blb3

My husband and I are flying from NYC to Seattle mid July and driving north to eventually make our way to San Juan island for a kayak trip, which is on Saturday/Sunday. We are going to go a few days early to take advantage of being over there. I was hoping to fly in Wednesday (leaving NYC early morning and arrive in Seattle early afternoon) and we will fly back likely on a redeye Sunday night. Here is my tentative itinerary:
Weds arrive in Seattle, rent car, drive to Mt Baker/North Cascades area (2hr drive). Spend Weds night in Bellingham or vicinity.
Thurs-take morning ferry to Orcas island from Anacortes, spend night on Orcas
Friday-Take morning ferry to San Juan, spend night on San Juan
Sat/Sun-kayak trip leaving/returning from San Juan
Sun eve-ferry back to Anacortes, drive to seattle and fly back to NYC.

Im worried that the Mt Baker area may be too much to do and we should just head straight to the islands. Im not sure when/if I'll get back to this area so Im trying to pack it all in...

Is this logistically doable or will we be exhausted?

Thanks!

christy1

Seatac to Mt. Baker (the Heather Meadows/Artist's Point area at the end of Hwy 542) will be about 3 hours, as long as there is no traffic (if you leave Seattle going north after 3, there will be traffic). It is a GORGEOUS place so I hate to discourage it, but if your plane is late or you are tired, it might be a bit much. The days will be long, though, so if you are feeling energetic and you get in on time, I guess it's possible to go for the evening.

What about heading up to Bellingham or somewhere along Hwy 542, spending the night, then seeing the Mt. Baker area the next day? You can catch an evening ferry to the islands.

blb3

If we go the next day we will miss our day on Orcas,which I really dont want to do. The flight im looking at gets into seattle around 11am weds so we would still have a good portion of the afternoon to go up there and just kind of drive around see stuff-
another option is to potentially shorten the kayak trip from 2 days to 1. thanks for the feedback!

Gardyloo

I'm more concerned about Sunday. Ferries leaving the islands on summer Sundays are jammed, and if you're kayaking that morning, what's your schedule on the return, and do you have the flexibility to miss a boat and still make your flight?

As for the Mt. Baker idea, there's not much accommodation between B'ham and the mountain, so you'd need to curtail your time in that area in order to get to B'ham to find a place to stay. Or, you could blast from the airport up to B'ham, find a place for the night, then drive up toward Mt. Baker in the late afternoon, planning to return by dinnertime. But I would go through Bellingham first.

Just for fun you might see how much it would cost extra to fly into Bellingham (served by a couple of commuter airlines including Alaska/Horizon) and use it as your base instead of fighting I-5 traffic. Or fly into Bellingham and return from Seattle, something like that.

christy1

Okay, if you arrive in Seattle at 11 am, that's doable. I would make a reservation for a hotel that night so that's lined up and you don't waste time looking.

Gardyloo has a good point about that Sunday ferry back to the mainland. Last time I did that-in April, mind you, not summer, it was a 3-4 hour wait. I don't think it's terrible to wait for a ferry-you will be right in the town of Friday Harbor, and you and your husband can take turns walking aroung the town or you can plan a picnic lunch, but just realize you will probably wait thought 2 or 3 ferries before you catch one.

blb3

thanks for the input! i had heard ferries were crowded but wasnt expecting that long of a wait-good to know! we havent gotten plane tickets yet, but were hoping on a redeye (leaving seattle probably around midnight or so) back to NYC. otherwise with the time difference if we leave Monday morning we wont get back to new york until late afternoon so a whole day off work is wasted flying.
The kayak trip on Sunday ends at 5 though, probably when everyone is leaving the island so it may not be a bad idea to stay there Sunday night (and shower!). Thanks so much for your help.
One more question... since ferry lines seem to be terrible ideally i would rather not have a car, but it also seems like it may be hard to see the whole island (orcas or san juan) without one. just curious on peoples thoughts on that-if anyone has gone without a car and if it was a pain and how you got around.

Gardyloo

You'll need a car on the islands.

blb3

im thinking of renting a car on the island-so i dont have to deal as much with waits for the ferry since time is limited. ive also noticed there are several fairly reasonable water taxi services that i am looking into to get back sunday.

christy1

I don't think you'll make it back to Seatac in time for a midnight flight if your trip ends at 5.

You do need a car on the islands-the only exception would be if you were going to one island, to do one thing (ie a whale watch cruise) and could arrange for a ride from the ferry dock.
If it's possible to rent a car on the islands, that might be a good option, while leaving you other rental car at the parking lot in Anacortes.

If I were you, though, I would just fly back monday. It is another day off of work but a trip from NY to the PNW in just 4 days seems pretty hectic.

Gardyloo

I think your itinerary and car-juggling is conspiring against you.

There will be sailings at least at 7-ish PM and 8-ish PM from Friday Harbor, arriving at Anacortes an hour later, respectively. If your redeye flight is indeed a midnight departure (such as jetBlue at 11:55pm) then either would technically be doable, although the 8PM boat would give me the jimjams, given ferry loading yoga, possibility of late schedules, rental car return, checkin, etc. Note the ferry system hasn't published its summer schedule yet, so there may well be additional sailings that would work for you, given a 5pm completion of your kayaking. Regardless, it would be a pretty stressful end to your holiday.

What about doing it in reverse? Bee-line it from Sea-Tac to Anacortes, do the island and kayak thing, then spend the last day or two back on the mainland, exempt from ferry mishugas? That would get my vote right now.

suze

As above, it's your Sunday that looks like potential trouble to me. To get from kayaking on San Juan all the way back with enough time to catch a plane at SeaTac in 5-6 hours could be hair-raising at best.

suze

I would rent a car at the airport and keep it with you the entire trip. Driving a car onto a ferry is simply how it's done (fun, by the way).

If you are thinking of renting a car once you are on the island, how are you going to get there in the first place?

blb3

thank you all for your replies!
i think i have accepted the need to wait and come back monday-after all its a trip and i dont want to be stressing about missing flights/rushing around.
ive looked into renting cars on the islands and they are not terribly expensive ($40/day) so we may do that and book a spot on a water taxi, leaving our car on the mainland. Since our time will still be limited, i'd rather not waste hours waiting for a ferry. we will probably go to seattle area and spend the night and take a morning flight back to the east coast.
unfortunately the kayak trip is only offered on sat/sun so that is complicating things-if it were fri/sat we'd be set! oh well-
thanks again for your help!