Biplane — Blog — The Towering Travelers

At the start of the year, when we weren’t sure what covid would look like by mid-year and whether we’d be vaccinated, we booked a 4th of July trip to Orcas Island as an excursion that would be fairly local but also pretty different from our normal lives. Even when we were able to get vaccinated in April and May, we were excited to spend some time in the islands.

Orcas Island is the largest of the San Juan islands, which are near the Canadian border and are just as close to Vancouver Island as the Washington mainland. The trip from Seattle involves an hour and a half drive and then an hour ferry ride, so it feels like a fairly significant trip. Orcas is known for its beauty and plethora of outdoor recreation opportunities. We stayed in the little town of Eastsound, where we could walk to restaurants and also enjoy water views.

A ridiculously beautiful potato dish (photo/Jason Rafal)

Dinner on a beautiful patio (photo/Jason Rafal)

Our first non-food activity was the one I was most unsure whether I wanted to do - a biplane ride. A husband and wife team run a small business taking people on flights in a 1927 biplane, and when Jason said he wanted to go, I decided I would probably be able to get through it without throwing up.

Our plane (which was a whole 5 years newer than the stamp claimed) (photo/Jason Rafal)

After receiving our safety briefing, life jackets, ear plugs, caps, and goggles, we climbed into the plane. We just barely fit in the side by side seat in the front (it was made for much smaller people), and our pilot sat in the seat behind us. Climbing into the plane did not raise my confidence - at first glance, it looks flimsy at best and hazardous at worst. It’s all delicate wings and small sticks tied together. As soon as we took off, though, I felt immediately better. The plane is loud, since it’s not a closed cockpit, but it’s so light that ascending felt effortless.

The view from the air (photo/Jason Rafal)

We saw dozens of sailboats hanging out in coves (photo/Jason Rafal)

A view of the terrifying plane wings in the evening light (photo/Jason Rafal)

For an hour, we flew around the islands, flying to the top of Mount Constitution at 2400 feet elevation before dropping down to almost skim the water. It was exceptionally fun, even as I kept turning sideways to give Jason a little more room to take pictures.

A peek of the Mount Constitution tower (photo/Jason Rafal)

Mount Constitution with the San Juan Islands in the distance (photo/Jason Rafal)

Flying low around an island (photo/Jason Rafal)

Circling while waiting for our turn to land (photo/Jason Rafal)

The next day, we drove to the top of Mount Constitution to take in the sights. The mountain is in Moran State Park, which has lovely forests, lakes, and views of the islands. The top of the mountain has a weird medieval-style tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 30s, which is visually confusing but gets you up a little higher to see the views. We could see Mount Baker in the distance on the mainland, as well as some of the Cascades and a tiny bit of Mount Rainier.

In my happy place: on top of a mountain (photo/Jason Rafal)

Mount Baker on the mainland (photo/Jason Rafal)

A rather flustered bird (photo/Jason Rafal)

From the top of the mountain, we took a hike before heading to Buck Bay Shellfish Farm for lunch. This restaurant came highly recommended, and for good reason - it’s casual, has lovely outdoor seating, and the food is great.

After lunch we headed back to the park to paddle board on one of the lakes, where we alternated between laying in the sun and doing some strenuous paddling against the wind.

Jason floats in the sun (photo/Nicole Harrison)

On Sunday we hiked in Turtleback Mountain Preserve on the other side of the island, which had similarly great views of San Juan Island and Canada, and then spent the rest of the day hanging out and browsing the shops in Eastsound.

Some very green marsh scum (photo/Jason Rafal)

We joined the handful of people at Orcas Knob (photo/Jason Rafal)

Foxgloves on the trail (photo/Jason Rafal)

The north beaches of Orcas have exceptional sunsets, so we headed over there at about 9:00 each night to take in the views. There’s no large public beach, but there are a couple of small chunks of coast where we could sit with our fellow sunset seekers and take in the view.

Taking in the colors (photo/Jason Rafal)

The sun touches the horizon on a clear evening (photo/Jason Rafal)

The waves created by boats made a lovely texture contrast (photo/Jason Rafal)

It was a wonderful long weekend, only slightly soured by the cancelation of a ferry that resulted in us waiting for about 4 hours to board the next one. I suppose that’s island life.