Orcas Island in Winter

Allyson and I decided kind of last minute to head to Washington State for the holidays. We hadn't met our 5 month old twin nephews yet, and the rest of Allyson's family was planning a trip up there to see them and the rest of the clan. Obviously, we couldn't be in the Seattle area and not make it back to Orcas Island. We were last there for our wedding in August 2012. We have been there several time during summer months, but I had never been there in the winter. I was expecting dark and rainy the entire time and I was still fine with that. Nothing quite like getting cozy next to a fire looking out on the rain over the water with the fog covering the trees. However, we were pleasantly surprised! It only rained one morning in the 3 1/2 days we were there. And even then, we made the most of it.

I'm going to highlight what we did during our time on Orcas in this post. Then I'll dedicate two more posts to the hikes we did while we were on the island.

Day 1 - Getting to Orcas

Yes, it's a pain in the butt to get to Orcas, especially when you are coming from the east coast. We flew (not a direct flight) to Seattle and had to spend the night at the airport that night. The next morning we rented a car, stopped at a grocery store in Seattle (it was Christmas Day, so we are lucky something was open), and then made our way up to Anacortes (about a 2 hour drive from SeaTac). From Anacortes, we took the ferry to Orcas. Of course, we had to time all of this very carefully, because the ferries only leave a few times a day from Anacortes to Orcas Island. 

Despite all the careful planning and extended travel time, the rejuvenation I experienced on the island more than made up for it. 

The island experience starts in Anacortes. As soon as I see the ferry (or even hear it approaching), I get goosebumps. But even before we made it to the ferry, we made our way to a marina and park (I think it was Seafarers Memorial Park off Q Street) in Anacortes for lunch and a walk. We had such a blast checking out all the boats and encountered our first hooded merganser!

We lined up for the ferry about an hour before our scheduled departure time (3:35pm) and then were on our way. By the time we got to the island, the sun was setting. The days are so short up there in the winter! I knew they would be, but it was pretty crazy to wake up an hour and a half before the sunrise every morning!

 The Olympic Mountains from the ferry. 

We stayed in a well-appointed studio at SeaStar Lofts right in Eastsound, directly on the water. It's a great little place from which we could walk to restaurants, beaches, shops, etc. I think in the summer, the noise from the bar and grill next door would get annoying, but in the winter it was perfect! And watching the sunrises and sunsets while warming up next to our gas stove was exactly what we were aiming for on this trip!

Day 2 
In the morning, we took our time getting up and around. We watched the sunrise while drinking our tea. We didn't feel like getting in our car right away, so we decided to go for a long walk around Eastsound. We went down by Odd Fellows Hall, where we got married (you can see more of our wedding photos here and here), and out on the dock at the end of Haven Road. Then we went north of town by the school, and then over to Ship Bay to walk along the beach for awhile.

 Skate park at the school

 I think this guy is a Bufflehead duck, but I'm no bird expert. If you know, please comment!

 Looking out on Ship Bay

After our lovely walk, we went back to our studio and made some lunch. Then we got in the car and drove over to Turtleback Mountain Preserve for a hike. When I first started coming to Orcas Island, this area wasn't open for hiking. This was our first time exploring the trails on Turtleback Mountain. Most visitors frequent the more popular (and also incredible) Moran State Park. Both are worth a visit! If you have never been to Orcas Island, you have to hike Mount Constitution. You can see details of our last hike up Mount Constitution here. However, since we've done that a few times, I was excited to explore a new part of the island.

I provide more details about our two hikes in Turtleback Mountain Preserve on other posts (Turtleback North and Turtleback South). However, here are a couple highlights from this day's hike (5.5 miles) from the North Trailhead out to Waldron Overlook and Turtlehead (1005 feet).

 North Valley Overlook and Mount Constitution in the distance

 Waldron Island

Magical view from Turtlehead

Day 3

The forecast for this day was rain all day. We were prepared for that. This day is when I realized that when I check the Eastsound weather forecast on my phone from North Carolina, I shouldn't believe it. All day my phone said 70% or higher chance of rain. It always said it was raining. And yet, the sun came out in the afternoon for an absolutely gorgeous afternoon and sunset! 

But back to the rain. It did pour in the morning. We decided it would be fun to do a trail run at Mountain Lake in Moran State Park. The trail around the lake is a 3.9 mile long loop and through big redwood trees. We figured we would be sheltered from a lot of the rain. I obviously didn't bring my camera for the run, but it was beautiful and the cold rain was invigorating. I'm glad we didn't chicken out because of a little rain. 

No better way to follow up a run in the rain than with brunch. We went to Mia's Cafe in Eastsound and had an incredible brunch with hot tea and some of the best biscuits ever.

After a warm shower, we spent the rest of the day relaxing in our studio and walking around town. We spent some time shopping in Darvill's Bookstore and had dinner at a fabulous farm to table pizza place called Hogstone. Yum! We finished up by getting a drink at the best-named bar, The Barnacle. 

 Odd Fellows Hall

Day 4 - Heading back to reality

We headed back to Seattle/Tacoma and began that journey on the 12:20pm ferry. This gave us plenty of time to get one more hike in! We hiked to Ship Peak from the South Trailhead at Turtleback Mountain Preserve, so we could get a good sense of all the preserve has to offer. Another great hike that I will provide more details about in another post! For now, here are the highlights from our morning hike to Ship Peak. 

 West Overlook

Quick stop on the side of Deer Harbor Road on the way to the ferry

If my pictures don't sell you, I'm not sure what will. Turtleback Mountain is a must do when you are on Orcas Island. If you are looking for a place that isn't swarming with people but has some of the best views you will see anywhere, this is your spot. Either of the hikes we did will not disappoint. And the hike to the vista points is just as beautiful, with moss covered trees, rocks...heck, everything is covered in moss. It's incredible. 

Once again, Orcas Island, you have taken my breath away. I am already thinking about when I can next come to visit...hopefully for longer than a few days. How about forever? 

Mini-Moon Adventures on Orcas Island

After a sweaty camping weekend (full of mosquitoes and lightning storms) in Carolina Beach, NC, I am going to enjoy taking myself back to our picture perfect mini-moon week on Orcas and San Juan Islands. We managed to pick the warmest, sunniest week of the year to have our wedding in the San Juan Islands. Every day was perfect and we did just the right amount of relaxing and adventure.

Hiking Mt. Constitution

While still on Orcas Island, we adventured both by land and by sea. After sleeping in and relaxing with our tea all morning at Blackberry Beach cabin, we drove ourselves up to Mountain Lake in Moran State Park. This is where we began our strenuous but incredible 6.7 mile loop hike to the top of Mt. Constitution (2, 398 feet), the highest point in the San Juan Islands. You can do the loop clockwise or counter-clockwise. We've done it both ways (not both on this trip of course!), and I recommend doing the loop counter-clockwise. It seems less steep going up, but not too steep coming down that it's challenging for fairly active people. Also, it's the elevation gain that classifies this hike as strenuous. The trails are well-marked, clear of obstacles, and enjoyable to walk on. There is a lot to see on this hike, not just the summit. From foxglove groves to black banana slugs to picture-worthy mushrooms to giant, moss-covered cedar and hemlock trees (not to mention the 360-degree views of the islands, Canada, and mainland Washington from the summit), the whole hike is a nature lover's delight.

There are lots of spots along the trail that would make for a perfect lunch spot. The downside to the summit is people can also drive up there, so it's fairly crowded. But on a Tuesday afternoon, it wasn't so crowded that we couldn't find a peaceful spot to enjoy lunch. We headed to the left of the main viewing area and found a nice rock to sit on and eat our packed lunch and enjoy the sunshine and the magnificent view.

The to continue the loop, you have to find the trail past the restrooms heading back down the mountain. You'll have great views of Mountain Lake and beyond, before heading into some beautiful groves which were so picturesque with the afternoon sunlight breaking through the trees.

It's nearly impossible to say no to a swim in Mountain Lake, after this very satisfying hike. Our swim in Mountain Lake was about the most refreshing swim I've had, and I've swam in a lot of lakes. It's cold, but not Lake Tahoe cold. There is a little trail off to the right of the parking lot to a kind of secluded spot. If you forgot your bathing suit, you're probably ok heading off in this direction for a quick dip. It was such a perfect ending to the hike!

For more details about the hike, both of these sites provide the directions you need. Also, the brochure provides other shorter hikes for those of you that don't want something so strenuous.

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mount-constitution

http://www.parks.wa.gov/publications/parks/Moran%20State%20Park%20Brochure.pdf

Kayaking Orcas

One of these days, I'm going to backtrack to last summer and share our kayaking adventure on this blog. During the planning of that trip, I'd repeatedly wished that someone else had shared their adventures on the internet to make our planning easier. However, for now I'll share our half-day kayak outing that started at the North Shore of Orcas Island at Outer Island Expeditions. I wasn't overly impressed by this outfitter, but they were fine for renting kayaks for a few hours. We put in the kayaks directly north of the Eastsound air strip, so while we were getting ready it was neat to have the small planes taking off or landing right over us.

We kayaked out and back along the north and west shore of Orcas for 4 hours or so. According to the outfitter, there are rough currents along the east side of the island. Considering we had a kid with us, we decided to stay in safer waters. We kept our eyes open for seals and bald eagles, knowing that they are all over the place in this area. Although we saw no bald eagles this time, we saw a ton of seals and their pups, both in the water and sunning on the rocks. Of course, my camera died right when we saw the seals. They would've looked pretty small in a photo anyway, because we didn't want to disrupt them by getting too close. But with the cliffs towering high above and the sun glistening off the water, these seals have quite a place to call home.

We ended up kayaking around Point Doughty - one of the beautiful spots we camped on our longer kayak adventure last year - and ate lunch on Freeman Island (a tiny island in the bay right by Pt. Doughty). Then, we continued kayaking down the west coast until we decided it was time to head back. There are some gorgeous homes and plenty of trees and wildlife along this part of the island. The picture below is from Pt. Doughty but from our longer kayaking adventure.