San Juan Islands Sea Kayaking from Anacortes

Oops! I guess that we've been a little slow to update the Reports from the Field. The last push of our peak season got the best of us. Our good friend Josh from the North Cascades Institute stopped by and gave us a little grief for falling behind. He's a former kayak guide out here who relies on these reports to keep him close the islands that he loves. This one's for you Josh, thanks for keeping us on our toes!

The last few weeks have been great. The most notable wildlife sighting came when Wayne was out on a Burrows Island trip and witnessed a Bald eagle actually pick a river otter out of the water! If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes we'd probably dismiss the story as some sort of exageration. To make the event even more crazy, it seems that the Otter was a bit too much for the eagle and so it snagged a fish out of the Otter's grip and then released the animal which fell back into the sea. You heard it here folks, believe it or not.

Now we are settling into the quieter pace of September. The San Juan Islands are an entirely different sort of experience during this month. The kids are back to school and fewer people are traveling. Even our quiet side of the San Juans seem a little more peaceful now. Very little boat traffic is out on the water and even the seals seem a little more relaxed. The beautiful thing about September is that the weather is generally as nice as during the height of summer. That's the secret of the San Juan Islands. Great weather, no crowds, and perfect sea kayaking conditions prevail.

Several of our guides are starting to head out this month. Some are getting back to school. Others are going on one last adventure trip before heading for their winter jobs. Elisa has left to circumnavigate Vancouver Island with some friends. Jeff is circumambulating Mt. Rainier along the Wonderland trail. Dave is probably hanging by his fingernails off of some 1000 foot granite face somewhere in California by now. The beauty of working in this industry is the great people who we get to interact with on the job. A hearty thanks, and a great big hug goes out to all of our staff this year. Thanks for making this summer a resounding success! Although our paths may diverge, we hope to receive some Reports From The Field from all of you from time to time.

Our Deception Pass trips are still going out on Saturdays and Sundays until October 1st. The Outer Island kayak trips are also scaled back to Sat, Sun, and a limited mid-week schedule. There are still some Multi-day expeditions heading out this month as well. As always, our Burrows Island tours will be running daily until October, and then on demand all winter long. Come on out and experience the quiet season in the San Juan Islands.