Orcas Island
September 10-11, 2022
This morning, September 10, 2022, we visited the nice Friday Harbor farmers’ market near our hotel, and then put our car in the waiting area for the ferry. There are no reservations for inter-island trips. A bit later about 11:30, we boarded our ferry for Orcas Island.
We noticed that the air had gotten pretty thick with smoke. Although the AQI was not dangerous, visibility was quite poor. After about an hour, we arrived at the ferry terminal on Orcas, the biggest of the San Juan Islands, and drove to Eastsound, the largest on town on the island. We visited the historical museum, which included five old, relocated wooden structures, and an exhibit about an ancient bison fossil found in 2003.
Nice church in Eastsound adjacent to our hotel.
We strolled through the farmers’ market and some shops. Then we went to another town, Olga, and looked at the view and visited an art studio. We stopped at the Rosario Resort on our way back to Eastsound, where we visited the Moran Mansion Museum.
September 11, 2022
The air quality at sunrise was not good. We never expected smoke to be an issue in the islands!
We drove southwest to the small towns of West Sound and Deer Harbor to see if the views were better (only a little). Then we went to Orcas Island Pottery, which has been in business since 1945. They had nice pottery from many artists on the island. Next, we went to Judd Cove Preserve and took a walk to a well preserved lime kiln from 1888. Then we returned to Eastsound and visited several shops before lunch.
Judd Cove Preserve Lime Kiln; the ferns at the top of the page
are also from Judd Cove Preserve
After lunch, we went to Obstruction Bay State Park and took a short walk. The views were poor due to the wildfire smoke, so we didn’t go far. We then went to Moran State Park, and again, due to the smoke, we decided to skip a visit to Lake Constitution (with rental boats and a trail). So instead we hiked to several waterfalls through a beautiful forest with ferns and large Douglas fir and cedar trees.
We then drove up Mount Constitution Road to the highest point of the San Juan Islands, 2,409 feet. The smoky air impacted the view somewhat. The tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corp was quite good, though, even with the miserable smoke, and there was a nice visitor center. And there were some nice views of other lakes on the drive.
After we drove back down, we visited some shops and had a nice dinner in an Eastsound restaurant. We had several nice meals on Orcas, and thought the restaurants were a bit more varied and sophisticated than in Friday Harbor.
Tomorrow, we take a ferry back to the mainland.
