Spring in the San Juans
Well, we left out slip at Harborview Marina on the 1st of April in snow and slush, and moved over to the little cove by the FH Labs for a couple of days. We'd decided to head to Bellingham and Costco/Walmart to stock up for our trip home to SE Alaska this summer. Our time at Harborview was great! The people made us feel right at home, the docks were sheltered and snug and, the walk into town kept us - and the Sibs - exercised. The trip to Bellingham can take 6-8 hours depending on the currents; we spent 5-days getting there.
We figured we'd Geocache our way to B'ham. Geocaching is like treasure hunting or an Easter Egg hunt for grownups with gps's. Here's how I explained it to my niece: "We've started geocaching. It's kind of like hunting for treasure with a portable gps. All over the world there's these secret caches that most people just walk past without noticing. Geocachers follow the gps and unravell clues to find the cache. You log your find into a logbook at the site and online. The successful geocacher can take some of the treasure as a reward and usually, leave something equally valuable in its place. For example, we took a Woody (from Toy Story) rubber action figure and left a keyring with a sand-dollar charm in its place. We spent our trip from Friday Harbor to here in Bellingham looking for geocaches who's coordinates we'd found on the Geocaching.com website. We've found five of the six we've looked for so far. So far, all the caches we've found have been in locations that you need a boat to get to. That's not always the case of course. They're everywhere."
So, that's how we got to Bellingham. First stop, Blind Island in Blind Bay on Shaw Island. This is a small dot of an island. We were able to release to dogs from their leashes and let them "Fly! Be Free!" Did they ever! Deja chased Canada Geese, Sonny rolled in Canada Goose poop. After 2 tries, we were able to locate the cache (a very tricky clue to the second coordinates). Then over to the small store at the ferry dock for beer and a geocache there (see the picture at the top of this entry). Deja dug in the gravel on the beach, Sonny rolled in rotting seaweed. From there, we motored around to Spencer Spit on Lopez Island for a stroll along the driftwood covered beach and another geocache. Deja discovered some deer poop, Sonny rolled in it. People come to Spencer Spit to picnic and, while they're there, build forts out of the driftwood. Some are quite impressive.
We left the Spit and headed to Doe Island for lunch. We tied to the state float and walked the trails all over this small beauty of an island. The Sibs had the run of the dock, Sonny found some otter poop to roll in. It was pretty rolly in the little bay so we decided to keep going and head around to Inati Bay on Lummi Island just off Bellingham. There's a geocache there but, after 3 tries, we were unable to find it. (The owner, after we'd logged our failure, went and checked the site and found it missing. He's since replaced it with an newer better cache.)
We shopped til we dropped in Bellingham on Easter weekend. We also geocached 3 sites around town - one, 'It's a Nautical Life' with a very tricky clue to the final coordinates. Christine gets the prize for figuring out that one! It was a doozy.
After shopping, we left Bellingham on Monday and headed for Matia Island and more hiking and geocaching. The hike was great. The geocache had been moved from its coords and though we found it, it was a fluke. Still, a find's a find. Next day we headed to Sucia Island and Fossil Bay where we anchored the first night and picked up a mooring buoy the next. We walked out the trail to Ev Henry Point for another cache. All in all, it was much easier the last time we'd walked it 15-years ago! From there, we headed to Deer Harbor on Orcas Island for another walk on the shore and another cache. Then, back here to Friday Harbor so Christine could see her doctor and we could take Sonny to the vet to get him chipped. After removing: deer poop, otter poop, rotten seaweed, and goose poop!
We'll be leaving here today or tomorrow and heading around to Roche Harbor, Reid Harbor then Sydney in British Columbia where we'll start our trip north.
David and Christine and the Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK
Currently lying: By the labs in Friday Harbor
We figured we'd Geocache our way to B'ham. Geocaching is like treasure hunting or an Easter Egg hunt for grownups with gps's. Here's how I explained it to my niece: "We've started geocaching. It's kind of like hunting for treasure with a portable gps. All over the world there's these secret caches that most people just walk past without noticing. Geocachers follow the gps and unravell clues to find the cache. You log your find into a logbook at the site and online. The successful geocacher can take some of the treasure as a reward and usually, leave something equally valuable in its place. For example, we took a Woody (from Toy Story) rubber action figure and left a keyring with a sand-dollar charm in its place. We spent our trip from Friday Harbor to here in Bellingham looking for geocaches who's coordinates we'd found on the Geocaching.com website. We've found five of the six we've looked for so far. So far, all the caches we've found have been in locations that you need a boat to get to. That's not always the case of course. They're everywhere."
So, that's how we got to Bellingham. First stop, Blind Island in Blind Bay on Shaw Island. This is a small dot of an island. We were able to release to dogs from their leashes and let them "Fly! Be Free!" Did they ever! Deja chased Canada Geese, Sonny rolled in Canada Goose poop. After 2 tries, we were able to locate the cache (a very tricky clue to the second coordinates). Then over to the small store at the ferry dock for beer and a geocache there (see the picture at the top of this entry). Deja dug in the gravel on the beach, Sonny rolled in rotting seaweed. From there, we motored around to Spencer Spit on Lopez Island for a stroll along the driftwood covered beach and another geocache. Deja discovered some deer poop, Sonny rolled in it. People come to Spencer Spit to picnic and, while they're there, build forts out of the driftwood. Some are quite impressive.
We left the Spit and headed to Doe Island for lunch. We tied to the state float and walked the trails all over this small beauty of an island. The Sibs had the run of the dock, Sonny found some otter poop to roll in. It was pretty rolly in the little bay so we decided to keep going and head around to Inati Bay on Lummi Island just off Bellingham. There's a geocache there but, after 3 tries, we were unable to find it. (The owner, after we'd logged our failure, went and checked the site and found it missing. He's since replaced it with an newer better cache.)
We shopped til we dropped in Bellingham on Easter weekend. We also geocached 3 sites around town - one, 'It's a Nautical Life' with a very tricky clue to the final coordinates. Christine gets the prize for figuring out that one! It was a doozy.
After shopping, we left Bellingham on Monday and headed for Matia Island and more hiking and geocaching. The hike was great. The geocache had been moved from its coords and though we found it, it was a fluke. Still, a find's a find. Next day we headed to Sucia Island and Fossil Bay where we anchored the first night and picked up a mooring buoy the next. We walked out the trail to Ev Henry Point for another cache. All in all, it was much easier the last time we'd walked it 15-years ago! From there, we headed to Deer Harbor on Orcas Island for another walk on the shore and another cache. Then, back here to Friday Harbor so Christine could see her doctor and we could take Sonny to the vet to get him chipped. After removing: deer poop, otter poop, rotten seaweed, and goose poop!
We'll be leaving here today or tomorrow and heading around to Roche Harbor, Reid Harbor then Sydney in British Columbia where we'll start our trip north.
David and Christine and the Sibs
SV Raven
Juneau, AK
Currently lying: By the labs in Friday Harbor
posted by SV/MC Raven at
1:17 PM
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