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Outdoor Odysseys, a kayak touring company, builds sustainability into all aspects of its guided adventures around the San Juan Islands.
I’m sitting on a picnic bench on Jones Island in the Salish Sea, watching my two young kayak guides prepare a gourmet camp dinner. It’s sunny, but there’s a cool breeze as they explain the sustainability ethos of the company they work for, Outdoor Odysseys.
“We make itinerary menus for these trips, especially the multiday ones here,” Tiffany Pendergrass says. “And it literally has a breakdown of per item that you’re grabbing. For example, I’m chopping green apples right now. We would have on our list six green apples to grab. And that is with every single piece of food that you see out here.”
And if there are still leftovers? “All of the extra food from trips actually goes back to our guides,” Eli Todaro says. “So we have our guide fridge back at the shop, and we’re all able to still eat and use things that maybe couldn’t go back out on another trip.”
Free food and keeping the world inhabitable for humans are two important topics for the company’s guides, many of whom are in their twenties. They’re inheriting the care of Earth—a task they take seriously.
Our group of eight guests and two guides are on a three-day, two-night kayak camping trip in Washington’s San Juan Islands. This archipelago of 172 named islands stretches north of Seattle near the Canadian border. We’re spending our days paddling in the Salish Sea, an inland sea that encompasses Puget Sound, the straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca, and the San Juan Islands. The Salish Sea officially received its name in 2010, in a reconciliation ceremony with coastal First Nations tribes and the U.S. and Canadian governments.
I was excited to go on my first multi-day kayaking trip. The paddling was less arduous than I expected. We kayaked every day, but only for two to three hours. There was lots of hang-out time around our campsite in Jones Island Marine State Park. We could sit at a picnic table, scanning the sea for orcas and harbor seals, or wander the wooded paths of the island. Eli and Tiff made surprisingly gourmet food, even catering to vegans like me with twice-fried tofu and artisanal vegan cheeses.
Eli and Tiff worked together efficiently and joyfully, whether giving paddling tips, demonstrating how to set up tents or somehow baking a chocolate birthday cake in our camp for a guest’s 50th. “Everyone’s looking out for each other,” Eli tells me, describing both the kayak guide culture and the small community of the San Juan Islands.
I experienced that on my first evening when I went for a walk alone. A short path led me across the island to a busier campsite, where I found a Truman Capote book in a little free library. I leaned against a tree and read a short story. Deer stood around, unimpressed by humans. But I took the wrong trail back. My short walk went on a long time. Finally I retraced my steps back to the busy campsite, swallowed my pride and asked for help from a guide from a rival kayak company. “Oh, yeah, I saw where Tiff and Eli are camped,” he said, and walked me back to the fork in the path I’d missed.
We kayaked every day, but only for two to three hours. There was lots of hang-out time around our campsite in Jones Island Marine State Park. We could sit at a picnic table, scanning the sea for orcas and harbor seals, or wander the wooded paths of the island.
During our second night, Outdoor Odysseys owner Tom Murphy paddled out to join our group for dinner. Tom grew up sailing on lakes around Chicago. He started working for Outdoor Odyssey in 2005 and bought the business in 2012.
Tom looks at all ways to minimize his company’s carbon footprint. Solar panels largely offset the power Outdoor Odysseys uses for computers, fridges and kayak-cleaning equipment. We avoided waste at lunch by building our sandwiches and wraps in our hands, no plates required. Dinner clean-up involved a first rinse in seawater.
Screen time is one of Tom’s favorite topics. The Wi-Fi is surprisingly good on Jones Island, so there’s a temptation to proceed as normal, posting campfire pictures on Facebook in real time. But Outdoor Odysseys will refund 10% of the trip price to anyone who leaves their phone at headquarters. “We’re not trying to be pushy or judgey about it,” Tom said. “We’re just offering it as an option. The world will be waiting for you the day after tomorrow. It’s not even that long, really.”
Those three days were indeed short, but special, as we experienced the San Juan Islands as most people don’t—crossing the Salish Sea in our human-powered vessels and living lightly on the land and sea under the big, moody Pacific Northwest sky.
