Easter of 2001 was our first long weekend in Vancouver, and the San Juan Islands were the camping destination of choice.

Orcas Island is one of the larger of the San Juan Islands, accessible by ferry from Anacortes, Washington (about an hour and fifteen minute drive south of Vancouver.)

Our weekend started eventfully - we literally got the ferry by about two minutes, for a number of reasons that won’t be dwelled on. Our weather was beautiful - sun the whole time. We wound up camping at Obstruction Pass, a free campsite with the only problem being the lack of fresh water. We carried about four litres, and went out to a lake to pump new water each day.

The banner above is crazy sky. Clouds were so puffy they looked like you could jump from one to the other, even though they were miles apart. This picture is blown up and hanging over our bed, making sure we’ve got perma-sun.

The tidal pools formed on our beach were, as usual, teaming with life. This starfish was particularly persistent, hanging around for our entire three day stay.

The beach right in front of our campsite was gorgeous, and we basically hung out on it a lot. This picture was taken using a mini tripod.

Ferries are interesting places, and Washington’s commuter ferries are quite different than Vancouver’s. They travel smaller, more sheltered routes and as a result are smaller in scale.

Our return trip was surprisingly empty.

Posted by skooter at 8:42 PM This entry is filed under Travel.
This entry is tagged: Camping, Family, San Juan Islands