Photo of the Week – San Juan Islands

All things must come to an end, but it’s heart breaking to think about the closure of Strawberry Island to camping. With Washington State having such a shortfall of revenue, I understand the need and to be honest, in the last few years I think the island was getting over used, but there was a time when it was a ‘secret’ little gem of a get away tucked in between Rosario Strait and Cypress Island.

In this photo I was taking a small group on a loop through the San Juan Islands; Strawberry was our last night. The trip already was memorable, but this last night with it’s postcard perfect sunset just topped it off. We had pulled in our tents to make room for another group landing for the night, but by this time in the trip we where no longer a group of strangers and the close proximity wasn’t even noticed. We spent our evening huddled around the fire sipping warm drinks, and telling tales until one by one we headed to our bags.

Hopefully the recent closure will give the island time to recover itself and sometime in the future Washington will be able to allow other paddlers the chance to experience a bit of it’s magic.