![\"1024px-Clark_Island_viewed_from_Mount_Constitution\"](\"http:\/\/debgarland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/1024px-Clark_Island_viewed_from_Mount_Constitution.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto credit: Wikimedia Commons<\/h5>\n
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CLARK\u00a0ISLAND<\/h4>\n
Clark Island is a 55-acre Washington State Marine Park offering two primitive campsites and nine mooring buoys for visiting boaters. Sandy beaches on the west side and smooth pea gravel beaches on the east side await visitors year-round. With its proximity to Anacortes and Bellingham, the island is a popular kayaking site and a perfect waypoint for paddlers traveling through the northern islands. Closer access, after a ferry ride, can be found on Orcas Island at North Beach and Obstruction Pass. Use caution when approaching the islands, because strong currents can ebb and flow between the islands and large waves from passing commercial traffic can wash ashore from Rosario Strait.<\/p>\n
Besides birdwatching, camping, and fishing, Clark Island\u2019s undersea walls attract scuba divers who see starfish, sea urchins, anemones, and sea squirts. Those exploring\u00a0the shore\u00a0can view a large variety of marine life in tide pools.<\/p>\n My husband and our neighbor dove on a shipwreck out of Port Hardy, Vancouver Island, Canada. While on the dive, a\u00a0Wolf\u00a0eel wriggled from\u00a0his hiding place, giving them a big<\/em>\u00a0face-to-face surprise. Eels are normally shy and don\u2019t approach divers. Back aboard the charter boat, the captain told them that some divers will feed them sea urchins to entice them out of their dens. Not an activity we\u2019d recommend, because they\u2019ve been known to bite fingers. Below is a photo of a sea urchin, a favorite food of eels\u00a0and sea otters. Crabs also like to eat them.<\/p>\n Barnes Island is a private island that is off-limits to visitors. However, not all<\/em> visitors. On October 22, 1978, federal agents arrived and interrupted a smuggling operation being conducted out of a cabin on its eastern shore, seizing two tons of marijuana and arresting six men. I was astonished\u00a0to learn that this event occurred not many years before we began sailing in the San Juan Islands and visited Clark Island for the first time. If you\u2019d like to know more about this case, you may read about it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The two islands were first named Islas de Aquays<\/em> in 1792, by the Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza, in honor of his patron the Viceroy of Mexico, Juan Vicente de Guemes, 2nd<\/sup> Count of Revillagigedo. But like many of the San Juan Islands, some of them were renamed by Charles Wilkes during the Wilkes Expedition of 1838-1842. He named Clark Island to honor John Clark, a midshipman, and Barnes Island to honor a sailor. Both men were killed during the Battle of Lake Erie of the War of 1812.<\/p>\n Captain Charles Wilkes is famous for exploring the west coast of North America, including the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, the Columbia River, San Francisco Bay, and the Sacramento River in 1841. He also held the first American Independence Day celebration west of the Mississippi River in Dupont, Washington, on July 5, 1841. Today, Captain Charles Wilkes Elementary school on Bainbridge Island, Washington, bears his name.<\/p>\n Thank you for exploring the San Juan Islands with me!<\/p>\n Blessings,<\/p>\n Deb<\/p>\n Sailing to the outer San Juan Islands can be a delightful experience. Destination islands that are often passed over by those who ride the Washington State ferries or boaters who prefer the amenities of mooring at marinas where there are … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\nClark Island – Photo credit: Washington State Dept. of Ecology<\/h5>\n
<\/p>\nPhoto Credit: Wikimedia Commons<\/h5>\n
BARNES ISLAND<\/h4>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nBarnes Island – Photo credit: Washington State Dept. of Ecology<\/h5>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nCharles Wilkes – Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons<\/h5>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto Credit: U.S. Geological Survey<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"