Hi, I'm Eric.

I’m an avid world traveler, photographer, software developer, and digital storyteller.

I help implement the Content Authenticity Initiative at Adobe.

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Sucia Island Marine State Park
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Sucia Island Marine State Park

north of Eastsound, Washington
visited 24 July 2023
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The name Sucia comes from an early Spanish explorer who in 1791 declared the island “dirty” and named it Isla Sucia (literally: “Dirty Island”). I have no idea why — it’s one of the cleanest and prettiest places I’ve seen in a long time.

After my kayaking misadventure returning from James Island, I changed my plans for visiting Sucia Island and booked a day trip to Sucia by water taxi. The excellent Sucia Island Ferry by Orcas Enchanted brought me to the island and also rented an e-bike for me to use during the day.

That combination made it possible for me to see most of the island in one day. There are several miles of service roads on the island, which are also accessible for e-bikes. Those run through, shall we say, the more mundane parts of the island. From there, I could set out on foot on the smaller trails (not really viable for bikes) and focus my time on the more interesting and scenic parts.

Here we are, departing Eastsound en route to Sucia:

A frothy white boat wake trails across choppy gray water under a heavily overcast sky, with forested islands and hills on the horizon and a distant sailboat to the left.
A white sailboat with a blue bimini top anchored in calm green water near a forested shoreline, under an overcast gray sky at Sucia Island Marine State Park. The rocky, tree-covered coast is lined with evergreens and reflects onto the still water in the foreground.

The island has many miles of hiking trails, which I had largely to myself.

A narrow dirt hiking trail winds through a mossy evergreen forest of tall conifers, flanked by ferns, leafy shrubs, and green undergrowth, with a glimpse of water visible through the trees on the right.
A rocky shoreline outcrop with dry golden grass and weathered gray boulders in the foreground, overlooking calm gray-blue water toward a small forested island and distant hills under a heavily overcast sky.
A rocky, forested shoreline of evergreen trees and moss-covered boulders juts into calm gray water under an overcast sky, with distant tree-covered points and hazy islands on the horizon.
A narrow dirt footpath winds through a forest of tall conifers and reddish-barked madrone trees, bordered by dry golden grass and low green undergrowth under an overcast sky.

On the north side of Shallow Bay, I found the so-called China Caves, which were used by smugglers in the Prohibition era to hide their then-illegal items if they were being pursued by authorities.

A weathered sandstone cliff face pocked with honeycomb-like holes and hollows, including larger cavities and shallow alcoves eroded into the tan rock, with patches of bright green moss and lichen and evergreen trees at the upper left.
A small green sailboat with a bare mast and a beige canvas cover sits at anchor on calm water, its mast reflected in the still surface. Behind it a rocky shoreline rises into a dense evergreen forest under an overcast, gray-blue sky.
A tangle of dried, pale golden grasses caught between weathered gray driftwood logs partly dusted with sand on a beach, with dark cracked wood grain and scattered debris above.

The state parks site refers to this island as a “boaters’ haven” and it’s so true. There are several coves that provide shelter from the open ocean and each one of them was occupied by numerous boats of all forms.

A view across calm gray water toward forested islands and a distant hazy mountain under an overcast sky, with sailboats and motorboats moored in the bay. In the foreground, dry golden grasses with seed heads grow along the shoreline.
A worn dirt trail winds through golden dry grass along a coastal bluff, flanked by weathered evergreen pines, overlooking calm gray-blue water with distant forested islands and hills under an overcast sky.
A large weathered sandstone outcrop topped with wind-shaped evergreen trees rises above a rocky shoreline, with calm gray water and forested islands under a heavily overcast sky in the distance.
A weathered, twisting piece of driftwood stands upright on a rocky, dry-grass shoreline overlooking calm gray-blue water, with a forested island and cloud-topped mountain ridge across the channel under an overcast sky.

This tree has stories to tell!

A weathered, twisting madrona tree bends into an archway over a dirt hiking trail winding through a green forest at Sucia Island Marine State Park, with a patch of blue sky visible through the bare gray branches.
A narrow dirt hiking trail winds through a coastal forest of evergreen and gnarled madrona-like trees, with mossy ground, green underbrush, and a large weathered tree trunk on the right. In the distance the path opens toward a hazy view of forested hills under an overcast sky.
A red sea kayak with a paddle and gear rests on a gravelly beach beside large weathered driftwood logs, with a green dome tent and picnic tables set up in a grassy campsite backed by dense evergreen and gnarled madrone-style trees.
A gravel trail winds through a grassy clearing edged by tall evergreen conifers and leafy green and yellow-green trees under an overcast sky. Pale weathered logs and driftwood lie scattered across the grass in the foreground.
A calm bay under a heavy overcast sky, with a forested hillside of dark evergreens sloping toward a rocky, driftwood-strewn shoreline that includes a pale sandy bluff. Still water in the foreground reflects the gray clouds and green trees, with a few barnacle-covered rocks in the lower right corner.
Weathered gray sandstone rock shelves at the shoreline of Sucia Island, with tide pools and seaweed near the water’s edge, looking across calm gray water toward forested islands and low mountains under an overcast, cloudy sky.
A close-up of gray tidal bedrock at low tide, with diagonal cracks and crevices lined by clusters of small white barnacles and encrusted marine growth, the wet rock surface glistening in daylight.

I totally got photo-bombed here, and I kind of love it:

A grassy shoreline strewn with bleached driftwood logs looks out across calm gray water toward a forested mountain and distant islands under a heavy overcast sky, with a bird in flight in the upper left.

(That, by the way, is a view of Mount Constitution from Moran State Park, which I had visited two days prior, as seen from the south beach of Sucia Island.)

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