Lummi Island Circumnavigation

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Launch Point	Gooseberry Point
Max Difficulty:	SKI/SKIII Lummi East side is a SKI, West side is SKIII
Paddle Length/Time	20 miles total; 6 miles to Camp site; 14 miles return via west side. 2 Day paddle total
Tide/Current Station	Gooseberry Pt., Pt. Migley; Village Pt./ Hale Passage; Lawrence Pt; Clark Island
Destination	WWTA Campsite Sound end of Lummi
Description	The launch site is also a boat ramp for fishermen and pleasure boaters. We opt to park and carry our boats to the beach. It doesn't take to long to load up our boats and be ready to set off for Lummi. We park our cars in a large parking lot across from the launch site. We paddle out from Gooseberry Pt. keeping an eye on the ferry and quickly cross its travel route. We cross over to Lummi and paddle down the shore line. It is a great day and we have a great view of Mt Baker to the east. It takes us about 1:45 to reach the cove with the campsites. There are many Department of Natural Resources (DNR) beaches along the east side of Lummi, most are accessible only from the water. There are places on the south end of Lummi that the bluffs rise 1,500 feet from the water. The Cascadia Marine Trail campsite is located in the most southerly of three coves on DNR’s 2,125 foot shoreline, just under two miles from the island’s southern tip. The cove has a nice gravel beach coves with drift logs above the high tide line. This is a good place to secure your kayaks overnight. There are 5 sites in the immediate area, all are up on a hill. There is a vault toilet, there is no water. The site is located within a Natural Resource Conservation Area. Stay on maintained trails and follow minimum-impact camping techniques. The site is maintained by volunteers from the Whatcom Area Kayak Enthusiasts (WAKE) club from Bellingham so please help them take care of it. The next morning we get up and pack up. We had been undecided on paddling around the island on the return leg, Saturday was pretty wind on the west side of the island and there had been white caps. We listen to the Marine Weather forecast on our VHF radio and it sounds good. After a bit more discussion we decide to try it and see. We do have a first time paddler with us so we cautious. We head out toward the south end of the island and soon reach Carter Point and get a good look at the west side of the island. The water looks good with the winds near calm. We group up and quickly decide to go for it and head north up the west side of the island enjoying the views, water, and weather. We paddle up the coast past the Lummi Rocks and see several seals. We take a break about 7 miles up the coast on a nice secluded stretch of beach. A great place to stretch our legs and have a bite to eat. The paddle distance is starting to get to us as we realize how far we have to go. We are not getting any help from the current so we paddle on. It takes us about 6 hours to finish the paddle. It was great seeing the north end of Lummi finally appear. Even better to see Gooseberry Point. A good paddle if a bit far. Might have been easier to paddle this the other way and using the currents more effectively.

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	Click on the Full Screen icon at the top of the map to have the map expend to full screen. The full screen version will open in a new tab
	Click on the Info button at the top of the map to get a trip description, once open click again to close the description.
	Click on the menu button at the top left corner of the map to get the list of markers and route descriptions. Yu can click any item for a dialogue box with more info on the marker or line..Click on the triangle at the bottom of the list to close the list.
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