Island Hopping by Bike: A Overnighter in the San Juans
This week we've got a guest writer on the blog. Luke Tokunaga calls Boise, Idaho, home, but he recently toured the San Juan Islands with his Sklar PBJ and some pals. He sent us these wonderful bikepacking photos and we asked him if he wanted a guest spot on here. Take it away, Luke!
There's something special about a bikepacking trip where your route depends just as much on ferry schedules as it does on your legs.
My brother Max, friend Jono, and I caught the ferry from Anacortes, Washington, bound for the San Juan Islands with just one goal: squeeze as much riding as possible into a single weekend.
After a smooth 45-minute ferry ride, the Anacortes terminal slowly disappeared behind us as the Olympic Mountains faded into the distance and Mount Baker emerged on the horizon. Before long, Friday Harbor came into view, and with the ferry easing into the dock, we were more than ready to start pedaling. We rolled into Friday Harbor just after lunch and immediately started pedaling. With another ferry to catch later that afternoon, there wasn't much time to linger. Our 29-mile loop around San Juan Island became a fast-paced tour of quiet roads, rolling hills, and coastal views before we hustled back to the dock for the boat to Orcas Island.
By the time we reached Orcas, the pressure of ferry schedules disappeared. We cooled off with a swim in a nearby lake, pitched our tents at our hiker/biker campsite, and settled in for a peaceful night beneath the stars.
Morning came with one obvious objective: Mount Constitution.
The climb gains nearly 3,000 feet in just four miles, making it the kind of effort that has you questioning your life choices until the summit reminds you exactly why you came. The panoramic views stretched across the San Juan Islands, with snow-capped peaks rising in the distance. Moments later, all that climbing paid off with a four-mile descent that felt over far too quickly.
From there, it was another dash to catch the ferry to our final stop: Lopez Island.
Lopez brought a completely different pace. We found a quiet beach, watched seals bobbing through the water, and soaked in the feeling that the trip was coming to an end. Naturally, the only proper way to finish an island-hopping bikepacking trip was with a basket of fish and chips and a couple of beers overlooking the water.
We enjoyed ourselves just a little too much.
The 8 p.m. ferry quietly sailed away without us.
No regrets.
Instead, we watched the sunset, caught the final ferry of the night back to Anacortes at 11 p.m., loaded the bikes into the car, and made the late-night drive back to Seattle.
Sometimes the best bikepacking weekends aren't about riding the most miles. They're about hopping from island to island with good friends, chasing ferry schedules, and accidentally missing one because life is too good to rush.
