Yellow Island Trip Report

April 2011

Ed Alm

Over the years I have several times enjoyed participating in the spring

paddling trip sponsored by WAKE to visit Yellow Island. This year I

determined that if the trip was going to happen I would have to lead it.

Yellow Island is a Nature Conservation Area owned and managed by the

Nature Conservancy. In the spring Yellow Island puts on a display of natural

native wild flowers that is spectacular. Yellow Island is located between

Shaw, Orcas and San Juan Islands. It is about a mile south of Jones Island

which is a State Park with camping facilities.

I started planning the trip in January. Some of the planning challenges were

finding a place to launch as well as park cars for a group. Also arranging with

the Nature Conservancy for permission for the group to visit Yellow Island.

The NC is careful about limiting large groups on Yellow Island. Also

synchronizing with Ferry times and the currents in Wasp and Spring passages

added a little complexity to the plan.

By a week prior to the trip we had 18 persons signed up to attend.

Unfortunately the weather forecast was looking a little cool and rainy. That

along with the fact that the whole spring had been very cool and the flowers

were very likely delayed caused many of us to have second thoughts.

Ultimately I decided that the weather forecast, although not what I would like

to see, was not bad enough to warrant canceling the trip. Friday morning

eight of us showed up at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal at 7:00 AM. The brave

souls that made the trip were, Ed and Bonnie Alm, Helene and Steve Irving,

Gary Henderson, Jill Rizk, Larry Lewis, and George Biehl. It was cool and

cloudy. By the time we were launching on Orcas at 9:00 the sun had come

out and it was a glorious but cool day. We even needed our sunglasses. No

wind, the water was calm and the currents were with us. Instead of paddling

directly to Jones Island from our launch site near the Orcas Ferry landing, the

group decided to take a more circuitous route touring around West Sound.

Ultimately this turned a planned 5 mile paddle into 11 miles but added a lot of

interesting shoreline, wildlife and waterfalls to the trip. We ended up

stopping for lunch at Deer Harbor where we could buy some treats including

cold milk as well as make use of their flush toilets. After a late lunch we

headed over to Jones Island to set up camp. Once we got to camp most of us

had had enough paddling for the day and were content to sit by the fire and

enjoy the view. The campfire was very welcome because the predicted cool

temperatures stayed with us all day.

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny. After a leisurely breakfast we

left for Yellow Island. Our group was scheduled to tour the island at 10:00.

We arrived on time and the caretaker met us and gave a nice orientation talk.

After that we were free to roam the trails on the island at our leisure. We

were surprised to find lots of flowers in bloom although, according to the

caretaker the flowers blooming were much later this year. The bright sun

really helped the experience. After about an hour of wandering all over the

island we were ready to get back in the boats and wander around in the

water. We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon paddling around

the wasp islands, exploring nooks and crannies. We found an acceptable

beach for lunch although it was north facing so we couldn't get the full

benefit of the sun. After lunch we decided to jump into the pretty healthy

current running in Wasp Passage between Crane and Shaw Island. This gave

us a fun but short lived ride toward camp. As we headed back to camp the

wind was rising and made for a choppy ride across Spring Passage. When we

arrived back at Jones there was a group of six paddlers sitting on the beach

soaking up the sun. Dan Harris and Pat Peacock were among them, so we

had a nice visit. Sitting in the sun became just too addictive and most of us

(all but one). Spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in camp enjoying the

sunshine and pleasant weather. That evening we were treated to a very nice

moonrise over the water that we watched as we sat around the campfire.

Sunday morning we were up early to get the boats packed and get on our

way, we had a ferry to catch. The whole group was very efficient and we left

on or before our planned time. As we headed back to the Orcas Ferry Landing

the current gave us a boost. We ended up with an extra 45 minutes so the

group decided to add in a visit to Blind Island which was only a slight detour.

The low tide made for a pretty rough landing situation at Blind Is. But we had

a nice rest stop there. After that is was back to our original launch site and

then in line for the ferry. We all had time while waiting for the ferry to peruse

the little shops and buy some treats at the bakery.

We said our good-byes on the ferry and when we landed in Anacortes we all

headed our separate ways. A very pleasant group, a very pleasant trip.