Weekend getaway to Stuart Island

Amy had been up in Vancouver BC for a Salish Sea science conference and so we met her up north to do a trip to Stuart Island. Saturday dawned clear and beautiful, and after a quick trip to our favorite Friday Harbor bakery we were away.

Being aboard the boat is as much a journey on a magic carpet as one can imagine. There is something distinctly transcendent about it, at least insofar as the experience goes much deeper and wider than what is happening in the manifest world. We experience stretched time (without mind altering substances!) and compressed focus, expanded perspective and lucid insights.

Approaching western tip of Spieden with Stuart in the foreground

Why does leaving land aboard a fiberglass floating object produce such a wonderful and profound impact on us?

It does.

So we went away to Stuart, traveling the familiar path up San Juan Channel, and facing the important dilemma of traversing the south, or north, side of Spieden Island. Winds were calm, and currents were strong on the ebb, which means you fight current going north on either side of Spieden (a local knowledge reality that defies logic without intimate knowledge of the local geography). The day grew more sunny, and warmer, and the fall rains have produced the burst of green that is our late year spring. We chose the south facing side of Spieden as it was so sunny and we enjoy the almost African feel of this side when the sun is out.

Much to our delight, all three species of non-native herbivores were out in large numbers. The Sitka Deer, Fallow Deer, and Mouflon Sheep were all right along the water. The antlers on the Fallow Deer are truly impressive, as are the horns on the Mouflon sheep. Such wild and exotic animals to have on a Salish Sea island. Oh how I wish we could place a few mountain lions on the island to cull the herd and allow the Garry Oaks to regenerate. There is not a single young tree on the south side because those damned hooved locusts devour ever living thing down to the ground. Wish the owner would at least hire an arborist to cage some oaks to let them replace the majestic elder trees that are now there.

So we pulled into Reid Harbor and immediately set out for a trip up our favorite peak. The walk is just fantastic, and this crisp sunny day made it all the more enjoyable with the maples changing color. Once up on top, looking out over Haro Strait and Vancouver Island, we layed in the sun on a soft grassy slope and forgot about ourselves.

Li Po evidently said, many years ago:
The birds have vanished into the sky,
And now the last cloud drains away.

We sit together the mountain and me,
Until only the mountain remains.

This is what we experienced. My favorite tree in all the Salish Sea is up on this spot, and we were laying right near it, embraced by the beauty it radiates all over the surrounding area. The boys played, and were content.

And then this happened, and that transpired, and then we ate some yummy those, and talked about things, and played games of whatever, and slept deeply and traveled more, and the next thing you know we were all very happy and back in Friday Harbor this morning to begin our trip back to this, our other home.

Just another trip to Stuart. Did I mention we were alone in all of Reid Harbor! Just another trip, and yet each one is like an exclamation point in our lives.