Island living-Orcas Style
Exploring the San Juan Islands

By Abby McAllister
Having lived in Spokane, WA for quite a few years, I had heard about “the San Juan Islands” on the coast but honestly didn’t know what or exactly where they were.  However, being the water lover that I am, when the opportunity to visit them came up I jumped at it!  We have some rafting family friends who have lived there for many years and who operate two guest houses on Orcas Island (Harper House and Harper Farmhouse) and they invited us to come see what island living means in the Northwest. 

I now know that the San Juan Islands are a group of islands in the Puget Sound, North of Seattle and West of British Columbia, Canada.  Four of the Islands are accessible by ferry, Orcas Island being the biggest Island. This group of islands is not very big but they pack a lot of outdoor fun in a small space. 

We began our journey on a ferry which is always fun for the kids.  Our boys were amazed as we drove our car right on to the boat.  Then we headed up to the top deck to have a look around.  The Ferry system in the San Juans is well developed to allow people to get the most exploring bang for their buck.  You pay a round trip fare to come into the islands and leave the islands but travel between the islands is free.  We met people who were biking and hiking around on the islands.  They took the ferry to one island, explored as long as they liked and then just hopped the ferry to the next island when they were ready for something new.  Although we were just visiting Orcas this time, we started getting lots of ideas for more trips to the other islands.

Once we made dock on Orcas we loaded back in the car for the short and very scenic drive to our exploring headquarters, Harper House.  The drive went through pasture lands and small farmsteads.  There were local artist’s studios and signs advertising in-home stores.  How I wish we had the time to peek in some of them!  Still we continued on until we pulled into the garden filled yard of Harper House.  We got settled and made our plans for the next few days.








Our Day 1 excursion was crabbing.  I adore crab meat so this was exciting for me but the boys were really into the whole process too.  Our host, John, took us out with a pile of raw chicken meat and crab pots and taught us how to bait the pots.  After throwing out a string of them we looped back to the beginning and started pulling them up.  I will never forget the anticipation crackling in the air as the boys watched John pull up the first trap.  Would we catch anything?  What would the crabs look like?  Everyone held their breaths.  Finally the first trap rose into view and sure enough it was loaded with crabs!  John showed us how to measure them for legal size and the boys gleefully threw back the ones that were the wrong size while I gleefully watched our catch grow in the buckets on the boat.  We were going to eat well tonight!  
After catching all we could eat we headed back home, with a short stop for some fun tide pool exploring.  Tide pools are at the heart of discovery-minded kids.  Even adults are enchanted by the miniature worlds represented by a tide pool.  As a former expert tide-pooler, I relished the chance to let my kids do some exploring.






Once back at The Harper House, John taught us all how to kill and clean our crabs.  We believe it is important for our kids to know where their food comes from and to play an active role in putting it on the table.  Not for the faint of heart, our boys did us proud.  Later when we feasted on crab, each of us felt the importance of the food we ate and enjoyed it all the more for having brought it from the sea to our own table.
Picture, image, crabbing, san Juan Islands, Orcas Island, crab pot, Harper House
killing crabs teaches us where our food comes from
Day 2 brought me an unexpected surprise. Moran State Park on Orcas Island has some pretty tall mountains including Mt. Constitution, the highest point in the San Juan Islands at 2,409ft and 5 freshwater mountain lakes!  Being a land lubber all my life, I had no idea such a small island could contain such a majestic mountain.  Our trip to Moran State Park included some fishing and some sightseeing.  Because we were on a limited time frame, we decided to drive to the top of Mt. Constitution.  The views were amazing-on a clear day you can see Mount Baker, Mt. Rainier, the Cascade range and the Olympic range.  There is also a cool observation tower that our kids immediately scaled.  After the sightseeing at the top we drove down to Cascade Lake for some fishing.  The parking area is well developed and you can rent boats there to go out fishing.  This is a land locked lake where you can fish for Kokanee salmon.  While the boys were out fishing with John and dad, our host Suzy, grandma and I walked out around the lake.  The trail is well worn but feels secluded as you weave in and out of the trees and catch views and glimpses of the lake.  A hike with a picnic lunch would be wonderful here.  We only had time to walk half way around and then turn back however it is possible to walk around the entire lake.  It was fun for the kids to catch glimpses of us and for us to stop and try to spot them out fishing.  This trail is only one of over 30 miles of hiking trails in Moran Sate Park!
Our itinerary only allowed us the two wonderful days but we could have spent many more exploring Orcas or moving to another island.  Biking is a great family activity on the island.  The roads are good but not very busy and the scenery is pastoral.  There is sea kayaking and I would love to get out on the water for a whale watching excursion too!  We definitely plan to return for more of the same and maybe something new too.

A subsequent trip the the island brought us to another great spot.  We took a boat out to Sucia beach on Sucia Island.  Sucia Island is one of the smaller San Juan Islands.  It is a state park too! We packed for a day of beach fun and set out.  On Sucia we found a fabulous beach in a calm cove to set up our base of operations.  There are actually two campsites managed by the parks on that beach.  Unfortunately we were just there for the day.  The swimming, sun-soaking and sandcastle building were great here!  We also got out a stand up paddleboard (SUP) and everyone had a chance to paddle around a bit.  The history of Sucia Island includes some fun pirate lore.  There are some cool sandstone caves here that legend says the pirates would hide their treasure in.  We had to go check!
When the  afternoon got a bit hotter we decided on a hike to another cove on the island.  This was a sweet little trail just right for kids.  it climbs a bit at first but not for long.  We found a rocky beach on the other side.  The trail continues but we decided to head back.  There is actually quite a fabulous trail system on the island so you could easily spend a few days exploring here.  Bonus-there is a nice outhouse just a short distance down the trail behind the beachside campsite!
When you go:

Here are some links to websites that can help you plan your trip.  I know you will love livin' the island life in the San Juan Islands!
Orcas chamber of commerce


Ferry info  


Harper House info