Chadwick Hill, Iceberg Point, Point Colville & Shark Reef Sanctuary — Saturday, Jun. 15, 2024

Hiked a series of short but beautiful trails along the coast of Lopez Island. Great weather. A bit windy but that took any bug away.

The Shark Reef sanctuary is the one the locals recommended for looking at seals. And surely enough, there were many there. But we went there around 9am and that was likely the seals' breakfast time. We could see them munching across the sea weeds with our binoculars. There were also interesting, loud, black birds with red beaks, which we were told later were oyster catchers.

The Iceberg point trail had wonderful scenery and felt the most peaceful.

We finished at Watmough bay, ascending to Chadwick Hill for the views and then connecting to Point Colville via Watmough Hill. We returned through the road as the Watmough Hill part was fun to do once but didn't seem entertaining enough for a second pass at it.

The trails were all dry and there were many ripe salmonberry bushes at the shark reef trailhead. We saw very few people in the morning. The only place that started to be a bit crowded was the Watmough bay area past noon. Fortunately we got some alone time at the top swing on Chadwick Hill.

This was a great way to discover the island. But the next time I'd likely go with a bike instead of a car. There are hills but none of them seemed very painful and the roads are wide enough to feel reasonably safe.