October 10, 1982
We drove from Tacoma to Anacortes to catch the ferry to the San Juan Islands, located in the Salish Sea in the northwest corner of the US. These islands are part of an archipelago by the same name, which is split into two groups — the San Juan Islands (part of the US) and the Gulf Islands (part of Canada).
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On our way to Anacortes, we stopped at the Smokey Point Rest Area to check out the Big Cedar Stump. From the nearby signage:
This famous stump remains as evidence of the giant trees that once forested this area. Over 20 feet [6 m] in diameter and 200 feet [60 m] tall, the huge “Western Red Cedar” is believed to have been more than 1000 years old. Discovered by early settlers of the area, the following is a resume of its recorded history:
1893 – the stump was killed by a fire which started in its hollow base.
1916 – After the top was removed, Paul Wangsmo and Ole Rodway cut and chopped three spines from the core and cut archways through the stump.
1922 – After cutting the stump off at its base, Ole Reinseth and Slim Husby used horse teams to drag it north 150 yards where it was set on a concrete base.
1939 – the stump, by now cracked, was taken apart and pieced back together just north of Portage Creek, alongside the newly completed US 99. On May 27, Crown Prince Olav and Princess Martha of Norway drove through the stump.
1971 – The stump’s final move brought it here.
I don’t remember much about our day in the islands. I know we got off the ferry at one of the islands, had lunch, and wandered around a bit before catching the return ferry to the mainland. My faulty memory would have placed us in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, but the few photos we took that day prove that we were, in fact, on Orcas Island.
Rosario Resort, Orcas Island
The figurehead for the clipper “America,” built in
Massachusetts in 1874. The ship was wrecked in
the san Juan islands in 1914.
(notable Voyages: New York to San Francisco – 89 days;
San Francisco to Liverpool – 102 days)
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