Kayaking & exploring North Beach, Saltair Beach, Carpenter Creek, & Appletree Cove - Kingston Washington

   Right at the end of summer, with captain wifey out of town visiting her family back East, my buddy Matt and I took Kingsley over to Kingston, WA for the weekend. Kingston's got a great little marina, nice cove to kayak in, and a great beach north of the ferry dock to explore.
   It would have been an easy sail, just over an hour…except there was no wind…so we motored. Still a nice little trip, especially with the autopilot (we call 'the robot') keeping us on track. 

   Once at the marina, we took off to explore the waterfront section of town. Heading north of the ferry dock takes you to a great little beach - some call it North Beach, others call it Saltair beach (article here on the matter). You can also walk the high road through the neighborhood on the bluff just above the beach, and a loop trail connects back down to the beach (we didn't walk that far but saw it on a map in town). 

   After our mini-hike we returned to Kingsley to get our kayaking on. The best-best-best thing about the Kingston marina is the little dinghy/kayak lane opposite their (open to the public) guest dock (pictured below). Even at low tide this area remains a perfect place to put in a kayak. They even have little gazebos with tables along the dock for lunch. There is a boat ramp on the opposite side of the marina, away from the ferry dock, closer to parking if you prefer (easier to get a kayak off the car to the water).

Saltair beach from the water

We paddled north from the marina, carefully avoiding the WA state ferry dock (we went under the pilings…it seemed like there would be a sign saying not to but there wasn't…people on the walkways waived). We made it out to the point, Apple Cove Point, and turned back. Easy trip, it took us around an hour.

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   Back on land we investigated a few of the businesses and shops - one being a cool little granola factory, Mirracole Morsels, just up from the ferry dock. It's a great stop for a snack between paddles, maybe pick up a bag of granola to take with you for later.

  After dinner we took one more paddle, this time into the cove towards Carpenter Creek (bridge picture below). With enough of a tide (we didn't quite have enough on this trip) it's possible to explore the creek & estuary, an important migration trail for various salmon species, especially chinook and coho.

   All great northwest trips must come to an end…and this one ended with a north wind the next day, letting us downwind sail all the way back to Shilshole…boom…done.
   ~Paul, Matt   ETC

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