We follow the Hood Canal home from the Olympic National Park and National Forest. The Hood Canal is a long, narrow fjord in Washington State that is one of the five main basins of Puget Sound. With an average width of 1.5 miles (2.4 km) and a length of 220 miles (343 km), it separates the Kitsap Peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula. The Hood Canal (and the rest of Puget Sound) was created about 13,000 years ago by the Puget Lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. The canal has a large population of salmon and pods of killer whales. We follow its shoreline for most of the north to south length, stopping twice along the way.
Our first stop is at Dosewallips State Park, a year-round camping park with five miles (8 km) of shoreline on the Hood Canal and the Dosewallips River. Freshwater activities are found on the banks of the river and saltwater activities on the Hood Canal. The park encourages visitors to bring fishing poles and shovels to collect freshwater or saltwater fish, clams, oysters, and crabs.
We continue home with our newly acquired oysters and cook them on the grill for a fabulous dinner.
Another great day of more exploration and a fabulous dinner with ingredients from our travels.