The Wilderness Adventurer is actually much larger than the sailboat, but it is also much farther away
After exploring around Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula and San Juan Islands, the Wilderness Adventurer made a final stop at the state marine park on Sucia Island. Washington has a number of marine parks throughout the San Juan Islands. Sucia Island had some mooring bouys where smaller boats tied up, but the Wildernes Adventurer anchored a bit farther out. Next to a regular cruise ship this 60-passenger expedition vessel would look tiny, but compared to ordinary boats it appears gigantic.
Landing at the beach on Sucia Island
The crew quickly launched the skiffs to take passengers to shore. Options included a bluff hike around the edges of the island, a meander through the woods, or just chilling out on the beach. We picked the meander.
wild roses
The first trail took us through wild rose bushes and up to a bluff trail view. After following along the edge of the island for a bit we took a turn into the forest. At one point the trail got a bit steep and a few people turned back, but most went on.
view from the bluff trail
We saw a lot of wildflowers along the way. Eventually the trail crossed a small bridge. Further on we came to an outhouse in the middle of the woods. Or perhaps it was a composting toilet, I’m not sure since I didn’t go inside the little building housing the rustic facility, but it was open and available and some people made use of it.
little caves in the rock wall
Not far from the toilet the trail opened out onto a deserted beach with small caves in the rock wall running from the beach up to the bluff.
Water so clear you can see the bottom of the sea from the top of the bluff.
The water surrounding the island looked calm and crystal clear. It looks inviting, but most people wouldn’t want to swim there because it is too cold.
beach on the hike
After spending some time on that beach we hiked back to the beach where the skiffs landed. While we enjoyed nature on our hike the crew had come to the beach and started a bonfire in one of the fire pits the park provides.
bonfire at the beach
On a nearby picnic table they had barbecued chicken wings and other tasty treats ready for passengers to enjoy. Since this was a beer themed cruise, our beer hosts, Kim and Kendall of Washington Beer Blog presented the beers for the day’s theme – good beers that come in cans. Cans are better for hiking because they are lighter than bottles and can be crushed to take up minimal backpack space after use.
One of the crew plays guitar while another serves beer
One of the crew pulled out a guitar and we had some time for songs and relaxing and enjoying tasty snacks on the beach with views of the forest and bay. A great way to celebrate all the fun we had on that cruise.
wildflowers on Sucia Island
Cruise Stories 
Cans do have advantages over bottles and cans giving beer a metallic taste is a thing of the past. No light can get through a can so beer can never become light struck and they weigh less so shipping takes less fuel and costs less but if you collect bottle caps or keep bottles for home brewing cans not so good. People keeping bottles for reuse or collecting caps is a very small amount of people drinking beer though so not really a problem for most people. Karbach is my favorite brewery in Texas and they can almost everything they brew accept some of the limited release stuff they bottle in 22oz bottles.