Took advantage of some great weather and state parks' fee free day on the first of the year and visited this wonderful little state park on San Juan Island.
I did come to visit Lime Kiln the day before, too, hoping to see some whales at this spot which is famous for whale spotting, thanks to the steep walls of the Haro Strait, just a few hundred feet from where you stand overlooking the water. But no luck that night, and no luck today either.
On the other hand, I got quite a nice little walk out of it. First I headed to Deadman Bay via an up-and-down trail along the shoreline. I hit the beach and turned back toward the state park (Deadman Cove is SJ Land Bank property). On the way back, I spotted a perfect little cove for polar plunging, so took my opportunity to do so while no one was around, and then continued on my way back towards the main viewing area.
I dinked around at the whale watching area until I heard voices of other hikers, and then continued on my way to the lighthouse. Snapped some pictures there and listened to the hydrophone, but there was nothing going on, unfortunately.
I turned uphill then, and headed for the restored lime kiln. This is surprisingly well-restored, and surprisingly accessible. You can walk right up to it and look into where they heated the rock.
After looking at that for a bit, I went back to the parking area via the upland trail. I went back out to the overlook to see if any whales had shown up, and soaked up a little sun before leaving around noon.
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