Orcas Island was a challenge as there was a hill to climb around every corner.  It is the hilliest of the San Juans for biking but interesting features.   Some day riders without panniers on their bike take the steep ride to the peak on Mount Constitution Road. There are three good options for bikers staying overnight:  tenting in Moran State Park, Doe Bay Resort, and the Golden Tree Hostel in Eastsound.  My favorite was Doe Bay.

On the return trip to the Orcas Ferry Terminal, I took an alternate route via Crow Valley Road which was  much quieter than the main island route, Orcas Road.   It took me by the nautical village of West Sound, home to a nice marina and the Orcas Island Yacht Club.

When I arrived at the terminal to catch my 10:40AM ferry, it was already crowded with cars in line, walk-ons, bikers, and a group kids, presumably from a camping trip.  The trip over to Friday Harbor, San Juan Island was only 40 minutes.  It is the second largest island in the San Juan chain and the most populous.

I rode to the Wayfarer's Rest Hostel, where I spent the night.  After picking a bunk in the dormitory, it was time to find a good cafe.  I went to one the cleaning lady of the hostel recommended, the Bean Cafe on First street.  It turned to be a good one with fast Wi-Fi.  The plan was to do some sightseeing in Friday Harbor and to find a laundry for washing very sweaty riding wear. Sunshine Laundry on Nichols Street was just three blocks from the hostel.  Tomorrow, I will ride around the periphery of San Juan Island.

I got up early on July 30 to prepare for the circle of San Juan Island in a counterclockwise direction.  The route to Roche Harbor was on a good cycling road, Roche Harbor Road, with moderate to small shoulder and light traffic. About four miles out of Friday Harbor, passed by the San Juan Winery (open from 11AM to 5PM).  Slightly further, I stopped to check out the Lakedale Resort which offers family oriented camping with options for tent sites, glamping, log cabins and lodge accommodations. There is even a retro Airstream available to rent.  The facility is surrounded  by Fish Hook Lake. Hiker-biker tent sites are $37 per night.

Roche Harbor on the Northwest side of the island was my next stop.  The harbor is a hub of tourist activity.  The marina harbor provides one of the better protected anchorages in the islands. The harbor is surrounded on the east side by San Juan Island, on the north side by Pearl Island, and on the west and south sides by Henry Island. Most of the harbor is 35 to 45 feet deep. Roche Harbor has a small airport used primarily by local residents. Roche Harbor was named in honor of Richard Roche, who served under British Captain Henry Kellett in 1846 and Captain James Charles Prevost in 1857–60.

The resort was formerly a company town surrounding the Tacoma and Roche Harbor Lime Company, which was incorporated in 1886. Lime production was a major industry and revenue source for a corporation run by John S. McMillin, whose ashes are buried in a large mausoleum nearby. 

The focal point of the resort is the historic Hotel de Haro. The hotel is the landmark lodging venue for visitors.  Hotel de Haro was built in 1887 as lodging for McMillin’s customers, while they visited Roche Harbor to negotiate lime purchases. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt, a friend of McMillin, visited Roche Harbor and stayed in room 2A, now known as the Presidential Suite. The hotel has undergone renovations in recent years and remains a favorite accommodation option for village visitors.

Watch the boats come and go in the harbor while enjoying family-friendly fare at the Lime Kiln Café. The café serves breakfast and lunch year round, as well as dinner during the busy summer months. You’ll find a variety of meal options at the café, including famous Roche Harbor Donuts, cheeseburgers, fish and chips and more.  It is the go-to place for breakfast. Rated 4 out of 5 by Yelp reviewers.  Free Wi-Fi is available in the harbor area.

Leaving Roche Harbor, some may want to stop at the Sculpture Park.  Eventually, I made my way to West Valley Road and West Side Road.  The West side of the Island is much hillier.  I diverted off the planned route to visit Snug Harbor Resort, a complex of cabins and lodge in a very quaint marine setting with a small marina.  Boaters beware -- deep keel boats will have trouble navigating to this shallow bay.

On the way to Lime Kiln State Park, I checked out the only public camping area on the island managed by the county.  San Juan County Park was a pleasant surprise ... nice tent sites on the bluff overlooking the ocean.  Hiker-biker tent sites are $10 per night.  No showers at this camp.  Orcas whale watching from this location is a bonus.

Lime Kiln Point State Park is popular among the locals for sighting Orca killer whales.  These majestic animals hang out and pass by this area.  This 36-acre Washington state park is considered one of the best places in the world to view wild orcas from a land-based facility.  Due to the unique  properties of the site, visitors on the shore can be within 20 feet of whales jumping out of the water (breaching). The park was the site of lime kilns beginning in 1860, and one kiln has been restored as a public exhibit.  On the day I visited, the whales were sighted at another locale by the island.

The 35-mile ride wrapped up the day as I returned to the hostel at 5PM. and I had to get ready for the next day's ferry to Sidney, Vanvouver Island and the start of exploration of the lower Gulf Islands by bike.

After primitive camping in Moran State Park, it was time to ride to Doe Bay Resort, a new age retreat with spa.  The facility offers yoga, massage, workshops, and accommodations: cabins, lodges, yurts, RV spaces and tenting sites.  There is even a tree house nearing end of construction suitable for a couple who wants to sleep among trees.  This was the  third time I visited Doe Bay.  The  resort underwent major changes in the last decade. The property was up for sale in 2002 and was in much need of major care. The property was going to be broken up and sold as separate parcels, until Seattle entrepreneur Joe Brotherton, and his wife Maureen, bought the property in 2003.  

The Doe Bay Café, along with the Doe Bay Garden, has become an eco-friendly gourmet restaurant, offering fresh and healthy “seed-to-table” cuisine that is getting national attention and delighting “foodies” from near and far.  Their cuisine mantra seems to be "less is more" when it comes to portions and some diners complain about that -- especially considering their menu tends to be pricey.  The plating is done artistically, colorfully, and with flower petals.

I was assigned the Minke camping spot, just big enough for a small bike tent and the bay views were a bonus.  For future travelers, the Seal Landing is one of the best small tent spots with bay views and a picnic table.  One of the best ocean view yurts is the Orcas Yurt.

One of the best features of the compound is the clothes-optional spa area.  It features three outdoor hot tubs, a dry sauna, outdoor shower and an on-site bathroom.  Massage in one of  their on-site treatment studios, is available.

During the late 1960s and through the 70s, what is now Doe Bay Resort & Retreat was called the Polarity Institute, a center for Polarity Therapy, an alternative energy medicine system that was developed in the 1940s by Dr. Randolph Stone, an Austrian immigrant from Wisconsin.   Although the doctor was not in residence at Doe Bay, a group of followers touted his holistic medical techniques and the use of “complementary forces” of energy through touch, talk therapy, nutrition and other means, to heal the body. Many saw Doe Bay as a ‘hippie haven,’ where people from all over the world would visit, and there was a close-knit, small community.

For a history of Doe Bay, click here.

After stopping at the Island Grocery Store to provision with salad, banana and a roast beef sandwich, I made the short hilly ride to Moran State Park.   On the way, I diverted to visit Rosario Resort to have beer and catch up on my trip notes.

Robert Moran, the benefactor responsible for the park coming into existence, was shipbuilder and a mayor of Seattle. Following his mayoral service, Moran devoted all his efforts to his shipbuilding business and, in 1904, climaxed his career with his shipyard's launch of the USS Nebraska, Washington State's only battleship. He was told in 1905 that he had one year to live, and retreated to Orcas Island, where he built the Moran Mansion—surrounded at that time by 7,800 acres of land—that is now the centerpiece of Rosario Resort.  He built two identical houses for his children so they wouldn't argue who got which one. Moran spent the remainder of his life in retirement on Orcas Island. In 1916, he had a 132-foot yacht built called the Sanwan, though the ship saw little use.   Influenced by chance encounters with conservationist John Muir, he donated 2,700 acres of Rosario to the state of Washington for preservation, which became Moran State Park in 1921.  The Civilian Conservation Corps, one of many federal work programs during the Great Depression, built many of the park's trails, roads, bridges, and buildings during the 1930s.

 It has a big campground area with North, Mid, and South camping sectors along Cascade Lake.  After some difficulty, I found the primitive camping area reserved for bikers and hikers.  It is located south of the South camping area, turn left on Mt. Constitution Rd., after a few hundred feet, it is on the left side of the road.  Two outhouses, several picnic tables, and a rain shelter structure mark the spot.

On this particular day, six tents were set up, some doing bike tours of the island.  I did a hike to several small waterfalls before turning in for the night.  The park offers hiking on 38 miles of hiking trails, biking on 11 miles of trails, horseback riding on 6 miles of trails, boating, and camping.

Today I was to tour Shaw Island.  The morning started out with showers and rain clouds were gathering,  I made the executive decision to bypass Shaw Island and head to Orcas Island.  Orcas Island is slightly larger, but less populous, than neighboring San Juan Island. Shaw was the least interesting for biking of four San Juan Islands serviced by ferry.   With a rain parka flapping in the wind, I rode to the Lopez Ferry terminal for the 40-minute ride to Orcas Island.

Due to the squally and rainy conditions, I decided to spend most of the day at a hostel which I found in one of the brochures I picked up on the ferry. After a two-hour bike ride, I arrived at the Golden Tree Resort and Hostel in Eastsound.  The small village is the main commercial hub on the island.  The ride to Eastsound on Orcas Rd. was punishingly hilly with a steady flow of traffic on mostly no-shoulder roadway ... I received a preview of what  the guidebooks were warning ... Orcas is very hilly, some very steep, with roads that twist, turn and switch back.  Bicyclists use caution.

The Golden Tree opened three years ago under the ownership Ian Woolworth whose vision was to offer less expensive accommodations in the tourist area of Eastsound, Orcas Island.  His original partner, Ken Katz, is no longer in the picture.  The pair took on a very gnarly project of remodeling an abandoned homestead built by pioneers of the area.  It was a difficult task but Ian was skilled in construction and the project came to fruition.  In addition to a hostel's normal offerings of dorm rooms, private rooms, shared baths, common kitchen and living areas, the hostel offers several yurts and teepees.  Recently, a hot tub and sauna were added, a welcome addition, especially to cyclists.  An outdoor kitchen area and stone oven was under construction.  Golden Tree is only one of two hostels in the San Juan Islands ... the other one is located in Friday Harbor.  

The day that I left, a shipment of new pillows for the beds arrived ... a welcome replacement to the gnarly ones used. The  $45 for a dorm room in peak season is higher than most  hostels but there are a few extra amenities.  It is within walking distance to Eastsound and the beach.  

For a more detailed review of the start of Golden Tree, read this article.