Always have a plan B (or C in this case). 
  
   Captain Wifey and I set off to add some more blue dots to Washington's south Puget Sound. I had researched a perfect kayaking destination - Woodward Bay on the Henderson Inlet. It sounded great: use a Discover Pass to park the car, calm water, & gorgeous scenery with little development. The weather was in the upper 70s, amazing for the Northwest in May. The Bay is way south, almost to Olympia. We arrived at the launch and walked down to the 'beach'.

Mud-fest. No dock. Lots of mud. We could have waited for a higher tide, however, to paddle all day we wouldn't have had enough water when we came back. Woodward Bay at low tide is nothing but a small stream and we'd be really stuck. We didn't feel like cleaning mud off of everything we own for the next week following the paddle so we packed it back up and drove over to plan B - the boat launch at nearby Zittel's Marina.

   The problem here was the boat launch fee: $14. Now, I'm not super-cheap, but when you're accustomed to paying a $3 to $5 launch fee in the city, $14 is pushing it. I thought maybe it was a misprint because it's $14 for all boats, but it wasn't. To top it off, the dock was way high for a kayak launch. You could make it work if you were willing to pay…we moved on to plan C!

   Not too far from Zittel's & Woodward Bay is Tolmie State Park. We found parking in the lower beach parking lot (otherwise it would be a downhill hike to the water). From the parking lot it wasn't far to the beach - easier for us with the inflatable in a pack on my back. It would be possible to launch hardshell kayaks, just know you'll have to carry them on a short trail to the beach (there's no dock or boat launch).

   We paddled south from the beach towards the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. This waterway is called the Nisqually Reach. There's lots of private property woods to enjoy and great views of Volcano Rainier. Be careful as you head closer to the refuge - boats, even kayaks, are not allowed into the area. You can however, paddle up the adjacent McAlister Creek if you make it that far.

   It turned out to be a great plan C. Moral of the story? Always good to have a few different launch sites up your sleeve just in case. What if it's muddy? What if it's really windy? Straddle the line between being a fair-weather adventurer & being smart!
   ~Paul & Amber    ETC

   It's finally time to start paddling regularly around here! First step, head out into Shilshole Bay as much as possible (pictures above and below from this week). Then, the planning phase. Be sure to check out the new Washington State Map section of the site to plot your next adventure. We'll be adding blue dots (a.k.a. kayaking/exploring) to the South Sound, the San Juans, and the Olympic peninsula soon!
   ~Paul    ETC

 Warmer spring temps + sun + wind = fun at Seattle's Golden Gardens. Usually I see kiteboarding going on up north at Richmond Beach,  but its popularity must be heading south!
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

   Spending a lot of time paddling the Northwest's waters has given me a renewed appreciation of the Puget Sound's native tribes. I was getting ready to launch the other day when someone mentioned the new Suquamish Museum. We sail Suquamish/Port Madison waters regularly and drive through the community every time we take the Bainbridge ferry to Kitsap and continue to the Olympic peninsula. With the ferry ride,  Suquamish is about an hour from downtown Seattle. It also happens to be the location of Chief Sealth's (Chief Seattle) gravesite.

   The new $7.5 million, 9,000 square foot Suquamish museum is a tribute to the Suquamish tribe and culture. It's a snapshot of the tribe and details the past & present, and looks to the future of the Suquamish Nation. Artifacts are beautiful & nicely laid out. Admission prices are low and there's a quaint gift shop. There is a little room for more artifacts and I'm sure future exhibits will fill the space. They have one permanent gallery and one that periodically rotates.

   What makes the stop even cooler is a visit nearby to Chief Sealth's grave. Sealth (the city of Seattle was named after him) was a Suquamish chief who led negotiations (or whatever you want to call them) with the white settlers in the 18oos. There were some interesting power plays going on among local tribes around this time, made way more complicated with arrival of the white-folk to this area. It's an interesting and sometimes controversial history that's worth a read. Anyway, the gravesite is beautiful & powerful and just a short walk from the museum parking lot.

   The big question for a lot of our Seattle readers - is the Suquamish Museum & the Chief Sealth gravesite worth the ferry trip over from Seattle? I mean, can you make a day of it? Not quite. The museum is great and I highly recommend it but it could use a little more exhibit space. It might help if there was a special event happening at/near the museum. The museum website talks about future workshops, storytellers, and other events held on the grounds or in their sweet 50-seat auditorium - that would really add some content and complete the experience. Also, it would be great if their were more hands-on artifacts/exhibits for kids (there's not much at all). 
   Already on the Kitsap Peninsula with an hour to kill? Need a break from the casino?Haven't seen Chief Sealth's gravesite or the museum yet?  Definitely worth a visit. Check out the museum and tribe websites below for more info and upcoming events.
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

The Suquamish Museum
The Suquamish Tribe
Suquamish, Washington

   In an effort to explore more of the South Sound, we recently took an afternoon to walk around the small town of Ruston, Washington. Pretty much indistinguishable from Tacoma, this little town is close to Point Defiance (we recently visited here too), and sits on Commencement Bay.

  There's a few great businesses here to check out - we always like stopping by the Jungle Fever Exotics. Unfortunately our garden dreams are on hold (besides our boat farming operation!), but it's still fun to walk the grounds. We grabbed a snack and coffee next-door at the Antique Sandwich Co.

   We browsed Ruston Galleries & Antiques, walked a few blocks and peeked into Don's Ruston Market & Deli, and luckily I saved a little room for a Tatanka burger at Tatanka Take-Out! As you can see, the town has a little mural thing going on (I'm a sucker for murals…especially crazy jungle ones).

   Ruston has an interesting history - it began as a company town for the employees of W.R. Rust in 1890. He established the Tacoma Smelting and Refining Company (I mean, with a name like Mr. Rust…why not?). Later, ASARCO took over smelting operations down by the waterfront. The company polluted the heck out of the area while under operation (it turns out that ASARCO is kinda known for that). A massive Superfund cleanup has been ongoing at the site for years. The transformation is pretty much complete, now it's condo time. The area has been renamed Point Ruston and condo and housing development is underway.

   If you do hit up Ruston for an afternoon, make sure to drive down by the water on scenic Ruston Way. There's still traces of Ruston's past combined with new construction paving the way for the future. There's a great waterfront restaurant down the road a bit called Harbor Lights. It's been here serving up seafood for over 50 years! You could definitely spend a sunny afternoon on the waterfront alone walking, kayaking, skateboarding, sightseeing, and more. 
                                       ~Paul & Amber    ETC

 Vashon Island. Heard of it? We have. Every Sunday we head over to our local Ballard Farmers Market (Ballard is a neighborhood in Seattle) and buy our meat from the Vashon Island butcher there. The legend is that his animals are raised on a beautiful & quaint island just a 20 minute ferry ride from West Seattle. An island we've always known about but have never visited. This island must be farmy - the Sea Breeze Farm produces eggs, meat, & milk that is sold year round at the University & Ballard farmers markets here in the city.
   I imagined farms and trees. Maybe some hills? A lot of my cyclist friends speak of riding the ferry over to Vashon (that's the pretty part) then biking up a giant hill that leads to town (that's the sweaty part).
   Well, we explored the island last weekend in the winter sun (remember the sunny Saturday?). We found farms, hills, lighthouses, coffee roasters, exercise bikes, marinas, lots of kayak put-ins…but no UFOs (that's a different Vashon legend we'll talk about later).

Town is cool. Lots of restaurants, some of them a little wacky. A local movie theater, a music store, hardware store…lots of shopping. Restaurants for breakfast, lunch & dinner, coffee. Spend some time walking around with coffee in hand - make sure to check out the Treasure Island consignment shop - it's awesome and full of every vintage thing you could imagine.

   Other notable stores? We like Island Quilter…my wife loves it because she's a quilter and loves to browse fabric (Katie from Sewkatiedid was there!). I also found it intriguing due to the Luke Haynes feature - I was pulled in by his giant Kanye/Jay-Z quilt in the window. I'll say that again - Jay-Z on a quilt…in a quilt store.

   We  grabbed a quick bite in town at Pure Organic Cafe. I had a coconut smoothie, my wife had some warm Ginger Tea, and we shared a giant piece of leafy pizza.

   Just down the road a mile from the shopping district is a historic coffee roaster with tons of Northwest history. Long story short - this used to be Seattle's Best Coffee but now it's independent…and yummy. It's the Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie. You can spend time here browsing the mini-museum scattered around the cafe and shop, shop for tea, herbs, groceries, beer, and of course, coffee. It is a great pit-stop for cyclists or for anyone who loves a good cup of Joe. Next door is a little grocery shop (Minglement - pictured below) with gifts, oils, food, and other goodies.

   Keep driving south from the coffee & you'll hit Quartermaster Harbor. We went left over the portage, towards Maury Island & Dockton. At the intersection of Dockton Rd SW & Portage Way SW you'll find one of the many mysteries on the island…the abandoned exercise bikes on Tramp Harbor.

   From there we continued onto Maury Island (not really an island anymore since the Army Corps of Engineers filled in the bridge connecting it to Vashon back in the day). It's absolutely worth stopping by the Point Robinson Lighthouse, pictured below, and we also found a nice kayak put-in at the Dockton Marina. 
   Maury Island has some fun history too - my favorite is the 1947 alleged UFO sighting. The Maury Island incident as it's called, created a lot of buzz in the media and was one of the first UFO/Flying Saucer sightings (it was even before Roswell)…It was also one of the first mentions of the Men in Black…read more here…Some folks are even making a movie about the incident! Support that project and learn more here...and remember, you didn't hear it from me:)

   Heading back over the portage leads you towards the other side of Quartermaster Harbor to the community of Burton. They also have a marina and a nice little marina-grocery store with boaty provisions. Jensen Point is the best kayak launch-site over here, and in the summer you can even rent boats for the hour, day, or longer. Look for full-moon paddles on Quartermaster Harbor in the summer months, 5 days each month around the full-moon.

Worth a day trip from Seattle? Yes! Did we even see every park and kayak put-in on the island? No! Will we be back to paddle? For sure.
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

   We're lucky in the Northwest to have a strong & proud Native American culture. As we paddle different rivers and locations around the Puget Sound, we are constantly reminded of the people that have lived here for thousands of years. 
   On Rosario Beach, in Deception Pass State Park, there's a great little (kinda giant actually) carved story pole of a maiden named "Ko-kwahl-alwoot" - the Maiden of Deception Pass. 

   Rosario Beach is great little area of Deception Pass State Park with a nice boat/kayak launch, a trail for a quick hike, the Maiden story pole, and some covered and uncovered picnic areas. Check it out!

   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

Link to the story of the Maiden of Deception Pass.
Link to the Samish Indian Nation.
Link to pictures of the carving of the Maiden.

   A little northwest of downtown Tacoma is the 702 acre Point Defiance Park. It's a city park…a giant city park. 702 acres puts it at one of the biggest city parks in the country. It sits on its own peninsula, jetting out into the south Puget Sound, pointing across the water to Gig Harbor & northward to Vashon Island. There is tons of stuff to do at the park - the Zoo & Aquarium, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Rhododendron Garden, beaches, trails, lots of picnic spots, dog park, Fort Nisqually (long story), ferry dock, boat ramp, boathouse, and more. 

   If you park near the boathouse & marina there's quite a few places to launch a kayak (there's also a boat ramp for trailered boats). A lot of the docks were nice and low…perfect for paddle-craft. It didn't really seem like you'd have to pay a launch fee, however, it's always a good idea to check the message boards at the boat ramp just in case.

   A look across the water to the north reveals the southern tip of Vashon Island. The Tahlequah ferry route takes you from Point Defiance to Tahlequah on Vashon (who knew there was a ferry dock here?).

   The park is big - don't get lost! We parked at the boathouse, walked down the beach to Owen beach & back, then got back in the car and drove to the Nisqually Fort area. It's cool to read about the history of the park on the boards near the boathouse - this was the place to be in the 1800s!

   Huh, a giant fort in the park. Interesting. Luckily, we had just visited the Nisqually National Wildlife Reserve (our post here) so it kinda all made sense! The fort here is part replica, part relocation of the original fort  17 miles away near the Nisqually delta (it's not there anymore). Historically, this was the first European settlement in the Puget Sound. There's tons of info here from a friendly and knowledgable staff - we'll be back to take the tour soon. Check out more at their website. 

   Just past the fort is the dog-park and trails that lead out to a great Tacoma Narrows lookout…watch your step - it's a long way down from these cliffs!

   Pow. A sweet view of the Narrows from the edge of the park. The Tacoma Narrows bridge is in the distance (I think of this video every time I see it). There's also a tall power-line tower looking thingy to the right of the bridge…that's actually a tower with lines bringing electricity all the way from the Cushman Dam (Oh ya, I remember that place).

   So, I think we've settled any uncertainty you might have about spending the day at Point Defiance Park. We did it without even showing you pics from the zoo, aquarium, & gardens. It's a cool place, check it out.

   ~Paul & Micah   ETC

   Lately we've been exploring some of the many parks scattered along the coast of Washington's Puget Sound. We like to visit them in the offseason (it's winter around here), mainly because they're usually free of crowds & traffic. It also helps us out for the upcoming summer - we know where to go, where to park, where to launch a kayak. Also, when I can, I like to see future paddle trips from the land first,  it's helps orient things when I'm on the water.
   When we get home from a day out, I eventually download all of the pictures from the adventure, delete the blurry ones, edit, delete, import, export,  move to this app, move to that one, upload, and download. Once I have the pictures organized in article format, I start researching where we've been. That's right. With most park visits: I research after we get home.
   Now, not all trips are like this - paddling & sailing trips are way different. We check the tides, check the currents, check the weather, check all kinds of stuff. With park visits it's sometimes nice going in ready to hike, ready to learn, ready to take pictures, ready to get lost, but not exactly knowing what's going on.

     With this in mind we set out for the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Located just off I-5 between Tacoma and Olympia Washington, the refuge is a protected estuary formed by the freshwater of the Nisqually River & McAlister Creek emptying out and meeting the saltwater of the Puget Sound. The Nisqually Delta is biologically diverse - animals all over the place - and is heavily influenced by the tide. I could tell this from the map - the refuge is a giant green spot. 
   From paddling the Skagit & Stillaguamish river deltas I could kinda imagine what it would be like. You can see the refuge in the map below. Just follow the signs off of I-5 to get there, the 'A' on this map is a boat ramp (discover pass required), adjacent to the reserve, suitable for launching a kayak and paddling up McAlister Creek (most of the actual refuge is off limits to boats).

   When you arrive at the refuge there is a $3 parking fee and lots of spots (I'm sure it gets crowded on the weekends in the summer). There is a nice visitor center & restrooms. There are a few trail choices - about the most you can go is the 4 mile roundtrip boardwalk trail, it's sort of an out and back.
   Since the tide is in and out a couple times per day, the Washington Fish & Wildlife department worked to build the boardwalk that takes you out to the far reaches of the refuge. Informational boards are around to give you an idea of what exactly is going on with the thousands of migrating birds, various mammals, amphibians, and reptiles that live and/or frequent the area.

   From a paddlers point of view, most of the area is off limits to boats (that includes kayaks). The picture below of a couple canoeing is from McAlister Creek - located adjacent to the refuge. A nearby boat ramp gives great access to the creek. Personally, I'd wait until waterfowl hunting season is over to paddle around here just to be safe…or at least wear some orange? The season in WA usually happens October-ish to February-ish. Here's a link with more info.

   That about covers the facts, what did I uncover post-visit about the history of the place? Well, let's start out with a shout-out to the Nisqually Tribe who have lived & fished salmon on the Nisqually River for…wait for it…thousands of years. (the river starts miles away on the south side of Mt. Rainier, otherwise known as Volcano Rainier). Just step back and think about that for a minute. Thousands of years.
   Enter the white man in the mid 18oos and a treaty that was eventually signed between them and the Nisqually tribe. Actually, we are pretty sure that Chief Leschi (Leschi neighborhood of Seattle anyone?) of the Nisqually didn't, or at least didn't want to, sign this treaty - called the Medicine Creek Treaty (P.S. Medicine Creek is now called McAlister Creek - the one in the picture above with the canoeing couple). 
   At any rate, the tribe was relocated and the white man obviously settled. There's also now a military base on part of the tribal land. I think we can, if anything, at least know and respect this history while playing/walking/taking pictures/kayaking/hunting on the Nisqually.

   That's a wrap! We highly recommend checking out the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Take a lunch - there are plenty of tables for a break. Take a zoom lens for your camera & binoculars too. Word on the creek is there are snowy owls there right now!
   Check the tides before you go if you want to see the mudflats (mudflats sometimes = better birding). If you want to kayak near the reserve, use the boat ramp adjacent to the park (the map at the beginning of this post). When you're there, imagine the thousands of years that people have lived on this delta & river…amazing stuff. Oh ya, if you see one, don't kiss the poisonous newts.
   ~Paul & Amber    ETC

   As we continue to explore Washington state's San Juan Islands for an upcoming summer paddle, we had to stop by Roche Harbor. Located on San Juan Island, Roche Harbor has a lot going on. It is a popular port of entry for boats entering the US from Canada, especially in the summer. The historic buildings and lime kilns are what's left of a once thriving lime business - the company once upon a time shipped island lime to major west coast cities (read more about the industry in another ETC post here).

   If you head to Roche Harbor by car like we did, you'll arrive in 'town' after you drive under a big resort sign. We actually avoided the road at first - not knowing anything about the history of the Harbor - but eventually had no other choice, there is pretty much just one road.
   "I don't want to go to a resort," I said to my wife. "I want to go to Roche Harbor - the town."
   Well, it turns out the resort is the town. The town is the resort…hmmm…interesting. The details of how this town/resort came to be is best explained here & here. 
   It's quite simple really. What you've basically got historically is a late 1800s British/American border feud that escalated into a full-blown pig war (with apparently only one casualty…uh…the pig), mixed later with a discovery of precious limestone and land claim by a Tacoma dude ("there's lime in them hills!"), a later purchase of the grounds by a family who started making the marina nice and welcoming guests, and then another purchase of the same land by some Seattle business folks who have really made the resort into, well, a resort. 
   Roche Harbor went from native land, to a pig war zone, to a bustling lime operation, to a boatel (before the old hotel was refinished), to what it is now - a great marina and resort village with condos sprinkled amongst ruins & a few 100 year old buildings (including the iconic Hotel de Haro).

   Stuff to do. In the summer - tons. Check out the link here to see the varied activities available at the resort (we didn't see too much of this stuff, we were there in the winter/off-season). 
   The things that concern us are the kayak launch area at the marina docks - it looks great - and the trail system that connects the resort to nearby British camp and beyond. We plan to return to check out both the British & American camps on foot - a pretty extensive trail system makes it all happen. The other thing we somehow missed? The creepy - I mean interesting - mausoleum of the former Lime company founder from back in the day (read about it here…guess who's ashes are locked in the seats of the chairs?). Maybe we'll check it out at the summer solstice and see if the light on the table rumor is true…oh ya - by the way, there is a light on the table rumor...interesting.

   So much history! I'll admit - once I found out the town was actually a resort I almost wrote it off as, well, a made-up town that is just a resort (Seaside Florida anyone?). After reading up on the history behind the place I am officially blown away. I know we'll be back on foot and by kayak. You should go too!  Meet you at the mausoleum at solstice?
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC                                                                                    www.rocheharbor.com