In general, the island really has maintained its local charm, and the various arts and crafts on offer are mostly top-notch -- and very pricey. Some of the gallery prices (Olga Cafe, we're looking at you) are as stratospheric as Carmel or Sausalito, but understandable since the local tourist season is so short. There are no chain stores or restaurants on Orcas -- a refreshing difference from the rest of the world.
Sunday, we undertook the trail from Lake Cascade to the top of Mount Constitution. It turned out to be much more of an ambitious climb than I remembered, and after my repeated assurances that the trail gets easier "real soon", half of our party turned back to get the car and meet Jessica, Gigi and me at the top. The trail *did* get easier literally 3 minutes after we split. I have to hand it to the kids because we were all huffing and puffing and sweating and...well, it was a tough climb.
At the top, the view was glorious as always. There was a volunteer guide who added a lot of good color. He explained that Orcas was the primary supplier of fruit to Washington 100 years ago (before other parts of the state were irrigated.) He said the island was almost entirely stripped of trees for many reasons: boxes and crates for the fruit, fuel for the lime kilns, fuel for shipping, firewood, fences and building for the locals, as well as logging for regular commercial timber. I had always figured it was just the latter reason.
