before you can start because you need to be in the same space.
The ride was brilliant. Conditions were as good as you can hope for here in midsummer - traffic was reasonably light, winds were moderate, and except for a few very light sprinkles in the afternoon it was sunny, warm and beautiful. We started our loop of the island by heading south to American Camp and Cattle Point, and then biked up the west side past False Bay and Lime Kiln State Park. This is a really wonderful ride, even better than I had remembered - the countryside is wide open and the views are fantastic, and for much of the ride there are quiet secondary roads that let you avoid the traffic.
We spent most of the day in the southern half of the island, getting off the bike to loiter on the beach and scramble on the rocks. We ate our lunch - turkey and cheddar sandwiches we picked up at the deli this morning - sitting by the side of the road staring at beautiful False Bay until we couldn’t stand facing into the wind any longer.
After lunch the ride continues up the west side, with great views across Haro Strait to Vancouver Island. This is prime Orca-spotting country apparently, but we didn’t see any today - just a lot of deer, birds, and knockout views. Somewhere around Lime Kiln the terrain changes significantly - it’s rockier, hillier, and forested, the open fields and inspiring seascapes are replaced by dense conifer/madrona woods.
We made quick work of the last third of the ride, circling the north end on West Valley and Roche Harbor Roads. The traffic is heavier here, and you can’t really just relax and look around as you ride. It’s safe enough, but if we come back some day I think I’d spend it all in the south and west side, and maybe just reverse the ride after Lime Kiln.
In the parking lot of our motel, we marvel at the Scoot Coupe, a vehicle we haven’t seen before. It’s an electric three wheeler, with a maximum speed of about 35 mph. We saw a lot of these on the island today, and were impressed. They look like fun and make a small footprint on the road. I’d much rather see folks wheeling around in these than in their cars.
Most of the southern cape is a historical natural park, protecting American Camp - a U.S. outpost during the years when the British and Americans jointly occupied the island. This is a laundress’s shed, one of the few surviving structures.
Most of the southern cape is covered by a historical national park that preserves American Camp. There’s a nice unpaved road south of American Camp that let us escape the traffic for awhile.
On South Beach. This is part of a small cluster of about thirty gulls squatting on the rocks. The large, pearly grey ones are Glaucous-winged Gulls, and the red beaked ones are Heermann’s Gulls. I was surprised by the Heermann’s - we’ve seen them in Southern California, but I didn’t know they came this far north.
Our picnic spot, looking across False Bay. Beyond the bay is the Strait of Jun de Fuca and the Olympic Peninsula. I don’t think I’ve seen this view before - quiet False Bay Road might be the best cycling road on the island, but I don’t think I’ve ridden it before.
While we ate our sandwiches, a small flock of sanderlings flew in below us. They’re constantly in motion, poking between the rocks for food, constantly moving in and out of the shadows. Not the easiest subject to get a good shot of.
