Casey - Kayaking Puget Sound & the San Juan Islands: 60 paddle trips including the Gulf Islands

kayaking
puget sound and the san juan islands

Third Edition

60 Paddle Trips Including the Gulf Islands
Rob Casey

THE MOUNTAINEERS BOOKSis the nonprofit publishing arm of The Mountaineers, an organization founded in 1906 and dedicated to the exploration, preservation, and enjoyment of outdoor and wilderness areas.

1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98134

2012 by Rob Casey and The Mountaineers Books

All rights reserved

First edition 1991. Second edition 1999. Third edition 2012.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Copy Editor: Connie Chaplan, Icon Editing Cover, Book Design, and Layout Peggy Egerdahl
Cartographers: Jerry Painter and Jennifer Shontz
Photographer: All photographs by the author unless otherwise noted.

Cover photograph: Kayakers enjoying the low tide at Crescent Beach in Salt Creek Recreational Area

Frontispiece: Burrows Island Light Station State Park and west view of the island

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Casey, Rob.

Kayaking Puget Sound & the San Juan Islands : 60 paddle trips including the Gulf Islands / Rob Casey. 3rd ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-59485-685-3 (ppb : alk. paper)

1. KayakingWashington (State)Puget SoundGuidebooks. 2. KayakingWashington (State)San Juan IslandsGuidebooks. 3. KayakingBritish ColumbiaGulf IslandsGuidebooks. 4. Puget Sound (Wash.)Guidebooks. 5. San Juan Islands (Wash.)Guidebooks. 6. Gulf Islands (B.C.)Guidebooks. I. Title. II. Title: Kayaking Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands.

GV776.W22P842 2012

797.12240916432dc23

2012002268

ISBN (paperback): 978-1-59485-685-3

ISBN (ebook): 978-1-59485-686-0

(Rating: P=Protected; M=Moderate; E=Exposed)

Many thanks to my partner Christy Cox for your assistance and for being so patient and supportive in accomplishing this revision in such a short time frame. Also thanks to my parents for their support during the project.

My sincere thanks to Jim and Nadja Zimmerman; Eric Grossman (USGS), Jory Kahn; Tammi Hinkle, Adventures Through Kayaking, Port Angeles; David Parks, geologist and wetland scientist, Department of Natural Resources; Bill Walker, Ruby Creek Boathouse; Outer Islands Expeditions; Shearwater Adventures; Northwest Outdoor Center; David Book, Talisman Books, Pender Island; Dr. Todd Switzer, oceanographer; Mark Volkart; Corey Dolan, Dolans Board Sports; Connie Campbell, AquaTrek Marine Center; Caleb Goodwin, Ocean River, Victoria, British Columbia; Ted and Marge Mueller, authors of The Mountaineers Books Afoot and Afloat series; Barb and George Gronseth, Kayak Academy; Julie Anderson, Washington Water Trails Association; Joel Rogers, photographer and author; David Burch, Starpath Publications; Reg Lake and Sterling Donaldson, Sterlings Kayaks; Werner Paddles; Ken Campbell, Azimuth Expeditions; Randel Washburne; Christopher Cunningham, Sea Kayaker Magazine; Greg Whittaker, Mountains to Sound; John Kuntz, Olympic Outdoor Center; Jim Marsh, Canoe & Kayak magazine; Don Rice, Dungeness Kayaking; Jim Emery; Urban Surf; Shawn Jennings, Stoke Harvester; Morgan Colonel, Olympic Raft and Kayak; and my editors at The Mountaineers Books: Janet Kimball, Connie Chapman, and Kate Rogers.

Nikki Gregg and her dog, Nui, teach a stand up paddling class on Seattles Lake Union.

For thousands of years, people have used human-powered watercraft to travel through Pacific Northwest waters, also known as the Salish Sea. The Salish Sea includes the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, and Georgia Strait. Native people referred to Puget Sound as Whulge (or Whulj) an anglicization of the Lushootseed name whulcH, which means saltwater.

The Coast Salish people paddled dugout canoes for fishing and transportation. Prior to the twentieth century they constructed the canoes by setting fires in the trunks of old growth cedar trees to burn out the interiors, and then later carved the canoes to precision using hand tools. The canoes varied in length depending on the region and the type of water in which they were paddled. Saltwater canoes were usually twenty to thirty feet long and designed for speed and stability in big seas.

The canoe was a vital part of Coast Salish life. Families traveled seasonally to specific locations to fish, pick berries, and for some, to harvest hops in places like the Puyallup Valley. The Makahs from Neah Bay, used canoes to hunt for gray whales, sometimes several miles offshore. Tribes used canoes to make surprise raids on other tribes, to capture slaves, or for retribution. In the mid-1800s, amateur anthropologist James Swann, who lived among several Northwest tribes, reported one incident when the Makah used their canoes to raid the SKlallam tribe from the Port Angeles area.

The first contact the Coast Salish peoples had with Europeans was reported to be in the late 1700s, when many explorers, such as Captain George Vancouver and Spanish explorer Manuel Quimper discovered the region. In July of 1790, Quimper anchored in a wide bay along the Strait of Juan de Fuca near the Elwha River. Native Americans in canoes brought his crew salmonberries and fresh water from a nearby creek. The bay was later called Freshwater Bay (see ).

By the mid-1800s, the European settlers who had begun to populate the shores of Puget Sound needed a way to get around. Before steam wheelers and ferry services existed, many settlers hired Native Americans to take them in canoes to their preferred destinations. The two parties didnt necessarily agree on how or when to travel. A European couple was told by their Native American canoe guide that the day they intended to travel wasnt the best time. The couple insisted, and while they were underway, a gale began that capsized the canoe, drowning all aboard. In another incident, a settler was in a hurry to get to a destination, but tribal customs required the paddlers to take a longer, slower route around superstitious landmarks. In 1847, Canadian artist Paul Kane hitched a ride in a canoe across the Strait of Juan de Fuca and experienced a harrowing eleven-hour crossing in huge seas and gale-force winds.