- What's up my friends, my name is Miranda,
and we're going on an adventure to Washington State's
smallest state park.
Ta-da!
Turns out that it is a one acre island,
called Posey Island that you can only get to by
human powered watercraft.
(determined screams)
So we are gonna kayak there.
Excited Sky?
- Oh yeah.
- Pause for exciting undulation in the water.
An acre is really, really small state park.
We walked around it in 15 minutes.
Should've brought my book.
(♪ bow, chika chika, bow, chika chika)
I wonder what makes it worthy of being a state park.
Real cool Washington.
Put that on a t-shirt.
Washington state's smallest state park.
The smallest!
Here we come.
(fun music)
This is my show, gosh darn.
If you've ever been to any of the big national parks,
like Yosemite or Zion,
it's really easy to understand why a space like that
has a protected status.
You know, you have these like huge mountains,
big lakes, and like big trees.
But I'm curious about the littlest parks.
Like what a place has to offer that is unique enough
for it to earn state park status.
So yeah.
We're going to load up the kayaks with camping gear
and actually kayak out to Posey Island
where there are two camp sites.
And we'll be camping overnight.
Let's do it.
Okay, good morning.
It is fairly early.
We're running a little bit behind.
Excited Sky?
- Oh yeah.
- It's great morning.
It's perfect kayaking weather.
Mmm, oatmeal.
The adventure begins with the hunt for a parking permit.
If my directions are correct,
we are going to be going that way.
(whimsical music)
Here we go.
- All right.
- Groovy.
Time to load 'em up.
This is both of our sea bags.
- Let's do this.
- We're doin' it.
(hard grunts)
(quick crack)
- Ahh!
(trickling water)
There are some people kayaking that are clearly way more
experienced than us, and I want to know their secrets.
So we are headed to Posey Island,
which you can actually see right there.
Pause for exciting undulation in the water.
It looks way farther away in the GoPro
than it is in real life.
And here is our destination Posey Island,
smallest state park of Washington.
Known for its beauty and uh, recreational significance.
(slight laughs)
I'm just getting at that Posey Island.
We've still got a ways to go.
(slight crunch)
(triumphant music)
Ah!
(dragging thud)
It was exactly 30 minutes.
- Amazing.
- Man, I'm bushed.
Yeah, this is tiny tiny Posey Island.
Ta-da!
- Let's walk around the whole thing.
- The whole island?
- Yeah, the whole thing.
- Ugh, it's gonna take so long.
All right, we're gonna walk around the whole island.
(carrot crunching)
And look, we've made our way to the other camp site
on the other side of the island.
- Wow, this is actually really cool.
- It is cool.
I don't want to say I'm disappointed
that it didn't take us very long to get here.
But I was really expecting like a hard paddle here
and then we didn't get that.
It feels a little uneventful.
This is kinda cool.
All rocky.
We are now on opposite side of the island,
from the camp grounds.
Completely different place over here.
- So different.
- It's taken us nearly six minutes to get over here.
Mostly because I keep looking at my feet.
(scared scream)
I'm fine, I'm sorry.
I wasn't paying attention.
We're back at camp sight number one.
We are out of the boats.
We got everything onto the island
and then we walked around it in 15 minutes.
(carrot crunches)
(clock ticks)
So this Island has a bathroom on it.
Check it out.
Oh my gosh.
(happy music)
Oh, this is like a real bathroom.
Toilet, a fan.
Hand sanitizer.
Wow, all that toilet paper.
And it doesn't smell bad.
Oh, there's an educational sign on the door.
Harbor seal, often seen.
The sign says that often you'll see
California sea lions here.
- Wow, you ran to the bathroom
and you ran from the bathroom,
all of that was just out of pure excitement.
(slight giggles)
- It's actually a really nice bathroom.
I wasn't, I wasn't expecting, and it smells good.
It doesn't smell me to smell good.
It doesn't smell good.
But it doesn't smell bad.
Maybe that's why it got it's state park status,
is for its pristine.
- Custodial services?
- Yes.
All right, trash pickin time.
(dancing music)
I thought this was a piece of trash,
but it's actually a seashell.
So far just two pieces of trash.
Rad tree.
Oh, and some wild flowers.
Oh wow.
Birds.
We found that tiny tide pool.
Look at these guys go.
There's a beautiful crab over here.
That is a few of them.
(surprise gasp)
Found a very intact, tiny crab shell.
See plant, look at it.
Feels like rubber.
Oh, was that a sea lion?
There's a deer on the island.
You see him?
I'm gonna go check on our food.
Just in case.
Wow, this island is cool.
All it takes, is one deer for me to be like,
this island's the best.
So the sun has come out.
We have all of our stuff out on the picnic table.
And this is where our tent is set up right here.
Cozy.
It's turning out to be a lovely day.
I started to look up the history of Posey Island
and this is what I found
on Washington Water Trails Association.
Historically the spot was a destination
for people wanting to picnic and pick bouquets or posies.
So as it turns out, actually, people for a long time
thought that Posey Island was just a part of Pearl Island.
But I guess local people determined
that it was actually a different island.
And somewhere in there, it became a state park.
That seems to be the only history I can find
on Posey Island.
I might do a little bit more digging
because I feel like there's probably
something else about it.
I don't know, something about it being like a water trail.
And I think that there's,
there's two other big islands here
where people will kayak camp as well.
And one of them is Stewart Island.
And then the other one is Henry Island,
which is behind Pearl.
Stewart and Henry, and Posey?
Man, Posey should have a name like Frank.
Okay, so because we have ample amount of time
on the Island right now,
we are going to race the kayaks around the island.
- Ready?
- I'm going to say it though,
because you always say it too fast.
- Okay.
- Okay?
- Okay, yeah.
- On your mark, get set, go.
(country music)
(loud screams)
- [Sky] Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
- What do you mean wait?
It's a race.
Come on, hurry up, you got it.
You got it Sky!
Oh, no, I'm tired.
(tired cries)
(dragging thud)
(tired grunting)
- [Miranda] I hate running.
(clanging slap)
I did it.
- Dude, you legit won that.
I am not doing that correctly.
- I though you were gonna say, ever again.
- Oh wow, my shoulders and arms.
- I feel fine.
- [Camera Operator] Your boats are floating away.
- [Miranda] Oh (beep)
(easy music)
Our dear friend that was on the island, just left.
She swam across the strait between Posey and Pearl Island.
I'm feeling sort of sad about that.
So now it's just us, some robins
and that sweet tide pool full of crabs.
It's been a fun day.
I'm surprised by how quickly the day has gone by,
given the fact that we didn't really have much to do.
Definitely when we got here early in the afternoon,
like, got here a lot earlier than we thought
we were going to, I was worried we would be bored.
And we haven't been.
I managed to squeeze all of our food into the bear canister.
Even though there will be no bears coming to camp today.
- [Camera Operator] They could swim here I guess, but.
- [Sky] Watch out for those water bears.
- We have decided as a group,
that no bears will be coming here.
- That deer though.
The sun is setting right now and it is beautiful.
Of course it is, sunsets are always beautiful.
But it feels especially special,
because we are on our own private island.
Which is awesome.
(♪ bow, chika chika, bow, chika chika)
You don't need to be here for this.
Good morning, it is 6:00 AM now.
Man, waking up here this morning was amazing.
I loved it.
Hello?
- What?
- Good morning.
Yum yum, coffee.
It's just a really cool experience.
I feel like you have an island to yourself.
It feels very remote even though we're right next to
a bigger island, took no time at all to get here.
I feel like the novelty of it might be what made it
a state park, but I don't know.
It's also just beautiful.
So yeah, time to break down the tent,
put all the stuff away, and get out of here.
Coming to Posey Island, which is Washington's state's
smallest recreational state park,
definitely gave me a different sort
of appreciation for these small spaces.
Obviously it's really easy to understand why places like
Yosemite or the North Cascades are preserved
as public lands, just because they're so beautiful.
But a small space like this has just as much,
all be it, different, beauty.
And I would love to check out other small state parks.
So if you've ever been to your state's smallest state park
and you know where I should go next,
let me know in the comments below and bye.
The end.
Yes, I did it.
(playful music)
Excuse me deer, did you know,
that Posey Island was originally thought
to be part of Pearl Island?
You're welcome.