Three Days, Two Islands, and One Very Cold Shower
Sometimes the best adventures are the ones that don’t go exactly according to plan.
That was certainly the case with my San Juan Islands Tour with my friend Patrick Allen. The original plan was simple: pack up the car, head to Anacortes, take the ferry to Lopez Island, set up camp at Spencer Spit State Park, and spend several days exploring the islands by bicycle.
What actually happened involved an unexpectedly fast hike, a first-ever ride around San Juan Island, a chance encounter with another Air Force veteran, an absolutely fantastic sandwich, a shower that was supposed to be hot but definitely wasn’t, and ultimately deciding that I’d had enough island adventure and it was time to go home.
And honestly, it was a pretty great trip.
Tuesday: Lopez Island and an Unexpected Hike
On Tuesday, August 4, I packed up the car and headed north to Anacortes. I had a reservation on the ferry to Lopez Island, where I would be camping at Spencer Spit State Park. Patrick would be joining me later.
After arriving, I got my campsite set up and had some time to kill before Patrick arrived. Rather than sitting around camp, I decided to go for a hike.
I ended up hiking about 2½ miles in an hour.
That might not sound particularly remarkable, but for me it was huge. It was the fastest I’d hiked since I was in my twenties!
Even better, I was wearing my barefoot shoes, and my feet felt great. I had none of the foot pain I’ve experienced when hiking in traditional boots—or even when wearing prescription orthotics. It was a nice surprise to discover that my barefoot shoes were working so well for me.
Eventually, I returned to camp, and Patrick arrived that evening.
Our plan for the next day was to ride San Juan Island. We knew it was going to be a long day, so we turned in at a decent hour and tried to get a good night’s sleep.
Wednesday: My First Ride on San Juan Island
The next morning, we had about four miles to ride from our campsite to the ferry landing. From there, we’d take the inter-island ferry to San Juan Island.
San Juan is the last stop on the inter-island route, so it took more than an hour to get there, plus it was running late by 30 minutes..
When we arrived in Friday Harbor, we went in search of breakfast. We found a place that was clearly popular with the locals, which is always a good sign, and had a really good breakfast. That gave us the fuel we needed for what was going to be a fairly long afternoon on the bike.
By the time we were ready to start riding, it was almost 11:30 a.m.
Our return ferry was scheduled for 2:00 p.m., and there was absolutely no way we were going to finish the ride we wanted to do by then. So we decided to forget about that ferry and just keep riding.
And I’m really glad we did.
San Juan Island was absolutely beautiful. It was my first time there, and I was immediately impressed by the scenery. The roads were relatively quiet, too, with surprisingly little vehicle traffic. It made for a wonderful day on the bike.
One of our stops was Lime Kiln State Park, home to the famous lighthouse overlooking Haro Strait.
From Lime Kiln, we continued toward Roche Harbor.
We stopped there for a break, and I ordered a lemonade while Patrick had a beer. While we were sitting at the bar, I struck up a conversation with another Air Force veteran—a relatively young Black woman who had recently moved to the area.
It’s one of the things I love about traveling and cycling: you never know who you’re going to meet.
A simple stop for a drink turned into a really nice conversation with someone who shared a connection with me that we wouldn’t necessarily have discovered otherwise.
From Roche Harbor, we continued our ride toward Friday Harbor, where we would eventually catch the ferry back to Lopez Island.
By the time we got back to Friday Harbor, we’d had our breakfast hours earlier, ridden a beautiful loop around the island, visited Lime Kiln, stopped in Roche Harbor, and had plenty of adventure for one day.
We caught the ferry back to Lopez Island and then had about four miles to ride from the ferry landing back to our campsite at Spencer Spit.
By the time we finally arrived at camp, it was around 8 p.m. I wasn’t looking for anything complicated for dinner. I think I ended up eating canned mackerel, crackers, and an avocado.
Sometimes that’s exactly what you need after a long day on the bike.
Thursday: Back to Lopez Island
The original plan for Thursday had been to ride on Orcas Island.
But there was another factor to consider.
Cascade Bicycle Club was doing an official tour, and more than 200 cyclists were expected to be heading over to San Juan Island on the ferry. We hadn’t joined the organized tour because it wasn’t in our budget, and we weren’t particularly interested in dealing with a huge crowd of cyclists.
So we changed plans.
Instead, Patrick and I decided to ride Lopez Island.
I’ve ridden Lopez many times, so I wasn’t expecting a lot of surprises. But that’s one of the fun things about returning to a familiar place by bicycle: there’s almost always something you’ve missed before.
We found a little causeway leading out toward a small spit of land. It was an out-and-back, but it was incredibly pretty and gave me a chance to see a part of Lopez I’d never explored before.
We also explored part of the southern end of the island before hunger started making its presence known.
By around 1 p.m., we were ready for lunch.
And that’s when we found what may have been the food discovery of the entire trip.
We stopped at a small grocery store—I believe it may have been Islandwood, although I’ll admit I’m not completely certain about the name. What I do remember is the sandwich.
Oh. My. God.
They made the most amazing sandwich.
Normally, I don’t eat a huge amount at one time, so I figured I’d eat half the sandwich, have some chips, and save the rest for later.
Nope.
I wolfed down the entire thing.
It was that good.
Finding food on that part of Lopez Island was also a pleasant surprise. Most of the places to eat are concentrated around Lopez Village, so I wasn’t expecting to find such a great sandwich where we did.
We eventually made our way back toward Lopez Village, where I had another discovery: showers.
After several days of camping and riding, let’s just say I was starting to feel a little…ripe.
The local Chamber of Commerce had provided free public showers, which I thought was a fantastic amenity for visitors. There were two showers connected to a restroom, and I happily headed in expecting the opportunity to wash off several days of cycling and camping.
There was just one problem.
The water was ice cold.
It was supposed to have hot water, but for whatever reason, there wasn’t any.
So I took the world’s least relaxing shower, got dressed, and headed back to camp.
Knowing When It’s Time to Go Home
That evening, I started thinking about the next day.
Originally, I was supposed to ride Orcas Island. But Cascade’s tour would also be heading there, which meant another day of dealing with a much larger cycling crowd.
And honestly?
I decided I’d had a great time.
I didn’t need to squeeze one more ride out of the trip just because it was on the itinerary.
So I told Patrick that I thought I was ready to head home.
The next morning, I packed up and did exactly that.
And I don’t regret it.
The Best Part Was the Adventure
The San Juan Islands Tour didn’t turn out exactly the way we’d planned. We didn’t ride every island we had originally considered. We didn’t stay as long as we’d intended. And my much-anticipated hot shower turned out to be a memorable lesson in the definition of “cold.”
But we did get to ride somewhere I’d never been before.
We discovered new roads and new scenery on an island I thought I already knew.
We met interesting people.
We found an amazing sandwich.
I discovered that I could still hike 2½ miles in an hour—and that my barefoot shoes apparently like hiking a lot more than my old hiking boots did.
And, as always, I got to spend several days riding with Patrick.
That’s really what makes these trips worthwhile.
It’s not necessarily about checking every destination off the list or completing every mile you originally planned. Sometimes it’s about getting out there, seeing what happens, making a few adjustments along the way, and enjoying the ride.
And sometimes, after a few days of camping and cycling, it’s about knowing when you’ve had enough and happily pointing the car toward home.
The San Juan Islands were beautiful, the riding was fantastic, and the company was even better.
I’d call that a successful tour.
