The San Juans’ winter wonders

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WINTER IS QUIET, winter can be lonely, but winter can also be a time of unique beauty on my island.

Here’s a sampling of photos captured during my walks around Center Island in recent weeks, starting with our pre-Christmas snowfall and concluding with recent cool days mixed with sun and showers.

It was starting to look a lot like Christmas at The Nuthatch after heavy snow fell just around the solstice.

Lopez Sound was just as cold as it looked. Taken from the southwest quadrant of Center Island, looking toward Lopez Island.
A neighbor’s chairs make for a cozy place to sit — in July. Looking toward the southern tip of Decatur Island.
Looking up the snow-laden trunk of one of the island’s largest madrona trees.
This week, with the snow only a memory, watery winter sunshine lit the back path up the moss-cushioned rocky knoll where my writing hut is situated, behind the cabin.
A pair of Bufflehead ducks (female, left, and male, right) didn’t see eye to eye during a paddle this week on Reads Bay, a short distance off our Center Island dock. They are likely wintering in the San Juans from a summer breeding ground in Alaska or Western Canada.

Published by Brian J. Cantwell

A former travel and outdoors editor at The Seattle Times, I'm now exploring Washington's San Juan Islands on my classic runabout and trying not to smash my fingers with the hammer while I fix up my island cabin.

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3 thoughts on “The San Juans’ winter wonders”

  1. A respite in a troubled world .your photography is inspiring and contemplative . It makes me yearn for a hot cup of cocoa with marshmallows please.Happy NewYear my friend

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  2. Beautiful photos, Brian! Hope to visit you there one day. So lovely to see you and your Osprey slide show on New Year’s Eve at Barbara and Bill’s. Love, Hasse

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  3. Lovely photographs. I am partial to that black and white Bufflehead duck. I can hear Moe yelling at Curly, “Why you Bufflehead, I outta…”
    Hope it is sunny there.

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