My great friends and paddling companions for decades, Byron Ricks and Ted Steudel, put blades to water with me this past week for a re-boot of a similar trip 24 years ago. On that outing, over three days immediately following the September 11 attacks on NYC, we did a circumnav of the main islands of the San Juans. Fast forward to this past Monday through Friday when we expanded the circle to include all the islands and rocks of the archipelago. Hoping to string together days of favorable wind, weather and currents in October was clearly a somewhat audacious plan, but somehow we lucked out. Over about 110 miles of paddling we touched on some of the wildest corners of the San Juans and had a, well, grand adventure. Here are a few photos from the trip.
EXPED photo shoot in the Cascade Mountains - Autumn on display /
Pia The Peacekeeper check-in /
I stopped by to see how Pia is doing here in the new year. All seems well on January 4, 2025, despite the rain.
Seattle's Hiram M. Chittenden Locks exposed /
Looks like some work is being done on the large lock, exposing some interesting secret passages and perspectives.
Checking in with Freddie Feetsplinters in Ballard /
I dropped by the Thomas Dambo troll in Ballard to see how he’s aging. Looking good!
