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| Walking on to the Guemes Island ferry |
Today, sixteen Happy Wanderers made the day trip to
Guemes Island, near Anacortes, about a half-hour's drive from Bellingham. It's a separate ferry from the main ferry terminal, and it holds a few vehicles with has a nice walk-on path (see above) that takes you onto the small ferry.
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| The ferry itself |
It was cool and a little foggy as we boarded the ferry for a quick five-minute hop onto the small island. Guemes Island isn't very big, with maybe 13 miles of road across the 5,500 acres that make up the island. We walked along one of the roads for about two miles until we got to the trailhead leading us up to the summit of Guemes Mountain.
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| Hiking poles and sticks for the trip up |
Although you can't see it all that well in this picture, on the right side of the tree were lots of poles and walking sticks for people to borrow while making the 1.2-mile trip to the top. It is an easy climb, but you definitely need a little help on the final stretch, at least I did.
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| View from the trail |
If I lived on the island, I would probably be making plenty of trips up to enjoy the summit and get a good workout as well. It was sunny, but we had a breeze most of the time, and were in the shade on the way up.
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Viewing the surrounding islands
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We then needed to find a spot to have lunch. There wasn't a lot of shade on the summit, but we found a place where we could enjoy the view and the light breeze.
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| Our lunch spot |
It was actually pretty perfect. We had walked a little more than three miles to get here, and nobody was tired or out of sorts. It was just lovely to be in the company of so many Happy Wanderers.
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| My view at lunch |
It was really hard to get myself up to leave this wonderful place and return to the road below and make it onto the ferry. Before leaving, I was instructed to take a short walk on the summit to the view to the north, which was of our old friend, Mt. Baker.
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| Mt. Baker across the water |
Finally, we all made it off the island and onto the ferry, after a quick stop at the local store for a few supplies. We were accompanied on our return trip by a female eagle who was obviously looking for her own lunch. It was a good day, fun and sweet to find another place to enjoy the beautiful Pacific Northwest. I'll definitely return here again, maybe to see it in a different season, which I understand is beautiful in springtime with lots of flowers.
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| Farewell, eagle, and Guemes Island, for now |
:-)
Loved seeing that eagle--and the ferry! You do get around, DJan! Lots of beautiful scenery here. :^)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your visit to the island with us. I wonder how many people live there. Years ago my husband and I considered moving to an island in the Puget Sound area. It looks gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteWhat a truly wonderful outing - and in good company too.
ReplyDeleteIf I were the jealous type . . .
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful discovery. I love the idea of the ferry ride to get there too. A bit of an adventure! Beautiful as always, Jan.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised there was a place to hike that you haven't been before! That had to be fun! Loved seeing the eagle. :)
ReplyDeleteThis would be a great outing with a ferry ride and a new trail to explore.
ReplyDeleteAnother great hiking day for you in a different "town".
ReplyDeleteWell worth the hike!
ReplyDeleteOH, good hiking adventure! It's fun to find and explore new places,
ReplyDeleteWe drove onto Guemes Island once and drove around it.
I too was surprised that you had never gone there before. But sounds like you found another fun place to hike.
ReplyDeleteIt does look pretty perfect!
ReplyDeleteWell that looks like a pretty place to hike in all four seasons!
ReplyDeleteThis really was such a lovely outing with wonderful friends. I envy your physical abilities, DJan and how you persevere no matter what.
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