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San Juan Islands Day 3: Orcas Island

12 November 2022 • 125 km / 76 mi (map)

  • Added to Eric Scouten :: Travel on 27 December 2022
  • Washington 75

Today, Lisa and I took the ferry across to Orcas Island and explored for the day.

I got to add one new park to my parks blog. (See separately: Obstruction Pass State Park on 146 Parks.)

This was a rare sunny winter day in the islands, so we got some great views from the ferry, which stopped at Shaw Island on its way from Lopez to Orcas.

View from the deck of a ferry through an opening in the white-painted steel structure, showing sunlight glittering on the water with a small boat and a forested, tree-lined island in the distance. A pulley, coiled ropes, and metal railing frame the foreground.
Ferry from Lopez Island to Orcas Island, Washington
A rocky, forested headland with dense evergreen trees juts into calm blue-green water under a clear deep-blue sky, with distant tree-covered shorelines visible across the channel.
Ferry from Lopez Island to Orcas Island, Washington
Calm blue water in the foreground with low, tree-covered islands along the horizon and the snow-capped peak of Mount Baker rising in the distance under a clear blue sky.
Ferry from Lopez Island to Orcas Island, Washington
A calm blue channel of water in the San Juan Islands under a clear sky with a faint moon, bordered by forested shorelines; a small boat crosses the water on the left and clustered houses and buildings dot a wooded point on the right.
Ferry to Orcas Island, north of Shaw Island, Washington
A ferry terminal on a forested island shoreline, with a wooden ferry dock, tall black pilings, and a red barn-like building beside the water under a clear blue sky. Small boats are moored near the pier and more evergreen-covered land is visible across the calm bay.
Ferry to Orcas Island, north of Shaw Island, Washington
The green steel ferry terminal ramp structure at Shaw Island, with a sign reading “SHAW,” yellow tanks and lights atop it, an orange windsock, and a worker in a hi-vis vest standing on the loading ramp. Evergreen-forested shoreline, a red barn-like building, and calm blue water with a distant sailboat frame the scene.
Ferry to Orcas Island, north of Shaw Island, Washington
Churning turquoise water swirls and foams between a ferry’s dark steel side ramp and a wooden dock as the vessel departs, with a raised loading apron, coiled ropes, and green terminal framing visible in the sunlit background.
Ferry to Orcas Island, north of Shaw Island, Washington
A view across calm blue water toward a forested island shoreline dotted with white waterfront houses, a ferry landing with docks, and a tall white smokestack, all under a clear bright sky.
Ferry from Lopez Island to Orcas Island, Washington

This was a day trip, so we didn’t stay on the island, but I enjoyed the look of the Outlook Inn.

Outlook Inn, Eastsound, Washington
Emmanuel Episcopal Parish, Eastsound, Washington

I scoped out what appears to be a great launch point for a future kayak trip to Sucia Island for the parks project.

A large weathered driftwood log rests on a dark gravel beach at North Beach Public Access, with calm blue water stretching out to a low forested island on the horizon under a clear blue sky.
Looking at Sucia Island · North Beach Public Access, Eastsound, Washington

We drove through what we could of Moran State Park, but a lot of the park was seasonally closed, so we’ll save that for another time.

A view from a golden grassy hillside in Moran State Park looking out over hazy blue forested ridges and distant water, with a tall bare evergreen and other conifers in the foreground under a clear blue sky.
Moran State Park, north of Olga, Washington
A hazy afternoon view from a golden grassy hilltop overlooking evergreen forested slopes, a forested peak, and blue island-dotted waters of the San Juan Islands under a clear sky with the sun flaring at upper right.
Moran State Park, north of Olga, Washington

We stopped for a drink in Eastsound before heading back for the 6:45 ferry. Here was our sunset view.

A calm bay at dusk with silhouetted forested hills and islands along the horizon under a gradient sky glowing orange near the horizon and deepening to blue above. A single small sailboat sits at anchor on the mirror-still water, with rocky shoreline in the foreground and a few birds in the sky.
Eastsound, Washington
Lopez Island to Orcas Island, Washington · 125 km / 76 mi
(Mouse over or tap on the markers to see the photos there. Use the button to adjust the map’s position and zoom.)

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