Today I got a special treat. I got taken to Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island! Only having a bike, I wasn't looking forward to braving the mountain (still kinda out of shape here!), but my friend with a car took me on quite a ride.
We went over to Orcas Island via ferry. It was quite picturesque (Orcas Island is in the far off horizon in the center). I didn't quite grasp how many islands there are in the San Juans. There are more than quite a few, and that's not including the little half-rock islands.
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| The front of the ferry. The ground is the loading docks for the cars--there's several layers of garages where people can park and transport their cars |
One thing we saw but I didn't (gasp!) photograph was this little island with a house on it. That's all it was, a house in a grove of trees and (I'm guessing) a dock on the other side. On one hand, so pretty! On the other hand, I can't ever imagine living there. Maybe as a summer home, but living on an island alone means that you'd have to constantly be checking up on it. What a hassle for a summer home. What a lonely existence for a residential home. If I ever get rich, I will
not be buying an island, that's for sure!
The first thing I noticed was how big the trees were. I'm not kidding--these things were HUGE. And everything was so green. I think some of it is the lichen and some of it is because this is a deep, primordial forest and I kept expecting to see dinosaurs come out of it or something, but this was the most beautiful forest I have ever seen. I was awestruck, though that didn't stop me from taking pictures.
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| Huge, I tell you! |
Our first stop in State Moran park was this look out. How gorgeous!
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| Can you tell how thrilled I am? |
At the top of the mountain (2,409 feet) is an observatory looking tower that has a panoramic view of the islands, Washington, and Canada. So, obviously I had to go take pictures.
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| It's so steep to get up! |
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| but the view is FANTASTIC |
On our way down, I could not stop marveling at the trees and I had us stop for a bit of posing. These are seriously big. I almost can't conceive how big they are. Just take a look...
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| I am fascinated by this. Like I can't even begin to comprehend how big this tree is |
On our way out, we saw this mother and faun couple. Aren't they cute?
And you can't go to Orcas Island without seeing the giant metal orca. You just can't!
