Matia Island

Ah, Matia Island. Our stop on this small island in the Strait of Georgia last August was both unplanned and unexpected. We thought about adding Matia to our route plan, but with only two mooring buoys, a short dock and a narrow, rocky cove not suitable for anchoring (by most, anyway), we decided to skip it. But from our mooring buoy on Sucia, Aaron pulled out the binoculars and could just barely make out Rolfe Cove on the horizon. Was a boat leaving? Yes! Should we go for it? Yes! Move out!

We high-tailed it (read: cruised at 6 knots) over to Matia, snagged one of the two buoys, settled in and took the dingy to shore where a huge rock wall and old growth forest awaited us. Amazing! We hiked the loop trail, which passes through one of the only old-growth forests left in the San Juans (most of the other islands were opened to logging and homesteading), by huge glacial erratics and stone walls and out onto cliffs overlooking the islands. In 1892, a Civil War veteran named Elvin Smith built a small cabin on the island and spent 30 years living alone there. Although people referred to him as “the hermit of Matia,” every week he’d row his boat 2 miles to Orcas Island and hike into town to visit with the locals and buy supplies. One day in 1921, his boat laden with provisions, he and a friend mysteriously disappeared. Some say you can still make out the footprint of his cabin, but we combed the area and didn’t see a darn thing.

We spent two fabulous days on Matia, rowing the dinghy around and exploring the trails and coastline. The rippled sandstone formations, the impressive rock walls and the quiet forest trails were something we won’t soon forget (and fortunately we took lots of pictures!).