Orcas Island Trip part one
Sep. 15th, 2021 09:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
We took a six day trip to Orcas Island in the San Juans, and we had the cunning plan to wait until the worst of the tourist masses had departed, so we left on the Wednesday after Labour Day.
This plan had pros and cons. The big pro was the absence of tourist hordes. We just about got away with it weather wise - the first three days were gorgeous, with some cloud in the morning, clearing to sun and temperatures around 80F/27C. On the Saturday, it rained in the afternoon, and while the sun also re-emerged in the two days after that, the drop in temperature was noticeable. No more shorts when it was 66F/19C. Summer has officially ended...
The other con was that a number of cafes and restaurants were closed, so food options weren't as extensive as we'd thought (especially as we're still being fastidious and only eating at places where we can get a table outside). Many small business owners on Orcas also take Labour Day as their season cut off and hang a sign on the door saying, 'We've gone on holiday, back in two weeks,' or something of the kind. I can't say I blame them, and on the whole, I'd still say we made the right call.
We stopped for lunch on the way to the ferry at a restaurant in Snohomish on the river front. There's a tiny little park right there on the river with nice views.
Even when you have a reservation for the ferry to Orcas, you still want to get there an hour before the sailing, or they might give your ticket to someone else (there is ALWAYS a standby queue). That's fine, though, because it's not like airport security, and once your car's parked in the ferry lanes, you can wander off to the nearby beach.
Anacortes was once the salmon canning capital of the world, and the old pilings and wharfs are there as reminders. The industry started in the 1880s and the last factory closed in the mid-1930s, because it turns out that when you can thousands of salmon every day, after fifty years you run out of salmon. Who knew?
Views of the San Juan islands and the millpond sea from the Orcas ferry.
We rented a house on the outskirts of Eastsound, the biggest town on Orcas. Big is definitely relative in these cases - it's the town with more than one restaurant and an actual supermarket. But it meant we could walk to a restaurant in the evening and not have to worry about driving back afterwards, or alternatively we could buy food or order takeout and eat at the house.
The house was a cute and quirky little place - no dishwasher, but otherwise fully functional.
It bore many similarities to home and for all the same reasons - who needs curtains when you're not overlooked?
Balcony at the back with privacy trees.
Fishing Bay in Eastsound, close to sunset. It was a very pleasing ten minute walk to the restaurants.
For our first full day on the island, we headed down to Cascade Lake. Shallow green water at the southern tip.
We took the short hike up to Sunrise Rock, with views over the lake, and the morning cloud was starting to break up as we admired it.
We decided to be lazy and drive up to the top of Mount Constitution on time grounds, and save the big hike for Turtleback Preserve later in the week. Turtleback has no road, so you walk or you don't go.
View over little Clark and Barnes islands, past the bulk of Lummi Island and beyond to Mount Baker.
The car park at the top of Mount Constitution was nearly full and there was a line for the loos even on a weekday during the shoulder season. It must be a zoo up there at the weekend in August...
In the afternoon, we hired kayaks and did the circuit around Cascade Lake.
Beyond the main part of the lake is a small, shallow lagoon. A footbridge crosses where the Cascade loop trail bypasses the lagoon.
A heron fishing on the breezy part of the lake.
The water in the lake was so clear, you could see all the weeds down to the bottom where the surface was still. I love the way this shot captured the underwater foreground as well as the main above water view.
There will be more from Orcas Island, once I get around to selecting and editing the rest. I forgot to take the SD card reader with me, so I coouldn't do any of that while we were there; it all had to wait until I got back.
This plan had pros and cons. The big pro was the absence of tourist hordes. We just about got away with it weather wise - the first three days were gorgeous, with some cloud in the morning, clearing to sun and temperatures around 80F/27C. On the Saturday, it rained in the afternoon, and while the sun also re-emerged in the two days after that, the drop in temperature was noticeable. No more shorts when it was 66F/19C. Summer has officially ended...
The other con was that a number of cafes and restaurants were closed, so food options weren't as extensive as we'd thought (especially as we're still being fastidious and only eating at places where we can get a table outside). Many small business owners on Orcas also take Labour Day as their season cut off and hang a sign on the door saying, 'We've gone on holiday, back in two weeks,' or something of the kind. I can't say I blame them, and on the whole, I'd still say we made the right call.
We stopped for lunch on the way to the ferry at a restaurant in Snohomish on the river front. There's a tiny little park right there on the river with nice views.
Even when you have a reservation for the ferry to Orcas, you still want to get there an hour before the sailing, or they might give your ticket to someone else (there is ALWAYS a standby queue). That's fine, though, because it's not like airport security, and once your car's parked in the ferry lanes, you can wander off to the nearby beach.
Anacortes was once the salmon canning capital of the world, and the old pilings and wharfs are there as reminders. The industry started in the 1880s and the last factory closed in the mid-1930s, because it turns out that when you can thousands of salmon every day, after fifty years you run out of salmon. Who knew?
Views of the San Juan islands and the millpond sea from the Orcas ferry.
We rented a house on the outskirts of Eastsound, the biggest town on Orcas. Big is definitely relative in these cases - it's the town with more than one restaurant and an actual supermarket. But it meant we could walk to a restaurant in the evening and not have to worry about driving back afterwards, or alternatively we could buy food or order takeout and eat at the house.
The house was a cute and quirky little place - no dishwasher, but otherwise fully functional.
It bore many similarities to home and for all the same reasons - who needs curtains when you're not overlooked?
Balcony at the back with privacy trees.
Fishing Bay in Eastsound, close to sunset. It was a very pleasing ten minute walk to the restaurants.
For our first full day on the island, we headed down to Cascade Lake. Shallow green water at the southern tip.
We took the short hike up to Sunrise Rock, with views over the lake, and the morning cloud was starting to break up as we admired it.
We decided to be lazy and drive up to the top of Mount Constitution on time grounds, and save the big hike for Turtleback Preserve later in the week. Turtleback has no road, so you walk or you don't go.
View over little Clark and Barnes islands, past the bulk of Lummi Island and beyond to Mount Baker.
The car park at the top of Mount Constitution was nearly full and there was a line for the loos even on a weekday during the shoulder season. It must be a zoo up there at the weekend in August...
In the afternoon, we hired kayaks and did the circuit around Cascade Lake.
Beyond the main part of the lake is a small, shallow lagoon. A footbridge crosses where the Cascade loop trail bypasses the lagoon.
A heron fishing on the breezy part of the lake.
The water in the lake was so clear, you could see all the weeds down to the bottom where the surface was still. I love the way this shot captured the underwater foreground as well as the main above water view.
There will be more from Orcas Island, once I get around to selecting and editing the rest. I forgot to take the SD card reader with me, so I coouldn't do any of that while we were there; it all had to wait until I got back.
