Thursday 8/31/00
Day 14: San Juan Island, Orcas Island
We had decided last night to try and take the 7:50 am ferry for San Juan Island. We would explore that island and then hop on the ferry late in the afternoon for Orcas Island where we had reservations at Doe Bay. We made the mistake of setting the alarm in the motel room without checking to see if the time was set correctly on the clock. We thought we were leaving the motel room around 7 am, got everything packed in the truck and discovered it was only 6 am. So we drove around looking for a place to eat breakfast. You would think in a town with so many boats and fishermen one could find a nice cafe for breakfast. Well about the only places open were the conveniece stores. We drove down to the ferry terminal and never did find what we were looking for in a breakfast. It was a good thing we stopped to ask about when the ferrry was leaving because they told us they don't accept credit cards for payment. So we had to go back to the ferry office to use the ATM machine. In driving around we did find the motel we were looking for last night--Ship Harbor Inn. We remembered the cabins being nestled in the woods and a bike rental sign. We took the 7:50 ferry straight for Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. It cost us $27--which was the only fare we had to pay in the San Juans since it was a round-trip fare, and got in at 9 am.
We didn't stay long in Friday Harbour, as the town was already quite busy. Everytime a ferry arrives the ferry personnel have to direct traffic at the major intersections and the place is a zoo. We drove around Pear Point which was a loop along a penisula, past a not very attractive gravel pit. From here we took Cattle Point Road to the American Camp. Both the American Camp, at the southern end of the island and the British Camp, at the north end of the island, are part of the San Juan National Historical Park. This land was set aside to commemorate the peaceful land dispute between the U.S. and British governments. Between 1859 and 1872, both governments occupied the island in seperate camps while a decision was made as to who should be the rightful owner of this land. This dispute is often referred to as the 'Pig War,' because it started when an American farmer discovered a pig belonging to the Hudson Bay Company was eating his potatoes. He shot the pig and this brought to light the fact that the Treaty of 1846 had never really resolved whose land these islands belonged to and both countries had reasons for wanting them. At the American Camp there was the park headquarters with some artifacts on display. There were some other buildings on the park grounds, but they did not appear to be open to the public. We did not stay long, as the park did not appear that interesting.
We drove north hoping to stop at the Circle False Bay, which is owned by the University of Washington for biological research. The tide was out and it looked quite muddy. Unfortunately we couldn't find a place to park and it looked to muddy to walk out on., We continued north taking West Side Road, which is known for having the best scenic drive on the island. We stopped at Deadman's Bay where we walked down a slight incline to the beach, which was mostly large pebbles and driftwood. Some kayakers were getting ready to take off from the beach. We passed the Lime Kiln State Park, but did not stop as some sort of construction was going on in the parking lot. This park has a trial leading to the Lime Kiln Lighthouse and is a popular spot for observing whales. We drove through the San Juan County Park which was a quiet but busy campground. A cove, office and grassy play area were also located here. We also drove through the Snug Harbor Resort, a small private resort with a marina and some camping available. The place was pretty busy, we would have stopped to look around but couldn't find any parking.
Next
we stopped at the English Camp, which we found much more interesting than
the American Camp. We walked through one of the orginal buildings on the site,
walked through a grassy fruit orchand and down to the beach where there was
a small dock and a blockhouse. We walked through the English garden, a small
well-kept garden, buildt to remind the wives of the British officers of their
English home. We took a trail up a hill where the officer's quarters once
were to get a better view of the garden. Walking back to the parking lot we
thought about taking the trail to the small British military cemetery. 
We
started walking on the trail but when we realized the trail would cross the
main road we changed our minds and went back to the truck. We finally decided
to park the truck on the main road and take the trail from there. The cemetery
was 1/4 mile from the road and contained the graves of 7 British men who died
in various accidents. We continued up the trail another mile, climbing to
the top of Mount Young. From the top of the mountain we had a view of the
Olympics, Mt. Baker, the Canadian Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island, and lots
of other small islands.
From
English Camp we drove to the Roche Harbor Resort, a large private resort originally
built as a company town in 1886 for the largest lime-producing company west
of the Mississippi. It became a resort in 1956. On the grounds are a variety
of accomodations (the historic Hotel de Haro, small cabins and modern condos),
tennis courts, swimming pool, general store, marina, gardens, several restaurants,
a small church and a mausoleum for the McMillin family (orginal owners of
the town). The lime kilns, railroad tracks and other machinery are visible
from the hillside, although we were surprised to see how overgrown the shrubs
were around these historic remains..
On
the way out we took some pictures of llamas that were in a field right by
the Roche Harbor entrance. If you look real close you will also see a statue
of a llama with all of the live ones. As we left here we went back south and
took Roche Harbor Road, stopping at the San Juan Vineyards, a small winery
with limited distribution. We tasted their wine in their busy tasting room
and bought two bottles of their Johannesburg Reisling. Driving into Friday
Harbor, we found the town just as busy as this morning. We had about two hours
to wait for the ferry to Orcas Island and decided to pass the time eating
burgers and drinking beer at Herb's Tavern. We got to Orcas Island at 6:30
and drove straight to the Doe Bay Resort, 20 miles from the ferry terminal.
We started out with reservations for a tent site, but changed them to the
upper floor of one of their cabins yesterday because we were worried it might
rain. We checked in, ate dinner at their cafe which has a small menu of vegietarian
and seafood selections, then we headed for the hottub and sauna. This is one
of the more romantic places in the northwest to stay for a weekend as there
is a hot tub, sauna and cold tub that overlooks the harbour. There is also
always a interesting group of people that stay here also as you have your
choice between camping and staqying in cabins. The clientelle is more laid
back and just looking for a reslaxing evening.
After stayingin thehot tob and sauna for about 90 minutes we decided to go back into Eastsound for the rest of the evening. we realized we didn't have a key and decided to go to the office since they would not be open when we got back.. After getting th ekey and checking out the room we drove about 10 miles into town. We had a few drinks in the downstairs bar at Vern's Dockside as there was not other place open at this time of night. It wasa nice evening as youcould look out into the harbour while having a drink and playing a game of pool We stayed for about a couple hours and then got back to Doe Bay kind of late.
150 miles and 3950 total