We travel to distant and exotic lands, sometimes forgetting that some of the most interesting and beautiful locales lie beneath our very noses. Especially so when we live in the Northwest Corner.
My sister came visiting for several days over the weekend, and I realize once again how often I explore those "interesting and beautiful locales" only when I'm entertaining a visitor.
So, on Saturday we spent the day on Orcas1 Island in the San Juans, departing by ferry from Anacortes -- about an hour and a half drive north of Seattle. No longer, sadly, can one simply show up at the ferry landing and hop the next ferry. Well, I suppose it's still possible if a last minute vacancy appears (or if you're traveling without a car, as a foot passenger), but in summer a vacancy rarely does. I made on-line reservations a couple of weeks in advance, and still had to settle for a 7:25 a.m. departure -- which meant waking up at 4 a.m. and leaving home by car at 5.
But it was fun watching the dawn break as we drove north. We checked in early, as required, and had a coffee on the dock as the sun rose over the Sound. The ferry took us past forested shorelines and across long stretches of water, finally arriving about an hour after departure.
Orcas is an oddly shaped island, wrapped around two inlets -- a smaller one called Westsound, and a much larger and deeper, fjord-like inlet called Eastsound. The town of Eastsound, at the head of the eponymous inlet, is the largest community on the island. We stopped there for an excellent breakfast, sitting on the restaurant's open deck, gazing down the entire length of Eastsound (the inlet) that stretched before us. A high point of the day.
We drove down the east side of Eastsound (again, the inlet), past the Rosario resort (which we checked out on the way back), and into the large Moran State Park, crowned by Mt. Constitution. Moran State Park is named after the Seattle mayor who at one time owned the five-thousand-plus acre property, and donated it to the state. Mt. Constitution, within the park, rises 2,409 feet above the Sound. Like the significantly higher Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, the summit can be accessed either by a trail or by a paved road. I've hiked to the top of Mt. Washington. We drove to the top of Mt. Constitution.
The summit is surmounted by an odd stone tower, with an internal stairway which we, of course, climbed (joined by my sister's dog). The tower was one of the many worthy projects constructed by the depression-era Civilian Conservation Corp., and is -- so says Wikipedia -- "patterned after the 12th-century Caucasian towers." Right; got it. The view from the tower, and from the summit itself, is magnificent, with the waters of Puget Sound visible in all directions.
We enthusiastically set off on a hike 1.3 miles down the trail from the summit to "Cold Water Springs." But where was the water? Well, we're participants in the West Coast's drought this year. Let's just say the walk was worthwhile in and by itself.
After driving around most of the island, including a visit to Deer Harbor resort on Westsound, we caught our 5:35 p.m. ferry back to Anacortes, stopped for dinner at a seafood restaurant in town, and finally drove back home in the dark to Seattle. It was a long day, but fully worth our time and energy.
1You no doubt assume that Orcas Island is named after the many orca whales that frolic about the area, no? Actually, no. Again according to Wikipedia: "The name "Orcas" is a shortened form of Horcasitas, or Juan Vicente de Güemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo, the Viceroy of Mexico who sent an exploration expedition under Francisco de Eliza to the Pacific Northwest in 1791."
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