Hiking and biking Orcas Island in the off-season
We ride the paved Mount Constitution Road up, but from the summit we'll let gravity pull us down the Spiral, a connection of winding, snaking, mostly forested trails that take us past some of Moran State Park's greatest hits: Twin Lakes, Mountain Lake, Cascade Falls and finally Cascade Lake. Most of these trails are open to bikes from Sept. 15 to May 15 only.
Pedaling trails that are closed to bikes during peak season is just one of the things that makes an off-season visit to Orcas Island more than worthwhile. Crowds are smaller, accommodations are less expensive, ferries are cheaper and easier to catch, and while, sure, the weather's not always as good, it's still drier than Seattle. On average, Orcas Island receives about 28 inches of rainfall per year compared to Seattle's 38.
And, of course, from the top of Mount Constitution, there's that view — that hanging-out-on-an-airplane-wing view that has you reaching down to pick up your jaw after it drops.
View from the top
From the Cascade Lake Day-Use Area, near the park's west entrance where we started, it's about 5.5 miles — and a little more than 2,000 feet of elevation gain — by road to the summit. It's definitely a grind. But with just a few hundred yards to go, we're passed by a bicyclist coasting by us the other way. That is, down. Fast.
She grins widely and Nick comments on how fresh she looks considering the 7- to 9-percent grade she just battled getting to the top.
"It's worth iiiiiiiiiit," she yells as she zips, gravity pulling so hard that she's gone in a flash.
A few minutes later, after reaching the summit viewing area ourselves, we know exactly what she meant. Spread out before us, all of northern Puget Sound is blanketed by a dense cottony cloud layer that almost invites you to try skating across — first to the upper reaches of Lummi Island, then to ridges leading to the Twin Sisters Range beyond, and finally to the summit of Mount Baker.
Baker's the most prominent but we see plenty of its Cascades siblings including Glacier Peak and, about 130 miles to the south, Mount Rainier. Forested islands, gem-like humps and bumps from up here, poke up through the clouds, and where there are no clouds, through sparkling straits, narrows, bays and passes.
Behind us, the 12th-century-looking (circa 1930s) stone viewing tower is fenced off, a giant crane poised to creep up and down its outside walls. It's closed until late next spring for preservation work — filling cracks in the mortar joints, replacing rocks, etc. So, because we can't climb that, the views today are maybe only 99.99 percent as breathtaking as they could be.
"You never get sick of this view, that's for sure," says Carolyn, who's lived on Orcas for about six years. She and Nick are co-owners with another couple of Wildlife Cycles, an Eastsound bike shop. They ride to Constitution's summit about once a week.
"Every time you're here, there's something different about it."
Going down
Back on our bikes, we duck into the trees and begin a 12-mile spiraling corkscrew down the mountain. First on the Little Summit Trail, which follows a mostly open ridgeline for about a half-mile and distracts from my riding big-time, with views east of pretty much everything we could see from the summit. Lest I find myself down there among the islands I can't keep my eyes off, I concentrate on the singletrack in front of me, and on Carolyn's back wheel.
We pass through an old lodgepole pine forest — which, oddly enough, reminds me of New Jersey's Pine Barrens — and bear right on the Cold Springs Trail that soon intersects Mount Constitution Road. We pick up the trail on the other side and continue riding toward the North Trail, something we wouldn't have been able to do legally before this year.
Not all trails in Moran State Park are open to bikes in the off-season. (About 29 of the park's 38 miles of trail are, compared to 12 miles that are open to bikes in summers.) A new multi-use plan that just went into effect opens up several trails that mountain bikers had been lobbying for since 1997 when the previous plan — unpopular with the two-wheeled set — was implemented. Under that plan, bikers felt they were denied access to prime sections of the park and that some of the trails they were allowed on didn't make for the best riding.
For example, cyclists were allowed on the Twin Lakes Trail, which drops 1,200 feet in little more than a mile from Mount Constitution's summit to Twin Lakes. But once there, all they could legally do was turn around and ride right back up to the summit. They couldn't continue on the trails to Mountain Lake or Mount Pickett.
"There were trails being closed out that left bikers in the middle of no-man's land," says Dennis Flowers, Moran State Park's manager.
But after much public discussion and planning involving parks officials, the mountain-biking community and other trail users, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission approved a two-year interim plan that opens several sought-after trails to bikes. Trails connecting Twin Lakes with Mount Pickett and Mountain Lake are now seasonally open to bikers, as is all of the Cold Springs Trail.
"We feel really good about the situation now," Nick says. "Though if we had one wish, it'd be that we had one trail down from the summit that was open in summers."
At present, there are none.
On the North Trail, we dash down the north side of Mount Constitution on wide, easy-to-follow trails through deep, dark woods that are lushly green with mosses, lichens and ferns. We pass boggy stretches that have become temporary lakes because of recent record rainfall. Through the trees they look like giant mirrors reflecting the forest and the sky. The trails here are wide, easy-to-follow and while certainly challenging, don't leave me with the fear that I'll be flung groin-first onto my handlebar stem.
Pedaling past Twin Lakes (the trails around the lakes themselves are off-limits) to Mountain Lake, I keep an eye out for Olympia's Chad Brown and James Kardouni, a couple bike campers I met earlier in the day walking the beach at Obstruction Pass State Park. They were planning to ride Moran State Park this afternoon.
One beach alternative
Located at the south tip of the eastern arm of the Orcas Island horseshoe, Obstruction Pass State Park features a half-mile wooded trail to the beach. It's one of the few places on the island with public beach access.
With 5,200-acre Moran State Park, Orcas Island boasts Washington's fourth largest state park, but the park is inland and offers no opportunities for a walk on the beach.
"Orcas, unfortunately, is not at all what it could be trail-wise," says Bellingham's Ken Wilcox, author of "Hiking the San Juan Islands."
"There's all that wonderful coastline and almost nowhere for the hiking public to appreciate it."
Other opportunities for beach walking include Madrona Point and Waterfront Park, both easily accessible from Eastsound, but that's about it. The San Juan County Parks Department is in the process of updating its six-year Parks, Recreation and Preserved Lands Plan, and public waterfront access is a high priority, says the department's Kathryn Hansen.
"Unfortunately, the opportunity for waterfront property on Orcas at a reasonable price doesn't come up that often," she says. "Another problem is that so much of the shoreline there is very rocky and steep."
The ageless Bertha
Below Mountain Lake, Nick, Carolyn and I drop down for a look-see at Cascade Falls, which, given late October's soaking, is just gushing right now. Though well worth it, we pay for it. At least I do. The climb out is steep and slippery with fallen leaves. And while Nick and Carolyn are able to sit and spin their pedals up the hill, I'm forced to swallow my pride and walk my bike for a stretch. Oh well, we're almost done.
From here we traverse the Cascade Creek Trail at the south end of the park, passing a massive, attention-grabbing, craggy-barked Douglas fir along the way.
"That's the oldest tree in the park," Nick says. "Supposed to be 580 years old. The parks guys call it Bertha."
We emerge from the forest at South End Campground on Cascade Lake and from here, it's a paved mile or so via Mount Constitution Road back to the Day-Use Area where we started.
It's been an amazing ride — islands, mountains, forests, waterfalls, Bertha. A lot of ups. A lot of downs. Basically, just your typical off-season good time on Orcas Island.
Mike McQuaide is a Bellingham free-lance writer and author of "Day Hikes! North Cascades" (Sasquatch Books).
 |
|
