Back to Cypress Island
04 August 2021 | Cypress Head at Cypress Island
Jan Norman
After a few days at the dock doing some boat chores we decided to go back to Cypress Island. Cypress has an interesting history. In 1791 Spanish explorer Jose Navaez arrived and named the island San Vicente. The name was changed to Cypress by Captain George Vancouver in 1792, when he mistook the island's juniper trees for Cypress trees. There isn't a single Cypress tree on the island! Then in 1978 a private entrepreneur purchased a majority of the island for $1.8 million. Plans were set forth to build a 1000 unit exclusive residential development, and then an upscale resort with a 200 room lodge, condos, a marina, and a golf course. Both proposals received initial permits by the Skagit County commissioners. But the locals and environmentalists fiercely opposed the plans. So finally in 1987, because of the intense public pressure, the land was offered for sale to the state. The island can only be reached by boat so the boating community is grateful to the state of Washington for making the purchase of this beautiful island.
There are several good anchorages on Cypress with mooring buoys provided by the Department of Natural Resources in an effort to protect the eelgrass. This time we chose to tie to a buoy at Cypress Head because we haven't been to that anchorage before. Because there are only four buoys here it gave us a quiet and peaceful anchorage.
Our first day we hiked to Bradberry Lake. The trail was well maintained and quite steep. The lake was at an elevation of 1000 feet. Just what we needed to get our legs moving after a day on the boat. The next day we hiked around Cypress Head where we had terrific views of Guemes Island, Bellingham Channel, and Anacortes.