We landed in Friday Harbor on Sunday morning. Immediately, we left the ferry and made our
way to the first of many interviews my friend would be conducting while on the
island. Instead of sitting at the table
quietly, she lets me flex my skills and ask questions. When she plans these trips, she fills our
time with stuff I love (and she loves too), so these interviews are great ways
to learn more from experts first-hand. This
trip, the interview queue was filled with goodies – the historical society, the
Whale Museum, a local town councilman, a kayak guide and a whale watching tour captain. 
After some breakfast and the first interview, we headed to
the “American Camp” side of the island. American
Camp is actually what it sounds like – a place where troops stayed and trained. American camp was on the southern tip of the
island – some of the most inhospitable land on the rock. Meanwhile, the English camp set up a community
on the north western side of the island.
Why? They were waiting out a conflict
(almost war) over a pig! Yep – you read that correctly too. When the maps were drawn during westward
expansion, the San Juan archipelago was never taken into consideration. England considered it part of Canada since
Vancouver Island is right there and the official border line dipped around its
southern point, but the growing United States viewed it as their territory… so
residents from both sides lived there. A
whole whopping 35 of them. And then came
a fight about a pig eating in someone’s garden.
An American shot an English pig.
We almost went to war! A compromise
was reached where the fighting would wait, troops would occupy the island for
both sides until a resolution could occur.
So 200 troops from each side came to the island. The British claimed a protected inlet that afforded
them easy access to calm waters, wood, and deep soil. They built a community so rich that people
did not want to leave; their traditions, such as the holiday balls continue
today. Conversely, the American side was
exposed, pest ridden and the conditions were miserable. Obviously, the United States ended up with
the islands, but the British won over the local’s hearts. Today, you can see Canada wave that British
flag from someone’s front door (not really, but it’s a short ferry ride to Victoria).
Back to the National Park visit (really the National Historical Park)….
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| South Beach |
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| Cattle Point |
I was still seriously sick.
Miserable was more like it. I had
all the symptoms Nyquil was famous for… sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching…
but I was not resting. I wanted to see
stuff. Lesley had been working on this
trip for months. I wanted to rally. So we started slowly, with walks along gorgeous Cattle Point and
South Beach, and holy moly, even in this protected area are there so many logs
of driftwood. We walked some of the beach looking at some awesome forts people made from the wood before we headed over to the lagoon area. I had a bright idea that I could do some walking.
The plan was to walk the trail to Jakles Lagoon - it was a mile in and a mile out. Being that I felt awful, I thought that was a good way to get my feet moving and not completely pass out. So off we went, and we walked... and walked some more. We laughed as a bald eagle soared over our heads, and I hacked by part of my lungs every time we walked up the slightest hill. And we walked much more than a mile. When we finally saw a trail marker sign for Third lagoon, we knew we missed a turn somewhere. But that misstep turned into a glorious hike (if not for my incessant hacking). We walked through temperate rainforest, and then out to the burnt exposed fields of the southern edges, and back into the forest to see lagoons filled with logs. What was supposed to be a 2 mile easy walk turned into a 4 mile hike. I was sweaty and thirsty and in desperate need of a shower... but before we could head to our tiny (miniscule) hotel room, we had to hit up the National Park visitor's center, so I could get postcards, magnets, and check out the park museum (it was there we watched the informative park video about the war over a pig).
After getting cleaned up (and making sure we were presentable again), we went back to the docks for an amazing evening with Maya's Legacy. We were going Whale Watching on a small tour - there were only 14 of us, and this boat was the best thing I had ever ridden for whale watching. Small, fast, smooth and LOTS OF WINDOWS and SPACE. If you have ever been shoveled out of the way on a tour so someone can get to the bow of the boat to see, you know what I am talking about. Well, Maya's took care of all that. Space on the bow and stern, and the cabin's windows all raise up. You have a 360 degree view all the time. Anyway, this boat was built for speed, and good thing too because the crew got word that the orcas were in Canadian waters about 45 minutes away. 
Off we went through some of the most beautiful scenery you can dream up for the Pacific NW. And then, there they were... 5 orcas... a family... hunting! We saw a mom, a few of her children ranging in age and a visiting male, and he was massive. We watched for almost a half an hour. Our guides we fantastic! They were full of information - talking about natural behaviors we witnessed, talking about the familial bonds, their relationship within the great community. We learned about the resident pod of orcas versus the transient pod (that we were witnessing). We talked of food and the greater ecosystem. Our captain, who serves as President of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, spoke to us about the deeply declining salmon stocks, and how undamming Pacific NW dams could help the resident pod. Heck - I even learned a few things I didn't know about these majestic animals. The crew has so much respect for them, and this was evidenced by them never calling them killer whales (so much wrong with that term - they are not whales, they are related to dolphins... but I digress)
After several hours of eco-bliss, we were back on land and starved. Luckily one lone sports bar was open to feed us because we had not eaten since breakfast when we docked, otherwise it was going to be a granola night. We chowed down on BLTs and nachos, lots of water and looked over our pictures. It was an amazing first day. We headed back to our tinny tiny room and crashed hard. We had another big day ahead of us. 
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