Orcas Island - July 2023
Lucky to have spent the past few days exploring Orcas island in the San Juan Islands with my partner. An absolutely breathtaking area, rich in biodiversity and geologic history. So cool to see all of the glacial deposits and the volcanic history in cross sections and cutouts on the islands. A lot of the soils reminded me of the Columbia River Gorge, shallow and rocky basalt, some sandstone. Finally got to explore Turtle Back Mountain Preserve in the west sound this year and was blown away by the biodiversity. Many, if not all, of these pictures are from that hike. Really cool to see all of the different orchid species blooming in mid-summer and to observe the subtle differences in island ecology. The San Juan Islands are in the rain-shadow of the Olympic mountains so you see more xeric habitat types and plant communities, unlike what you would see in the Cascades or surrounding areas. Obviously there is still a lot of similarities between the Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands, but I was surprised to see some xeric plant communities (sedums, ocean spray, opuntia, madronas, etc.). Here’s some of my observations:
Goodyera oblongifolia
Goodyera oblongifolia
Goodyera oblongifolia
Platanthera sp.
Platanthera sp.
Tsuga heterophylla growing out of nurse log
Sedum spathifolium
Sedum spathulifolium
Heuchera micrantha
Wetland
Claytonia sibirica
Waldorf island
Ochre sea star
Holodiscus discolor
Pteridium aquilinum
Corallorhiza maculata
Anisocarpus madioides
Arbutus menziesii
Arbutus menziesii
Grindelia integrifolia
Ribes sp.
Epipactus helleborine
Mahonia nervosa
Urtica dioica
