Thirteen acres of secluded forest and beach has provided refuge for Western students, faculty and alumni since 1928. The barn-red Viqueen Lodge sits on lush, secluded forestland, surrounded by rare birds and pesky raccoons. It offers the simple pleasures of sunsets, water and trails.
The Associated Students’ (AS) lodge is nestled on Sinclair Island in the San Juan Islands. The Washington island is a four to six hour kayak trip away from nearby Anacortes.
The lodge is available to students for $25 per day and can be reserved year round for up to five days at a time.
Outdoor Center Promotions and Outreach Coordinator and Western junior Marissa Capito said the lodge is a peaceful place for students to get away and enjoy the outdoors during the busy school year.
Capito stayed at the lodge in September 2007 as part of an AS employee retreat with the Outdoor Center.
Sinclair Island has between 15 and 25 permanent residents and a handful of vacation homes. It is only accessible by boat and there are no stores.
Pans, wood and fuel are provided at the lodge.
“The island is pretty secluded, but there is still a lot to do,” Capito said. “My favorite part was building a bonfire on the beach. It’s just really beautiful out there.”
Western senior and Outdoor Center Excursion co-coordinator Bridgett Jamison said the lodge has three bedrooms, which can comfortably fit 10 people.
Tent space is also available in the front yard. The kitchen comes with a gas stove and refrigerator. The lodge has no running water, but the original well is located down a dirt road from the lodge and provides drinking water.
Schuster said the Western Women’s Physical Education Association originally purchased the lodge in 1928. Faculty primarily used the lodge until it fell into disrepair and disuse during the Vietnam War.
After a student expressed interest in repairing the facility in 1981, the AS took over management of the lodge, which made it available to students.
Jamison said she went to the lodge at the beginning of the year. She said students can enjoy nearby trails, a swimming dock and rope swing.
“You would be hard-pressed to call staying at the lodge camping,” Jamison said. “It’s nicer than my apartment.”
The Outdoor Center sponsors a few trips each year to the lodge.
Western junior James White led a kayaking trip to the Lodge in April 2008 with 13 other students. The group left from Anacortes and kayaked for nearly four hours to get to the lodge.
White said the group never ran out of things to do on the island.
“Between the new frisbee golf course, making a fire on the beach and the amazing view of the water and the San Juans, we had a great time,” White said.
This wilderness getaway was a target of unexpected and brutal November storms, Director of Viking Union Facilities Jim Schuster said. The storm tore out three-fourths of the county dock providing boat access to the lodge, which rendered the dock dangerous and difficult to dock on.
The dock is owned by Skagit County and will cost an estimated $1.2 million to repair. The county is proposing a temporary summer replacement dock until repairs can be made. However chartering a water taxi to drop visitors off at the beach is still possible.
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