Tamara, Tom, and Kids: Kayaking with Killers

Tom and Kohler's adventure to the San Juan Islands

Kohler didn't ask for anything for his birthday, so I gave him a trip that was on my bucket list...a kayaking trip around the San Juan Islands. Tamara was very gracious to let Kohler go on the trip instead of herself (we had originally planned to do it together but just had not found the time to go). Kohler and I flew into Seattle late Thursday evening and drove to Bellingham for the night, eating at Denny's at midnight. Yummy? The next morning we set out on the ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan. Our guide met us at the dock and we met the others in our small group. A short trip to Roche Harbor on the northwestern tip of the island and we packed all our gear into dry sacks.

Pulling into Friday Harbor

Roche Harbor. Notice the poop boat sign at the bottom. Gross!

We wore spray skirts to keep warm and dry in our kayaks. The ocean water was 53 degrees. However, we were never cold throughout the entire weekend.

This was our group. We had a pediatric resident, a Southwest pilot, a Walmart Pharmacist and our guide. A fun guy who works as a kayak guide in the summer and a chair lift operator in Steamboat, CO in the winter.

This was what it looked like on the water. We had all our tents, bags, food etc. in the compartments in the middle and ends of our kayaks.

Our food was over the top unbelievable. We had fresh wild salmon tacos, fresh guacamole, salsa and chips, chicken and smoked salmon salads, savory oats with toppings like blackberries, coconut flakes and brown sugar. We even brought a honeydew melon and watermelon. I really couldn't believe how well we ate.

This was Kohler and my tent for the trip. A wonderful view of Reid harbor on Stewart Island.

We saw a lot of wildlife while on the kayak. Here was a bald eagle. Each time we would approach a bald eagle they would fly away.

Seals sunning on a small shoal.

Each day began a little overcast but would clear up by midday. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for us.

Yes, even I got into the cooking.

On Saturday afternoon we hiked a few miles to view the sunset from Turn point. This is a view during our hike on Stewart Island.

Turn point...everything you see before us is Canada. We were standing at the most northwestern corner of the continental U.S.

The sunset was so amazing. I would have been so sad to not be able to share it with someone I loved.

During the sunset we were privileged to have a second experience at the whales. This time they were all together in a tight pod. About 30 whales kept bobbing up and down out of the water. Our guide said he had never seen anything like it in the 5 years he had led tours. What incredible timing right in front of us. At first we were angry with the boat due to its close proximity to the whales (motor boats are to be at least 200 yards from the whales from the side). We were going to turn them in when we looked closer and found that it was a whale research boat.

Our last morning's breakfast.

Setting out on the last day. We had a long way to paddle to get back to Roche harbor and a good share of it was against the current. The San Juan Islands have up to a 12 foot exchange between high tide and low tide water so sometimes it's like a quick moving river through the island channels.

Kohler is pointing to Stewart Island. We set out at about the middle of the island on the other side of it. About 7 miles or so of paddling. It was so totally awesome!