As part of Northwest Weekend's series "Escape Artists, Places and People That Make Great Getaways," Seattle Times reporter Tan Vinh visits Quarryman Hall at Roche Harbor Resort on San Juan Island.
By Tan Vinh | November 6, 2008
There is something comforting about an island that does not feel like one — much better than a peninsula where you inevitably come to the realization, "There is only one way out."
San Juan Island is big enough and the journey just long enough, aboard the best ferry ride in the system, that it never feels claustrophobic. When you dock, there's that one-two cadence of the cars exiting over the landing's apron into downtown Friday Harbor. You've arrived.
By Alan Berner | May 27, 2005
Take a Walk
Location: San Juan Island.
Trail length: Three miles.
Level of difficulty: Flat-to-gentle grassy lawn and level-to-moderate dirt/gravel trails.
By Cathy McDonald | October 21, 2004
CYPRESS ISLAND We're just about to enter the shadow of a craggy rock promontory called Eagle Cliff when a bald eagle as if on cue soars in from who knows where. After a few awkward slow-down flaps of its 6½-foot wingspan, it settles high above us on the top rung of an island-edge fir snag. The eagle looks down on us and our four kayaks, its I-gotta-see-this visage implying that we're its amusement for the next little while.
By Mike McQuaide | August 19, 2004
It's a blustery afternoon in early spring, and here on Guemes Island's eastern shore I've just realized that I'm an accessory to a crime.
For all I'm doing is standing around on this sandy, cobbly beach, watching as Baker, my 4-year-old son, stuffs booty into his cloth bag with all the gusto and resolve of a stagecoach robber.
By Mike McQuaide | April 7, 2003
After snapping a few photos of a wolf eel, I start to move on. As I do an octopus arm comes out of the kelp and reaches around. I get the attention of my dive buddy.
We're diving in the San Juan Islands, where these undersea creatures can be spotted, usually without incident but this encounter would be different.
The octopus has been sitting right above the wolf eel the whole time, but it has camouflaged itself well, looking just like the rock. It has about an 8-foot span when it flares out, and weighs about 50 pounds.
By James Johnston | November 28, 2002
ROCHE HARBOR When we planned our summer sailing trip to the San Juans, we knew we'd do our annual hike up Mount Young behind English Camp. At the summit one morning, a foil-wrapped loaf of hot blueberry bread from a knapsack was a tasty complement to the island-studded view far into Canada.
Not in our plans, but now stamped just as firmly in our memory, was another morning last month spent wandering a new find, Westcott Bay Reserve, a 19-acre sculpture park on the edge of Roche Harbor resort, barely a stone's fling from the top of Mount Young.
By Brian J. Cantwell | September 5, 2002
SAN JUAN ISLAND -- Orca watching is a quintessential Northwest summertime activity, and there isn't a better place in the contiguous United States to see these majestic creatures from land than this island's rocky outer coast.
At Lime Kiln Point State Park, nicknamed Whale Watch Park, you can see orcas up close as they move along Haro Strait and around Deadman Bay.
By Amy Poffenbarger | July 4, 2002
I looked up just in time to see a mature bald eagle, talons extended, make a low pass through a stand of maple trees near British Camp National Historic Park on the northwest side of San Juan Island. Suddenly there was a loud "crack," the eagle stalled for just a split second, then flew off with a dead 2-inch diameter limb about five times the length of its body.
It's spring and nest-building season is in full swing for the 89 nesting pairs of bald eagles in San Juan County.
By Jeff Larsen | April 18, 2002
San Juan Island is the most developed of the major San Juan Islands and the most practical to visit without a car.
Friday Harbor's shops, restaurants, galleries and museums are within walking distance of the ferry landing. B&Bs and hotels are nearby, and bus service is available to other parts of the island.
Memorial Day weekend will be busy, but there's still time to beat the summer crowds. Things slow down again until the Fourth of July. July and August are the busiest months when many accommodations are booked in advance.
Getting there
By Carol Pucci | May 3, 2000
