Patos Island, Washington

Blog entry June 1, 2009

Our winter was spent in Benson, with no exciting adventures to relate.  Now, hot weather has come to the desert, so we are making plans for a summer getaway trip.  Most of our time will be spent in one of our favorite places….Mobridge, S.D. relaxing in a lovely campground and hopefully doing some serious walleye fishing!   You may read about Mobridge in my 2008 summer travel blog post .

Before we leave, I’d like to refer back to another favorite place, which I wrote about in the fifth book of the Maverick Series.…The Strait Years.   I am referring to Patos Island and its historic lighthouse.   Located in Georgia Strait, Patos is the most northern of Washington State’s San Juan Islands.

At the time of our visits to Patos Island, we were living in Port Angeles, WA and owned a 30-foot  cabin cruiser named “Maverick.”  In the book I wrote about many of the lovely places to visit on the Olympic Peninsula, and of the many adventures we experienced on our cruises among the San Juan and Canadian Gulf Islands.

In 1792, explorers Galliano and Valdez discovered and named this island “Patos”…meaning: “Island of Ducks.”  The island is 210 acres in size, and its shoreline caves were popular hideouts for smugglers.

On the western tip of this one mile long island, known as Alden Point, stands the beautiful Patos Island Lighthouse, which became operational in 1893.  Other structures once present included two dwellings, cisterns and a boat ramp.  In 1908 a 38 foot tower was added to the one remaining building.  In 2007 a non profit Keepers of the Patos Light was formed.  Along with the US Bureau of Land Management, and the Orcas Fire Department, their purpose is to preserve the beauty of the lighthouse.  In 2008 vast renovations took place on both the inside and outside of this historic structure.  Patos Island is now a Washington State Marine Park.

One of the best known light keepers on Patos Island was Edward Durgan, who, with his wife and large family, lived at the island lighthouse from 1905 to 1913.  One of the most delightful books I have ever read…Light on the Island…was written by Helene Glidden, one of the Durgan children.  It is based on her childhood adventures while living on the island during these years.

The following are quotes from my book  The Strait Years:

“As we approached the island, a spectacular lighthouse came into view on the very point (Alden Point) of the island.  We cruised into Active Cove, which lies between Patos and Little Patos Island.  There were only two mooring buoys in the cove, but fortunately both were empty so we moored to one.”

“After getting settled, we launched the dinghy and rowed to the sandy beach at the end of the cove, where there is a primitive campground.  From here we hiked a trail through some lovely woods to the lighthouse.  Nearing the lighthouse, we spotted several eagles high up in the fir trees, and some soaring overhead.  Two trees had nests with baby eagles in them!  Arriving at the lighthouse, the sweeping view looking over Boundary Passage and the Canadian Gulf Islands was awesome! Then we followed another path above the water, until we found a spot where we could scramble down to the rocky shoreline.  The tide was out, so we meandered along the sandstone ledges, examining the unusual shapes of the rocks and strange little caves created by wind and water over the years.

I couldn’t help but think what a magical fairyland it must have been for the Durgen children when they lived here!  Returning to the beach where we had left the dinghy, I found a large shell, and using that, I dug a mess of butter clams, which were the whitest butter clams we have ever found!”

“After lunch we went out in the dinghy again.  Rodger dropped me off on the sandy beach and I walked the trail to the lighthouse.  I enjoyed exploring the opposite shoreline below the lighthouse consisting of large rocks and huge driftwood, and also the wildflowers in bloom on the grassy hillsides, snapping photos as I walked.  Meanwhile, Rodger had rowed to the opening of the cove to fish. When he came to pick me from the rocky shore which we had explored earlier, he had caught five dandy rock cod!  That evening we had a great seafood meal of clams and fish!”

Evenings were always a lovely time.  We would sit in the cockpit of the Maverick, facing the opening of the cove.  The sunsets were gorgeous, turning the water to lovely hues of orange and yellow…and now and then big ships would pass by.  All was quiet except the gentle lapping of the waves against the shore, an occasional bird song, and small animals moving about on shore.  How fortunate we were!

On another visit to Patos Island:  “The wind picked up in the night, so Rodger lengthened our mooring lines so we wouldn’t be banging against the buoy all night.  In the middle of the night we heard sharp horn blasts from an old metal boat that had been anchored behind us.  His anchor had come loose  and the boat had drifted up on the rocks.  The wind was too strong to do anything at the time, but in the morning when the tide came in, Rodger went over and towed him off the rocks with the Maverick.  The boat owner said he didn’t have any money, but offered us half a can of coffee for our assistance! Of course we refused, and then he left, heading toward Point Roberts, six miles away…his engine ‘put-putting’ away, like the “Little Engine that Could!”

We visited Patos Island several times.  Since its location is so far from the other San Juan Islands, it seemed like few people stopped here, and we were always able to find an open mooring buoy.  One visit included a hike around the island which almost turned into a disaster, a story too long  to tell here, but we did enjoy many hikes on the island, and always caught fish and found clams!  All in all…each visit to Patos Island was a beautiful and exciting adventure!

Keep watching my BLOG for other adventures on land and while cruising!

Meanwhile…we’re heading for Mobridge….computer along…and any comments or questions are always welcome!

A fond farewell to my mountain bike

January 9, 2009

Well here it is, 2009, and my last post was way back in September, 2008, when we returned to Benson after our summer trip.  Only one noteworthy event occurred in October…to me, at least.  Our Park held an autumn yard sale during which I sold my mountain bike!  Realizing various health problems have made riding bike rather hazardous for me, it was still a difficult decision to make.  In private, I shed a few tears…as it was like losing a dear friend!  More than that, it was giving up an era in our lives, and an activity Rodger and I enjoyed immensely for many years.

During our travels, our bikes traveled with us on a rack on the back of our travel trailer, and everywhere we went, we found new and interesting places to ride:  Ranch roads and old cattle trails in British Columbia, side roads in Death Valley, many miles of sandy trails in Borrego Springs National Park, California, and along the banks of canals near Niland, California.

Along the Arizona/Mexican border we camped in the Buenos Aires Wildlife refuge near Sasabe, AZ.  Here, we rode virtually every road in the refuge.  We have also ridden our bikes extensively around the desert in Yuma, and Quartzsite, AZ.  We biked along old railroad grade trails and logging roads in Minnesota, and in various recreational areas throughout the Midwest.

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In the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, we rode endless miles of roadway along irrigation canals.  Our bikes also  traveled with us to Mexico where we rode to quaint old villages, and also to a remote beach where “Catch 22’ was filmed.

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In my fifth and final book, The Strait Years, I wrote about riding our bikes on the Olympic Peninsula, where we lived at the time, and taking our bikes with us on boat trips, then going for rides along country lanes in the San Juan Islands, and to quaint seaside harbor towns.

The third book of the Maverick Series, Southwest Adventures, includes more stories about our mountain biking adventures.  Our favorite excursions were around Quartzsite, Arizona.  Quartzsite is a small desert town, surrounded by mountains, with many miles of rocky old tracks and trails in the area.  These rugged trails meandered up, down, and around, through the ever changing and beautiful mountainous desert countryside.

Some of the “sites and sights” we came across on our desert bike outings in the southwest included:  Ancient Indian camps with deep mortars in the surrounding rocks, where seeds were ground into flour, hidden springs,  petroglyph and pictograph sites, and ancient intaglios created on the desert floor.  We also located several strange rock alignments, and odd old structures that seemed to have no explanations, which I referred to simply as “mysteries of the desert“.

From days when prospectors roamed the hills looking for gold or silver, we came across crumbling rock house ruins, old campsites with makeshift fireplaces still intact, abandoned mine sites, ghost towns and cemeteries.  From still more recent times, we discovered old training campsites from WWII.  Rock outlines designated where the camp sites had been, and tracks of huge tanks are still visible, wandering across the desert floor.

We frequently walked our bikes across or through huge deep washes, around washed out trails, and over rugged, rocky areas.  Often we would stop, park our bikes and hike.  This allowed us to discover remote sites we never could have reached with any other mode of transportation, including 4-wheel drive vehicles.

We often saw wildlife: Deer, mountain sheep, coyotes, kit fox, jackrabbits, and once, a badger.  Smaller critters included horned toads, lizards of all sizes, and iguana.  On one ride we encountered a rattlesnake!  Wide varieties of birds were also seen and heard. And, it was a joy when we could identify yet another new species.

Every bike ride also took us through gorgeous desert scenery.  Surrounded by high mountains, we were in awe of the many unusual rock formations, and hiked through awesome, deep sided canyons. We enjoyed the various species of cacti (especially lovely when in bloom) and other interesting desert trees and plants in this beautiful “living desert”.  Now, although our mountain biking and hiking days appear to be at an end, we can still go back and relive those days through my books, and the hundreds of photographs we took!

If you enjoy mountain biking, historical sites, the outdoors, or traveling off the beaten path in general, I’m certain you would enjoy Southwest Adventures, and ALL of the other books in the Maverick Series!

My Web site www.ElaineSeavey.com features each of my books individually.  To see more photos of the various places we have visited, check on the “photo gallery” link for each book.  My ongoing BLOG is also filled with photos of more current travels and events.

For more information or questions, you can contact me via e-mail:
ElaineSeavey@escapees.com
To order personally autographed books, shipped free, write to me at:
Elaine Seavey, 600 East Saguaro Drive – #132, Benson, AZ   85602

Hope to hear from you!
Elaine Seavey

(click on pictures to enlarge)

Petroglyphs – Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada

 March 30, 2008

In my last post, I told about some of the wonderful petroglyph sites we have come across in Southwestern Arizona.  The Pacific Northwest, also, has its share of ancient Indian villages, burial sites and rock art.  Now, I would like to share a unique petroglyph site we discovered on an island in Canada.
 
My fifth and last book in the “Maverick Series”, The Strait Years, centers around our activities during the twenty years we lived in the town of Port Angeles, on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.  Situated between the Olympic Mountains and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, it is a beautiful area.  Living on the waterfront, much time was spent cruising among the islands in US and Canadian waters on our 30-foot cabin cruiser named The Maverick.  
 
When leaving Port Angeles on the Maverick, our first challenge was the twenty-mile crossing of the Strait of Juan de fuca.   Frequently trips were delayed due to fog or stormy conditions on the Strait!  Once across the Strait and in  sheltered waters,  we had the choice of cruising among Washington’s San Juan Islands, or clearing customs and heading north into Canadian waters and the many  islands off the Eastern shore of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.  When heading into Canadian waters, one of our favorite  overnight stops was at a  government wharf in Degnan Bay, on Gabriola Island. 

From The Strait Years…..  “In our boating guide there was a reference to a ‘petroglyph of a killer whale on the shores of Degnan Bay, which can be seen at low tide.’    In the morning the tide was out, so we took the dinghy and rowed along the shoreline searching for the petroglyph.  It didn’t take long to find.  The whale figure was about four feet long, deeply etched into a large flat rock on shore.  I climbed out on the slippery rocks, and proceeded to create a rubbing, using some white muslin and a black crayon I had brought along.”

     

We had planned to leave in the morning, but coming out of the channel into the big waters of Georgia Strait (another 20-mile stretch of big water) we could see that it was too rough to cross, so we went around the shoreline to Silva Bay Marina.  After getting moored, we went for a walk along a road behind  the marina.  Coming to a gift shop we stopped.  I mentioned to the clerk about the whale petroglyph, and she told us that Gabriola Island had  numerous petroglyph sites, and that one site, (called the “Weldwood Site”)  was in walking distance from the marina!  She referred to “behind a church and down an old logging road”. (Actually, several miles!!)
 
Excited with this new found information, the following morning we headed out.  We passed a church, but didn’t see a logging road…and walked on and on.  Finally,  not seeing a thing that resembled a petroglyph site, we retraced our steps.  Coming to the church again,  Rodger…with his bad knees…said he had to rest.  Then the part about “behind a church” came back to me, so I wandered around and found a well worn path leading alongside a newly-built fence…on the other side of which there was an old logging road!  My excitement mounted and I hurried on!  The trail led to a clearing in the woods…a sign posted on a tree cautioned about “not disturbing antiquities etc.” and I knew I had found the Weldwood Site!.  I hurried back to get Rodger, so that we could explore this fascinating area together…a meadow covered with flat rocks amidst the long grasses, and every rock covered with wonderful petroglyphs!

The petroglyphs were awesome!  Included were large etchings of fish, serpents, birds, design-like creatures, and stickmen figures.  One in particular intrigued me.  It was of a stick-figure which has been named “Dancing Man”, and depicts a stick-figure with knees bent outward,  and arms flexed at the elbow as if he were dancing.

Thankfully, we had the camera along, but I didn’t take nearly enough photographs, and was very sorry that I hadn’t thought to bring my muslin and crayons along to make a few rubbings of these fantastic figures. No one knows how old these rock carvings are, but  some archaeologists believe they may date back as far as 2,000 to 3,000 B.C.  Other sources believe they are only about 1,000 years old. 

Returning to the Marina, we stopped at the gift shop to tell the clerk we had found the site.  She showed me a pewter key chain (that could also be put on a chain and worn as a necklace) of “Dancing Man!”  Which of course, I purchased!

It had been a wonderful experience, and I thought about how interesting it would have been to seek out some of the other petroglyph sites on lovely Gabriola Island!                                                    (Click on any of the pictures above to enlarge.)

 

I would enjoy some feedback on my blog, website, and/or my books.
Please contact me  at:   elaineseavey@escapees.com
Autographed books may also  be ordered via e-mail…free shipping.