We took the 8:30 inter island ferry from Friday Harbor to Orcas Island and decided to do the Ship Peak loop from the south TH.  It was overcast, and drizzly but the views were still fantastic as we trekked along the Morning Ridge to several viewpoints.  It was nice to see  a tiny bit of fall color along parts of the trail.   We didn't see any other hiker until we were finishing the very nicely maintained trail.   Gps clocked around 4 miles.

The loo was clean and stocked with TP

A tale of two species: 

Staying on Orcas for a couple of nights, we visited a friend who told us that Turtleback Mountain, where we had hiked 16 years ago, now had a nice hiking trail system, maintained by the San Juan Preservation Trust (WTA has helped with trail maintenance, too). So we decided to check it out. 

The overall environment was as advertised. Some moderate gain, spectacular views of the San Juans, Canadian Gulf Islands, Olympics to the south--every bit the equal of those from Mt. Constitution. But the main attractions for us were two iconic local tree species doing spectacularly well: oak and madrona. 

Oak is Quercus garryana, colloquially called Garry oak or Oregon White Oak. It was formerly much more widespread than it is currently, carefully tended for acorns and habitat by Native peoples. But more than a century of mis- or non- management, including indiscriminate fire suppression, has reduced its range dramatically, often out-competed by Douglas-fir and other shade-tolerant species. So we were delighted to see one as we meandered up the Morning Ridge trail. One?? Climbing a little farther, we discovered they were all over the place! From gnarly forty-foot specimens down to little seedlings, with many of the latter caged to protect them from deer, by the efforts of the San Juan County Land Bank. It's clearly working, and in a few years this may well develop into a significant stand of this (previously, we hope) declining tree. 

Madrona is what we in Western Washington call Pacific Madrone, and the folks a few kilometers north just call by its scientific name, Arbutus (menziesii). Even though two Seattle neighborhoods are named after them (Madrona, correctly, and Magnolia, so the legend goes, incorrectly), they don't do well in urban settings, their leaves often turning black. You see them all over the San Juans, but on Turtleback they are spectacular--we've never seen them so thick with berries, and as a result there are whole fields of saplings. 

So when you go to Turtleback, notice the trees. 

This is such a fantastic trail with epic views of the San Juan islands, oak woodlands, interesting forest and a little bit of vertical to challenge the kids. We started on the lost oak trail with some steep climbing to get to Ship Peak then had a snack at the first overlook, some moody clouds made for great pictures. There is abundant sunshine on the back end of the trail on sunny days so make sure to bring a hat and sunglasses when the sun is out. The kids loved climbing on the trees and rocks and looking out over the water early in the morning the trail was empty but it filled up and got crowded in the afternoon. Beautiful views for minimal but not insignificant effort.

We arrived at 12:45 on Friday to a nearly full lot and lots of folks headed out. That said, once they left we were nearly alone during the hour and a half trek! 

Beautiful views, gorgeous weather, and lots of crunchy grass and hopping grasshoppers.

Views from Turtleback Ridge were as glorious as ever. The terrain is quite unique, savanna-like - and typical of the islands of northern Puget Sound.Obviously, birds like the ridge; they were singing all along, especially red-breasted nuthatches.

We started out before 10:30 in the morning, and it still turned out to be a hot hike. Contrary to previous trip reports I would emphasize the long open stretches of the trail. The manager of the Orcas Hotel declared Turtleback a "six o'clock hike" in summer.