May 16: Orcas Island Day Trip

Today we got a relatively early start, though not nearly as early as the previous day! After a full nights sleep, we were excited to get on our way. It was a little surreal to be waking up in such a beautiful place to another sunny day here in the pacific northwest. We took advantage of the showers at the campground, not knowing how long it might be before these two hippy kids would shower again! However, they were pay showers, $.50 gets you three minutes. Anderson was able to keep things snappy, with time to spare; New Dominion served him well again. Gwen splurged and took a four and a half minute $.75 shower, which apparently lasted much longer than that according to her estimation. At any rate, banana and jelly sandwiches filled our bellies as we headed toward Anacortes to catch a ferry to Orcas Island. Anacortes is a port town that seemed somewhat more normal than La Conner. As we waited for the ferry to arrive, Gwen got her first coffee of the trip and we learned that the port used to be home to a large salmon cannery that shut down due to financial reasons during the 20th century. A few phone calls to inquire about whale-watching left us slightly disheartened to learn that no whales had been spotted within the past six days. We are about three weeks early for the Orca whales, and the minke whales aren't much of an attraction. We decided to decide later on whether or not to follow through with our sea kayaking plans. The ferry ride over to Orcas Island was lovely, and not too windy from the back deck, allowing us to sun ourselves and take in the sights of the Puget Sound. An hour later we were winding through the streets of Orcas Island, which meandered through farmlands nestled amongst the hills. Quirky houses were tucked into forested coastline, and it was easily evident that the inhabitants of Orcas Island love the water and live an extremely relaxed life. We started our day on Orcas by exploring Moran State Park. First we stopped at the trailhead to Cascade Falls. A short .3 mi hike through lush moss-laden forests took us to the falls. At 100', Cascade Falls is the largest waterfall in the San Juan Islands, and well worth the trip. We then drove the steep winding road up to the 2,409' summit of Mount Constituton, the tallest peak in the San Juans. The view overlooks all of Puget Sound, and is even more impressive from the top of the lookout tower, which resembles a castle tower, built from local sandstone by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. We picnicked and sunned ourselves at the rocky summit before heading down with the mission of finding a good place to rent some sea kayaks. On the far end of Eastsound Village, we checked out Crescent Cove kayak rentals, operated out of a super funky little house just across from the rocky beach. The proprietor, Janet, a middle-aged earthy woman, assured us that we would see all sorts of wildlife without a guide. A quick tutorial on how to kayak, set to funky trance-esque music playing from a nearby boom box, and $36/person for two hours was all it took for us to get on the water! There were no waivers to sign in case we were mysteriously eaten by a sea lion or managed to wreck her boats. Janet instructed us to have fun, noting that she probably wouldn't be there when we got back because she had a meeting and to just put the boats, life jackets, and paddles back where we got them! That sounded great to us, and we were off! A short paddle to a rocky point at the edge of a grassy field (reportedly an old Indian burial ground) afforded us views through crystal clear waters of starfish in an assortment of bright colors. Across the cove we watched a sea otter feeding, diving under time and again for food, and explored around a pretty waterfall running down the side of the hills into the water. We paddled back across the sound against a headwind and the tide, arriving to return the kayaks on time. On the way, Anderson spotted what he swears was a sea lion on the surface of the water! Janet was indeed nowhere to be found, and so we put away our gear and headed back to the ferry terminal for a beautiful sunset ride back to Anacortes. In Anacortes, we realized that our drive to the Olympic Peninsula would require another ferry crossing, which we had overlooked in our planning. Some quick research led us to believe that the last ferry would depart at 9:45, leaving us just enough time to reach the ferry terminal if we hurried. People in Washington don't seem to be in much of a hurry, so speeding was not much of an option. This didn't turn out to matter much; we arrived at 9:50 to a dark and deserted ferry terminal. A look at the schedule told us the last ferry had run at 9:15. We laughed at ourselves and decided to camp at the Fort Casey campground just next to the terminal, which had two sites left and was full of RVs. Not to be discouraged, we made a fire, recapped on our favorite experiences of the day, and headed to bed to catch the 8:45AM ferry to Port Townsend. Day 2 was a grand success, and we began to see that winging it only made for a richer adventure!