Orcas Island - 09.16-18.12

In a stroke of luck I had off for two days while my father in law would be camping in the San Juan Islands. So Jennifer and I hatched the plan to join them on Orcas Island.

After Jennifer got home from work on Sunday we packed up and drove up with the intention of Mirabelle sleeping in the car. It worked and soon we she was running around on the Ferry having the time of her life, interacting with others, and enjoying the wind and views.

After the hour boat ride, a reasonable car ride got us to our campsite in Moran State Park. We had grand ambitions of heading to the summit of Mount Constitution for the sunset, but by the time we were done preparing dinner, we were all ready to call it a day. Our guests would be meeting us the following morning and we wanted to be ready.

I awoke early and went for a hike near the campground while waiting for them to wake up. When I got back we had breakfast and then attempted to hike to Cascade Falls from our campground. We stopped a tenth of a mile short of the falls at a small waterfall where Mirabelle got to play with rocks and leaves before we headed back to the campground.

At the campground we found our relatives and hatched the plan to drive to the false summit of Mount Constitution and hike to the summit to give Mirabelle a nice nap, and conserve energy so she could walk down the trail. Mirabelle slept from early on to the Summit Lake and then proceeded to do her own hiking for most of the final mile on her own. Making the hike a bit longer than anticipated to reach the summit.

We stayed a while on the summit taking in the fantastic views while Mirabelle played with a new friend on the rocks.

 Mountain Lake and beyond

Mount Baker and the Twin Sisters group

Then Mirabelle got into the pack for the significantly shorter hike back to the car. We then drove into town (Eastsound) and had dinner before retiring to camp.

The following morning we were leaving, so we opted for a short hike to the beach at Obstruction Pass State Park. Mirabelle did the hike in by herself, and played/explored on the beach while we explored and took dips in the refreshing water.

Then we made a quick hike back to the car and an even quicker ride back to the ferry to be on time at the dock.

This was Mirabelle's first two night camping trip and she loved it! Hopefully we'll get a few more trips in the next weeks before it may get too cold for her.