What's new at Stuart Island Lighthouse

First I need to tell you that as of this posting date, Boundary Pass Traders is still in business selling T-shirts along the road to Stuart Island Lighthouse.  For those of you that don't know, Boundary Pass Traders is a local family business, they have two unmanned sales kiosks complete with fresh water.(after hiking up the hill you will appreciate a drink) They sell screen printed t-shirts on the honor system.  One booth, (more like an opening in the trees that resembles an upscale homeless camp) is next to the schoolhouse at the top of the long grueling hill coming up from Reid Harbor.  The other and newer location is at the intersection of the road coming from the county dock.  This means if you walk from the state park you will stroll by both, but if you walk from the county dock at Prevost Harbor, you will only see the one.  Moving along - You  make your choice from ten or more San Juan Island themed shirts, and then when you get home, mail them a check in the provided envelope. (or pay online) that's right, they trust you! We picked out an adult size replacement shirt for our youngest son, (think "Pirates of the San Juans")  to replace his stretched out, frayed, and faded child size he picked out many years ago.

Volunteers at Stuart Island Lighthouse keep a pretty spiffy privy

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    Stuart Island is popular and  Prevost and Reid Harbor dock space is in demand. Your best shot at getting a spot at one of the  park docks is to arrive around noon on a weekday,  but this is why we bring our dinghy's along - right?  We arrived at Stuart at  noon on a Friday and went straight to the county dock and grabbed the last spot. The friendly reminder sign says to only stay for two hours so we unloaded four bicycles and headed for the lighthouse. Note: The county dock is not the same as the state park docks. The county dock is at the north end of Prevost  Harbor, it's the only one, you can't miss it.  Riding bicycles out to the lighthouse is hard work, some of the hills are too steep to pedal up, and way too steep to ride down on the unstable ball bearing gravel.  Linda said it was harder than walking. (she skidded and crashed)  Hiking from the county dock is about 1.25 miles, (one way) all on gravel road.  Hiking from the park floats is about 2 miles, some on hilly trails and includes lots of steps.

Knowledgeable volunteers are on duty at the storehouse turned museum, plan on learning about life in the early days.

Few people go to Stuart Island Lighthouse to see killer whales, but the view from up on the bluff is unbeatable, and the Orcas turn the point  (Turn Point) very close in, threading through the kelp chasing salmon.  Inside the museum are great Orca photos, but if you spend some time and get lucky, you will see them in person.