By Anisa Singh, Isabelle van Thiel, Orrin Spiess, Violet Marshall.
The day began like any other, but everyone knew it was going to be different. Our dry bags were filled with clothes, toiletries and anything else we would need to keep ourselves occupied for the next three days. Instead of our usual trips to the Friday Harbor Labs or one of the island’s assorted beaches, we piled our stuff into the van and headed to Roche Harbor. Located on the north side of the island, Roche Harbor was the starting place for our biggest adventure yet.Â
After a rushed morning, we were all ready to get on the water and out of the heat on the dock. Getting into the kayaks and learning how to paddle properly from our wonderful guides, we then took off; it would be a 10 miles trip in total, lasting about 3 hours. The first stop would be on Gossip Island, a small rocky outcropping about 8 miles away from our starting point. We were tired, wet, and salty, however the rest after about 2 hours of work as well as the boost of energy from Thai chicken wraps led us on to finish the second leg of the journey after about 45 more minutes of paddling.
At last, we arrived at our home for the next two days: Staurt Island. We were pulled onto the beach, some of us began unpacking all the kayaks while others chatted, snacked, or went to test out the pit toilet (which smelled as you would expect it to). Soon, we had figured out our rooming pairs and began the arduous process of unpacking and setting up our tents. Some were experts and got them up in 2 seconds flat while others might have taken a bit longer…
After exploring the island a bit, we sat down to dinner and made some amazing snores for dessert. We then prepared for tomorrow, both physically and mentally.