Anderson Island: Where folks are folksy and the landscape is lovely
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Be prepared for conversations with your fellow passengers on a ferry ride to Anderson Island.
Even on a bright Sunday, the little ferry that plies the route between Steilacoom and Anderson, one of Puget Sound's lesser-known small islands, carried 26 cars and fewer than a dozen walk-on travelers. One of them was Phil Ray, a friendly Seattleite so charmed by Anderson's peaceful ways that he bought an old house he's now restoring.
He was making the 20-minute trip for a salmon barbecue. He raved about the island's famous swimming hole at Lake Florence.
"Fifteen years ago, it was so perfect. It was like swimming in the Florida Keys. It was so clear," he said.
Homes have begun to cluster around Florence and the island's other lake, Josephine, but both have a long way to go before they become as crowded and despoiled as Lake Sammamish or Lake Washington.
My cycling companion and I watched two rowing boats move languidly on the waters of Lake Josephine, while we enjoyed sandwiches at the island's only restaurant. An affectionate black Lab wandered by and lay at our feet on the restaurant deck. Above the trees on the far side of the lake, the snowy mass of Mount Rainier shimmered in the afternoon light. It was one of those perfect Northwest moments you wish occurred more frequently.
Anderson Island is approximately seven miles south of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and 3.5 miles offshore from Steilacoom. U.S. Exploring Expedition Cmdr. Charles Wilkes named it for Alexander Caulfield Anderson, who headed the Fort Nisqually Hudson's Bay Co. post in 1841. Just to the north of Anderson is McNeil Island, also named by Wilkes, now home to a state corrections facility and formerly a federal penitentiary. McNeil's gray buildings are visible from the Christine Anderson, the Pierce County-owned car ferry, during the crossing.
The ferry makes 12 round trips on weekends; nine during the week. That frequency says much about the kind of place Anderson has become - a weekend haven. It's easy to understand why. The island has the kind of quiet roads that invite bicycling and permit conversation between riders who don't have to compete with noisy traffic.
There's an assortment of scenery to wheel past - open farmland in the south, bays, historic buildings, wooded areas, gentle hills and wildlife. We spotted an osprey, a golden eagle and numerous browsing deer in our first hour there. The island is only five miles long and 3.5 miles at its broadest. It has 14 miles of coastline, including several sheltered bays and coves that draw boaters and kayakers. In the south, farmland and old orchards slope down to tidal beaches, while in the north, high bank and woods dominate.
"Woods in places were so deep and dense, so nearly impenetrable as to be invested with mystery. One could see no more than 10 feet beyond the fence rows that defined the roadway," wrote Hazel Heckman in her 1971 book, "Island Year," which she wrote after keeping a diary of three years' worth of observation of the island's flora and fauna.
Most of the trees on Anderson are second-growth conifers, mixed with deciduous species. Loggers began arriving in the 1850s, and the area was settled by a contingent of Scandinavian farmers who cleared their homesteads in the following couple of decades.
A peek into farming past
Small-scale farming of the type practiced by pioneers has largely disappeared on Anderson, but there a few active farms still on the island. For a sense of how farming used to be practiced, island visitors may tour the Johnson Farm, which dates from 1896. The farm, which became a major egg producer and small dairy, remained active until the last descendant of the family, Rudy Johnson, died in 1975. His heirs donated the farm to the Anderson Island Historical Society, which operates a museum on the site.
You can view the house where Rudy lived in spartan comfort and explore the only remaining pole barn on the island (built 1917). We marveled at an electrically operated machine that cleaned and sorted (and often broke) the eggs from the 2,000-plus chickens that once inhabited the farm. The museum also houses an ingenious water-fed cooling system used to keep milk fresh in the days before electrical refrigeration.
Since the island's roads do not encircle Anderson, a bike ride can make for some back-and-forth exploration. But with little traffic and gentle hills, the island's roads are a great place for a family outing. It's not often you get to ride in such quiet that the loudest sounds are birds chirping and a croaking frog.
Lagoon of solitude
A road sign intrigued: Andy's Marine Park.
We rode up a hill and secured our tandem bike. A sign explained that the park was the result of a donation by pioneer Andrew Anderson, who helped found the island's park district. A narrow footpath led through airy woods of maple, ash, pine, madrona, bitter cherry and tall salal.
Slices of tree trunk formed stepping stones in the wettest parts of the footpath. After 10 minutes, the trail dropped steeply down to a large lagoon. Negotiating a partially submerged shaky bridge was tricky but worth the effort. The tidal lagoon flows into Carlson Bay, which offers a wide beach littered with sand dollars and pebbles. Giant old trees lie beached and bleached.
There are a couple of picnic tables here, and enough solitude and beauty to satisfy the soul. We made a mental note to bring swimwear and a book next time.
When it came time to leave, back on the ferry toward Steilacoom, we bumped into Phil Ray again and recognized another passenger as the young woman who had served us at the Island General Store. Now, that's island life.
IF YOU GO
Directions: From Interstate 5 south of Fort Lewis, take the Du Pont/Steilacoom exit (Exit 119). Steilacoom dock is seven miles from I-5. There is free parking for two hours on the street leading to the ferry dock. All-day parking costs $5 in the lot on the left side just before the railroad tracks.
Buy your ferry tickets from the counter inside the cafe on the dock. Fares are $3 round-trip for adults; $1.50 for children 5-11. For bicycles, add 80 cents round-trip. Auto and driver fares are $10.45 round-trip.
When you get on the island, follow the main road to the Island General Store, about one mile from the ferry dock, and purchase the $1 island map. Be sure to visit the Johnson Farm on Otso Point Road, which hosts an Independence Day salmon bake (this year's is from noon to 3 p.m. July 7) and a fall apple squeeze. There are a handful of bed-and-breakfast establishments on the island, and vacation properties. A Web search will yield a list of possibilities.
Ferry schedules: www.co.pierce.wa.us/ferry or 253-798-2766.
Anderson Island Historical Society: www.webbuilddesign.com/aihs/
Gordon Black is a free-lance writer who lives on Bainbridge Island.