June 11, 2025
There is no flat on this island
Friday Harbor to Rosario Village; Orcas Island
We caught the 11:30 ferry to Orcas Island this morning. Amber, Rich and I rode while Jim drove the truck. All the eastbound Washington state ferries are free so we just walked (and drove) on.
The climbing started right off the ferry. Up we went, then down a little then up some more and so on. We quickly realized that there isn’t much flat on Orcas Island.
But it is a beautiful, verdant island. From what we have seen it is much more forested and less cultivated than San Juan Island. Perhaps it receives more rainfall as well?
We stopped in East Sound for lunch at The Lower Tavern, which claims to have “the best burger in town.” Both Rich and Jim ordered “the best burger” off the menu. Rich liked his and pronounced it as “possibly” the best burger in town. Jim was less impressed and pronounced it as merely “adequate.”
I ordered a burger on sourdough and I thought it was poorly seasoned, so I am inclined to agree with Jim on this one. However, we all liked the fries very much, including Amber’s sweet potato fries.
The rest of the ride into Rosario Village was over 2 hills, one small and one large, with some good downhills on the other sides. Then we turned right on Rosario Dr. and descended down, down, down to Cascade Bay and the Village. If I wasn’t riding an e-bike, the length and steepness of the descent, knowing I would be climbing back out of there tomorrow, would be daunting.
Our check-in was all done remotely and we were texted the pass code into our room. It is big and reasonably clean and reasonably appointed. We have a view of the bay from a sliding glass window and a small patio. But there are deficiencies that I wouldn’t expect for a rather pricy place such as this: the bathtub doesn’t drain properly, the container of hair conditioner in shower is empty, no wash cloths are provided, the coffee pot doesn’t turn off unless you unplug it and there not enough plugs for a lamp, a microwave and a coffee pot where they are located so one has to be manually unplugged after use by crawling under a table.
There is a pub-type restaurant here but it is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so we were out of luck there. We ended up driving back to East Sound to get some groceries for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow. Having a vehicle really helped us.
I had originally thought Amber and I might arrive at the village and then continue on up Mt. Constitution. But my arthritic left knee bothered me for the entire ride out here and the traffic on the road was bad enough that we pulled over several times to allow cars to pass. So in the end, we decided to pass on the ride. But we did all drive up to see the view and this, while not as satisfying as riding up, was well worth it. We are leaving Orcas tomorrow on the midday ferry and have to ride back to the terminal, so riding up Mt. Constitution will have to wait for our next visit.
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Tomorrow we are going to visit Lopez Island.
Today's ride: 17 miles (27 km)
Total: 281 miles (452 km)
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