Winter time is one of the best times of the year to paddle here in the Puget Sound area.  Recently a fellow WKC ‘er and I paddled around Lummi Island.

Arriving at our launch site near the Lummi ferry terminal (Gooseberry Point) in the darkness of December 29, we packed and launched our boats before dawn. At 29 degrees it was quite a chilly start to the day but before we rounded the northern end of Lummi the sun made its triumphant appearance to the day and temps seemed to rise accordingly. As we rounded the headlands and began our southerly journey down the west side of the island, Orcas, Clark, Matia and Succia came into view.  The Canadian mountains provided a picturesque back drop on this gorgeous, clear winter day.

The west side of the island is not heavily populated and the entire southern half of the island is in a park. As you paddle along this side of the island the sheer rock face rises out of the water to heights hundreds of feet above the water.  Stop by the Lummi Rocks on your way south, loads of wintering  birds, seals and a pack of porpoise where hunting in the area when we paddled by.

Probably not a big surprise but we had the entire DNR camp site on south east side of the Lummi Island to ourselves. Once the tents where pitched we took advantage of the plentiful hiking trails. Due to the relatively dry winter it was easy to gather enough wood for a camp fire which was enjoyed while dining on freeze dried stuff that had an eerie resemblance to Mac and Cheese.

Over night the wind did come up and blew hard enough to shake loose some branches from near-by tree’s which is an unsettling sound from inside a tent.  With a rain shower over night all was wet in the chilly morning light.  After a nice hot breakfast and cup o’coffee or two we pack our gear and marched everything down to the boats. Packed up and on the water by 9:00ish we paddled north stopping by a large rock quarry to watch the activity. With the wind blowing 20+mph from the south we had some nice wave action to play in as we crossed over to the mainland.

It was approximately 14 miles from the Gooseberry Point, down the west side of the island to the DNR campsite. From the DNR campsite back to Gooseberry Point is roughly 6 miles.

As is always the case be aware of the predicted weather conditions, especially on winter paddles. This particular paddle has an ‘out’ should conditions get a bit over one’s skill level. There is a car ferry you could walk on which makes frequent crossing from/to Lummi Island.

Get out there and try a winter paddle some time, I think you just might enjoy the experience!