Snowy escape to Stuart Island

After all the recent political turmoil, we had a million reasons to stay home and read the NYT and attend a gathering by our local Congressional rep about paths of resistance, and just stay warm on a snowy cold weekend. Did we? You know better.

Owen headed up as the blizzard starts

We gathered ourselves up and sped off to Friday Harbor on Friday night to get away from it all. Away from news for a weekend. Away from screens. Away from the reasonable choices we make each day to maintain our household. Into nature. Into wilderness. Into adventure. Into the sanctity of each other.



Departing Friday Harbor is always a pleasure. You turn that corner headed north past Point Caution (which requires none) and the whole of the Northern San Juans and BC beckons. We decided to head to Stuart and Reid Harbor because the forecast was quite volatile and included the possibility of both SE and NE winds. That puts Jones out of contention.

It's two hours at about 6 knots to Reid Harbor from Friday Harbor. And such a beautiful journey. Yellow Island, Jones Island, Orcas Island, Waldron Island, Spieden Island, Sentinel Island, and all the BC islands are spread around you in a constant array of diverse beauty. And the moods of the place are so intensely variable based on the weather. The light so changing.

So we enjoyed a fantastic and quiet overnight in Reid Harbor, and once again, like always, we were the only boat there in Winter. We hiked up to one of our favorite spots and arrived just in time for a blizzard! White out conditions. The boys were delighted.

We played a lot of cards, ate good food, and were more 1917 than 2017. And for it is worth, I wouldn't want to turn back the clock to that year, no thank you. As MLK said, something like, the arc of history is long, and bends toward moral progress. Being in wilderness reminds us of what changes, and what doesn't.