September 27th: We changed our itinerary to go in search of orcas off the south coast of Lopez Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. After a rapid ride on the ebb tide through the San Juan Channel, we entered Juan de Fuca Strait. Again, the whales were hiding from us, but we did see many sea lions and dolphins. We will have to come back here and try to find the orcas again. Headed to secluded Watmough Bay which is situated in an undeveloped area on the southeast corner of Lopez. Watmough is tucked in beside a 500' cliff on one side and wooded hills on the other. After anchoring, we rowed the dinghy to a pebbly beach at the head of the bay, and found a hiking trail to the top of Chadwick Hill, a 500' climb over a very steep and gnarly trail. The views from the top were breathtaking. The tiny white spec you see in the pictures is our tiny boat. The views of Mt. Baker and the surrounding mountains were unbelievable, the beautiful sunset and sunrise not withstanding! We spent the following morning leisurely waiting for the tide to change so that we would have a favorable current to take us back to Anacortes.
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