Last Thanksgiving we travelled to Anacortes to be with family. My in-laws moved there over 10 years ago and we have come to like this small community in northwestern Washington. A great feature of Anacortes are the Community Forest Lands. The Community Forest Lands are almost 3,000 acres of forested lands and lakes on Fidalgo Island where Anacortes is located. Cranberry Lake, the largest lake in the Forest Lands, has a parking area very close to my in-law’s house. On a cool and damp but not wet day, I took a walk around Cranberry Lake.

Cranberry Lake is at the north end of the Forest Lands, near the Washington State Ferry terminal that connects the San Juan Islands with the rest of the world. It also connects to Canada too, but that’s a different story. There is a steep dirt road up to the parking lot at the north end of the lake. The spillway is next to the parking area and you have a beautiful view south over the lake.

At the parking area there is a nice map that shows the local Forest Lands (this view only includes Cranberry Lake). The trails are well marked and very well maintained.

On my hike, I took the the trails that closely followed the shoreline. There are some beautiful views of the lake.

Back in 2016, I took a stroll through Lovric’s Sea Craft in Anacortes and wrote a post about it. I had a chance to go back last Thanksgiving so I through I would post some new photos. But first, a little more background on Lovrić.

Founded in 1965 by Croatian immigrant Anton Marion Lovric, Lovric’s Sea Craft is a full-service maintenance and mooring facility with extensive facilities for maintaining sea-going vessels. It is the largest private dock north of Seattle. Located along Oakes Avenue, it is just a mile or so from the Anacortes Washington State Ferry terminal.

I was there last fall on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. It was a nice, cool day, with the Sun peaking through the clouds. There are several old buildings on the property, all in some form of use. Since it was a work day, I stuck to the public areas of the facility. (Click on a picture for a full-sized version.)

The facility is packed with boats, as some appear to be berthed there permanently, others are awaiting work.

There is old equipment all around the facility. I came across this story about Lovric’s published last March. It describes some struggles at the facility with a major wind storm and a filing for waste clean up from the State of Washington. That there is clean up needed is not a surprise.

The neighborhood above Lovric’s is nice, with great views north across the Guemes Channel with views of Guemes Island, Cypress Island, and, on a clear day, the Canadian Rockies.

The weathered wood on the old buildings looks nice.

This lift has seen better days.

Repeating the first photo so Facebook picks this one for the thumbnail.

We come to the end of 2021. I look forward with hope to the new year. Off we go, like these geese, high in the sky over Samish, Washington.