This morning S and I dress in traditional Northwest layers of fleece and rain gear, fill our water bottles and pack the car with sandwiches, a map and guidebook, two cameras and our typical spirit for adventure. We disembark the inter-island ferry devoid of preconceived ideas for the outing — then round a bend and immediately spy to our amusement two long-necked llamas gawking from a pasture. Yes, this was going to be an interesting day.
On a whim last week, S and I went to Shaw Island. We had two ferry tickets that were going to expire within a matter of days but only one real reason to use them. We needed one for a trip to the mainland — for monthly supplies — but the other ticket would go to waste if it wasn’t used.
The night before the whim took hold, S had plotted an 11-mile hike for “us” along the Mount Pickett route on Orcas. I didn’t exactly agree to the hike, but I didn’t disagree either. I said, “I’ll sleep on it.” In the morning — to my relief – the weather turned disagreeable, and S agreed to substitute a day of sightseeing on Shaw – the only island with ferry service we hadn’t visited.
The ride from the Codfish Lane house to the ferry terminal is about 45 minutes; add to that terminal wait and load time, a whopping 10 minutes in-route — and we figured we spent more time going to and from Shaw than we did all told on the island.
A LITTLE BIT OZ, A LITTLE BIT DOOLITTLE
Shaw is the smallest of the San Juan Islands with ferry service, which for 27 years docked at Shaw terminal with the help of Franciscan nuns. The small group of women relocated to Oregon and relinquished their ferry responsibilities — along with their management of the post office, general store and marina — to local buyers in 2004.
Including a map and two pictures, Shaw Island consumes on average two pages in the San Juan Islands’ guidebooks and requires approximately two hours for proper sightseeing. This includes stoppage time for taking pictures, skipping rocks, walking the park beach and connecting with area llamas.
There’s no restaurant, no motel, and very little activity on a Thursday, except for a brief encounter with three kayakers we met at the beach. (One kayaker clearly hadn’t planned on the absence of a liquor store on the island and was looking for the nearest option — which for the record is at Orcas Landing.)
Still, Shaw is anything but passé.
Indian Cove, for example, offers one of the few sandy beaches in all of the San Juan Islands and a protected and convenient launch area for kayakers and boaters. It also offers the only camping on the island, 11 campsites (plus a marine-only site) above the beach.
Fall color emerges along winding blacktop roads which follow serene bays and inlets, and cross necks flanked by bleached-white logs and black rock and sailboats at moorings.
Inland is a pristine red schoolhouse, which still serves elementary-age island children and is so picture perfect I swear on my third-grade teacher’s grave even I would have paid attention if I had attended there.
The schoolhouse sits kitty-corner from the Shaw Island Historical Museum, dramatically highlighted by a large wooden reef-netting boat at its entrance. The Northern Straits Salish used reef nets strung between canoe-like boats to harvest salmon during runs – a process later adopted by commercial fishing camps in the San Juans.Shaw Island is full of quirky surprises, a subtle beauty and an intense sense of community. It’s one of the only places you’re likely to see someone driving a Volkswagon Thing, find local exchanges pinned to a bulletin board, and uncover small pastures of fruit trees which trunks are formed of such unique character you feel you’re caught in a scene from the “Wizard of Oz” waiting for one of them to throw an apple at your head.
THE TWO LLAMAS ARE STANDING IN A SMALL FIELD ACROSS FROM A PICTURESQUE BAY. S pulls the car over, digs out a long lens and gets out to take a photo. Immediately the two llamas – which honestly look a bit like people in animal costume — run to the fence line, now only inches from her face. I stay in the car, roll down the window and snap a few good photos, two of which I’m certain are award-winners.Back at the house I do a little research on current Shaw. While the Franciscan nuns are indeed gone from the island, a 300-acre Benedictine Monastery of nuns, Our Lady of the Rock, still operates on the island. They raise among other things rare breed farm animals, including, Cotswold sheep, Highland cattle, alpaca and, of course, llamas. ∞
© 2010 Susan Anderson and “Away here.” Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Additional photos © Orcas Island Photos.
Lovely article…glad you liked Shaw Island! We love it here. The two llamas in the picture are ours…El Nino and Fidalgo.
Thanks for sharing; we’ll be certain to call them by name next time! They really are full of character. And just to say, Shaw is truly charming. We plan to return soon.
Please do!
Thank you Susan. My parents owned the store back in the 60’s. I haven’t been back for such a long time and it’s nice to know not to much has changed.
The fact that little has changed is what made the experience worthwhile. You’d be pleased to know we did go into the store — which stocks a good selection of “healthy” foods. But we left with a bag of potato chips and a box of ginger candy!
I enjoyed your great little article about Shaw Island. We still have a few friends out on Neck Point and they’ll also enjoy your comments and insights about Shaw. I haven’t been up there for a few years and I’m glad it hasn’t changed.
Thanks, Kevin. We drove out to the neck on Driftwood Dr. then walked down to the beach — beyond the massive pile of driftwood — just as the inter-island ferry from Friday Harbor came through the narrow passage. Talk about timing. The juxtaposition of the white ferry against the backdrop of tiny islands was incredible to see from that perspective.
Take a look at the neck area on Google Maps; all that driftwood shows up in the aerials! Still, its hard to imagine the sheer volume.
Excellent writing, from a part time Shaw resident. Utopia for me. But you have a great way with words.