Turning 25 on Orcas Island

I don't know that I've ever had a bad birthday. I do know that this birthday was particularly good. I welcomed 25 on Orcas Island, which is part of the San Juans. It's the horseshoe-shaped island on the map below. I don't know why Google Maps shows the names of the towns before the island names, but Orcas is the one that has Eastsound on it:


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We drove to Anacortes on the Friday of my birthday weekend to board the ferry. Unfortunately, the 8pm ferry was sold out when we arrived, which meant we didn't get to the island until midnight. We set up camp at the Moran State Park by way of our headlights and crashed in a car camping site the first night. The next morning, we made sure to find a nice "primitive" walk-in site where we'd at least sort of have the privacy we expect in the woods. After claiming our site, we set off for a day-hike up Mount Constitution, the highest point in all of the San Juans. Here are some pics of the views we had:

Get it? 2 -- 5 ? Twenty-five? I'm pretty awesome, huh?
That's Mt. Baker behind me.

Oooh, a video...

Trudy Looking at Me, Mike Looking at Bellingham

At the top, there's an old watchtower, this stone fence, and a gift shop. We hiked a few miles to get this view. Other people drove. I think we had the better experience.

Mike and Trudy, Catching Some Shade Next to the Gift Shop

What a system-- leashes secured to the day pack, hands free for trekking poles -- heck yeah! Mush, pooches!

After a nice hike, we drove into town to check out the locals and have birthday meal. We found an excellent Mexican restaurant with a lovely outdoor dining area. Everything here was quite lovely, though. There weren't any billboards or big box stores. From the architecture to the food, it was pretty organic.




Then, back at camp...

Oooh, another video...

Cascade Falls, the first waterfall I saw in the second quarter-century of my life:

A video of the falls from the top...

...and from the bottom.

On our way off the island, the ferry we intended to take was again sold out. We waited another three hours at the ferry landing for the next one... again. It turned out okay, though. This ferry terminal was in a little touristy spot. So, we had a picnic on the lawn, checked out the shops, and took a nap on the dock.






I don't know that it'll always be on my birthday, but I think we might make it an annual tradition to spend a weekend (or more) in the San Juans. Orcas was lovely, and I bet the others are too.