We arrived the morning of a calm day after just an hour or so of motoring. We slowly crept through the anchorage in Reid Harbor to find our spot and dropped anchor. After a quick breakfast, dressing Lillie and making a to-go lunch, we were off to explore the island.

Stuart Island has few residents, but most appear to have decided to keep the trees, creating an amazing natural habitat on the island. Right after disembarking the dinghy and walking the steep ramps from the state park dock, we were transported to a magical forested land. The trail wound through pines and madronas. Then, we spotted a deer high on a rock outcropping. Moments later, she was joined by her fawn.

We continued on through the winding trail to an exposed cliff overlooking the harbor. Then, we walked down a long series of stairs to find a beach-side camp ground tucked into a dense wooded area. I don’t often long for camping, but I found myself wishing we had a tent and sleeping bags to spend a night. Each of the five or so sites were near each other, but you would never know. Each site was like its own little secret grotto.

Further up, the trail joined the county road and lead us to the school house, then onto the light house. Just before the school house were a set of large treasure chests full of t-shirts one could purchase on the honor system.

The school house triggered a number of emotions in me, I was happy and inspired to know that the community of Stuart Island banded together to create this school house in the early 1900s. Much care was put into the building and the grounds. Later, in 1980, a second school house was built. I was entirely intrigued with its architecture. The newer builder was a larger single-room school house, but it had a tall exposed truss ceiling, with large windows all around. There was a second layer of long flat dormer widows all along the south-facing roof line to let lots of natural light in. The whole building had a long shape with an odd-angle turn. The building had amazing character. I wanted to go inside and feel the space, but the doors were locked.

The old school house was still there and is open to the public as a library. Everything looking like it could, at any moment, become a living school again, but the signage says it hasn’t been an active school since 2013.

I couldn’t sort out all of the feelings I had for the place. I was quite surprised to feel anything at all. I expected to check a tourist check box and move on, but I was affected. I was reminded of my uncle David and aunt Sandie and the way they choose to life their lives. They moved to Montana and made a point of staying connected to nature, and away from the various trappings of typical American life. They built their house amongst the trees, they made a point to clear as few trees as possible. You can’t see the house from the road, and it almost emerges from the trees as you approach from the driveway. You can feel the forest around you, you can hear it and smell it. Nature isn’t fenced off and separated from civilization. This place certainly had a feeling of connectedness to nature, and it was created by people that put a lot of effort into living in a way altogether different from everyone else.

I was happy to see to see the school house and experience just a little bit of that different way of life. I was also a little sad to know that the school hasn’t been active in nearly ten years. The next generation of Stuart Island might not be there to support the island and keep it going. I supposed change is the only constant in life.

We continued our walk and saw the first private residence that was visable from the county road. It was a farm with a pasture. On the opposite side of the road, we saw a grass airfield. Further up the road, we came to a junction with another t-shirt treasure chest. We also met a couple sitting in chairs having a snack and enjoying the view of John’s Pass in the distance. Lillie immediately began to chat with the couple, as she does. Lillie shared that she used to go to pre-school, and the woman told Lillie she was a pre-school teacher.

About this time, we figured out we had embarked on a rather long stroll for Lillie’s little legs. We were more than 3 miles into the walk and had almost another mile to go to reach the lighthouse. We pressed on through the road and back onto public land. We stopped short of the light house to have lunch on a rock outcropping overlooking the water.

The last bit of road to the lighthouse was a steep downhill and we were there. The buildings all looked well cared for and looked out over and amazing view. Some of the cliffs were quite shear, and there was a massive kelp forest butting right up to where the cliffs met the water.

The trip out was nearly 4.5 miles. We were a little worried about Lillie making it back on her own. She rallied really well and walked most of the way. Things did get a little crazy from time to time, she and I actually did a bit of trail running near the end. The big long stair climb was where the wheels fell off, I gave her a piggy back ride the rest of the way.

Stuart Island really felt like a magical place to me. I would love to spend more time running through the trails of the state park, but we are planning to move on tomorrow.