Day 11: Speedy Sunset Paddle in East Sound, Orcas Island

I slept in a couple hours longer than Sara to try and rid myself of a standard migraine (which usually lasts through 2 or 3pm the next day). Around 10:30 we headed into town (Eastsound) for some coffee ands discovered pistachio fig chocolates and mint ice cream. Mmmm breakfast! At a little park on the north end of East Sound, Sara made some phone calls to work and Southwest baggage. Southwest informed her that her second bag, which contained all of her camping/hiking/running gear, was considered permanently lost. Southwest agreed to reimburse her for the cost of the items, with depreciation, but it’s not clear exactly what that means. It’s a sad day :(

We made a stop to the grocery co-op where I purchased bulk spices in tiny bags, perfect for camping (each bag was ~25 cents!). Our Mexican-style veggies/beans/couscous will be twice as delicious tonight. Now I’m sitting by Cascade Lake in Moran State Park, only a mile or so from our campsite, while Sara hikes to some waterfalls nearby and I try to rid myself of this lovely headache. 

My blogging view

Next morning update: After Sara returned from her hike we made an excellent lunch-dinner of toasted pine nut couscous with sautéed onions, peppers, squash, and kale with black beans and spices. 

We relaxed on our respective picnic table benches for a while to digest before getting our butts in gear to go kayaking. We selected Cascade Bay, at Rosario Point as our put-in location. Naturally, we made a quick ice cream stop at Lopez Island Creamery and had some amazing Toffee Coffee and Rocky Road deliciousness. Cascade Bay is half way down East Sound and only a 5 minute drive from our campsite. We launched around 6:20pm and paddled south along the east shore. 

Cascade Bay launch beach

An hour later we were very energized (thanks, ice cream!) and decided to aim for the point at the mouth of the Sound. As with many points, we discovered another one… and another one… after it until we finally reached the bottom of the island. We turned the corner and got another view of Mt. Baker. There was a breeze, but there was little to no current. A time check showed that we had been paddling for 1.5 hrs, and would only get back to the launch site by ~9:20pm, after dark. We turned around and booked it back up the shore. Shortly after turning around we saw some splashes in the distance that we assumed were seals. Minutes later I saw a seals head pop up in front of Sara’s kayak. The next time it popped up it had a dorsal fin! The porpoise surfaced a few more times as it swam away from us. Another marine mammal spotted!

We chased the sunset along the island’s western hills until we arrived back at the launch site around 8:50pm. As always, the moment we started stripping in the parking lot 4 families came walking towards us from all directions. We drove back to the campground with Sara’s favorite country song on the radio. “Swarms of adolescents,” as Sara would call them, were wandering the campground roads. This week the park is hosting a cross-country running camp that clearly reserved every site on the island except ours. We showered, reorganized the car in anticipation of our early departure the next morning, read, and went to bed by 11.

Date: Tuesday, July 29th 2014

Distance: 9 miles

Duration: 2.5 hrs

Day 10: Sunset Paddle with Mt. Baker and a Hike up Mt. Constitution

Monday morning we “slept in” and made a dinner-breakfast of spaghetti with tomato sauce, supplemented with mushrooms and chard – yum! Sara and I packed up our tents and left camp earlier than the rest of the crew. Everyone else was headed back to Anacortes later that morning, but we were headed to Orcas Island to continue the second half of our San Juan Islands trip. Even after multiple calls to the Southwest Airlines baggage counter (at 3 different airports), there was no indication that Sara’s two checked bags would be delivered, so we headed into Friday Harbor to replace some of the lost items. A 45-minute shopping spree later, Sara was the proud owner of some new chacos, underoos, paddling gloves, and other items. We made the usual stops for water, ice, and coffee before boarding the inter-island ferry. The ferry from San Juan Island to Orcas Island took ~1 hour, during which I wrote postcards and Sara enjoyed the warm sun on the deck.

Orcas Island is shaped like an upside-down U, with the ferry terminal on the west end and Moran State Park (our campground) on the east side. During our drive we stopped at Eastsound, at the inland end of East Sound (the water body that makes the island look like a U). We stopped in at the first kayaking shop we encountered and purchased a map of the island. One of the employees was incredibly helpful and marked all the launch sites around the island, explaining which would require checking the tides and which are generally current-less. He even gave us their phone number in case we wanted to call for a weather update. Upon arriving at Moran State Park, the check-in lady gave us some hiking recommendations that we pursued after setting up camp. We settled on a 6.7 mile loop that starts at Mountain Lake (a couple miles from our campsite), moves steeply up Mount Constitution past Summit Lake, drops again to Twin Lakes, and meanders back along the west side of Mountain Lake. The views from the top of Mt. Constitution were stellar – the day was perfectly clear and we had nearly 360 degree views of the San Juan Islands and more distant mountain ranges. Snowy Mount Baker was most prominent on the horizon:

The deep and crystal clear waters of Mountain Lake beckoned us upon our return to the car, so we jumped in to refresh ourselves before driving to the northern-most point of the Island (end of North Beach Road) to go for a sunset paddle. Unlike in California, the beaches here are not necessarily public. At the end of the road was a narrow parking lot fronted by a cobble beach with views of the Cascades to the left and Mount Baker to the right. Signs marked private property on either side of the very small public beach. We perched ourselves on a large driftwood log (abundant in these islands) to have a lunch-dinner of pitas with the usual veggie/hummus toppings, complete with honey-topped saltines for dessert. 

We were saddened by the private property signs

Stuffed with delicious food, we speedily unloaded Big Purple and Renaldo onto the increasingly crowded beach (it was empty when we arrived). After a brief mishap that resulted in Renaldo dumping Sara into the water (thank god for the wetsuit!), we were headed east along the shore. It was 7:20pm, so the sun was still high in the sky. We paddled towards snowy Mt. Baker, with glassy waters all around. A seal splashed in distance, and small jumping fish greeted us every stroke of the way. We continued to the northeast point of the island, where we spent a few minutes having a photo shoot in what might be the most scenic view I've ever experienced in my kayak. 

Paddling towards Mt. Baker

The sun was still blazing at our backs, so turning around wasn't an option (way too painful on the eyeballs). Instead, we hugged the shady parts of shore and turned into a small rocky beach where Sara searched for colorful pebbles and I took a “nap” in my boat. When the sky began to turn orange and the sun’s intensity dropped, we started heading back, witnessing a gorgeous sunset along the way. Mt. Baker evolved to different shades of purple and orange behind us. After the sun went down, the mountain ranges turned different shades of blue, grey, and purple, and Sara noted that this looked like every postcard she'd seen. 

Rocky point where we stopped to wait for the sun

Back at the beach, we quickly loaded the boats and wet gear into the car, with one bystanding biker expressing his love for Renaldo. Sadly, my head was pounding from a migraine, so we headed straight back to the campsite (#112) with only a quick stop to pick up water and a wine opener. Sara enjoyed an evening of showering, reading, and red wine, and I went immediately to bed!

Date: Monday, July 28th 2014

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: 1.5 hrs?