Along the Hood Canal in Washington

The Hood Canal is a natural fjord extending for about 50 miles (80 km) between Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains in Washington.  The canal has an average width of 1.5 miles (2.4 km), with numerous rivers flowing into it (Skokomish, Hamma Hamma, Duckabush, Dosewallips, Big Quilcene, Union, Tahuya, and Dewatto Rivers).  The area, with its fantastic mountain and water features, hosts plenty of outdoor activities, especially year-round hiking trails with incredibleviews.

We start our exploration of the Olympic Peninsula, heading toward the Olympic Nation Park, with a drive up the Hood Canal toward Port Townsend at the upper end, with a few stops in the Olympic National Forest and at several Washington State Parks along the canal.

Along the shore of the Hood Canal

Streams feeding the canal

Beaches covered with shellfish

15,000 years ago, this area was covered by a glacial ice sheet about a mile thick that scoured out what is now the Hood Canal.  This glacier, a part of the Northern Ice Sheet in Canada, dug the canal over about 1.5 million years and over the course of several different glacial advances.  As the weather warmed and the glacier receeded back into Canada, many glacial lakes and waterways were formed, including the Hood Canal.

Salmon in the canal

Olympic Mountains along the canal

We continue to follow the canal, stopping at Twanoh State Park and Potlatch State Park to view the water and shores of the canal.  These are small, delightful parks focused on water sports and relaxation.

Enjoying the parks

Potlatch State Park

No shelfish at this time

Fox Island, Washington

Fox Island is located approximately 5 miles (8 km) from Gig Harbor, and was named during the United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842) to honor J. L. Fox, an assistant surgeon on the expedition.  The first mention of the island is in 1792 when Peter Puget led an exploration party through what became southern Puget Sound and, after an encounter with local native tribes, the exploration party retreated to Fox Island (which, of course, was not then known as Fox Island, but probably something more pragmatic, such as "nearby island where we can hide, regroup, have dinner, and not get slaughtered").  In 1856, during the Puget Sound War, most of the Puyallup Native Americans were removed from their homeland around Gig Harbor and relocated to Fox Island, then later to a reservation further inland.

The first non-Native American settlers moved to the Island in 1856 at the end of the war and access to the island improved immensely in 1954 when the Fox Island Bridge was completed, linking the island to Gig Harbor.  

Fox Island is located between the Olympic Mountains and Mount Rainier, with views of Puget Sound and the mountains.  We're told that we can occasionally see whales in the water around the island, but have not yet had that experience (looking forward to it!).

Puget Sound

Mount Rainier

Olympic Mountains

The bridge

Along with the views of water and mountain, those of us on the island see a lot of ship traffic:  ferries, barges, Coast Guard, and pleasure craft of all sorts.

Traffic on the water

Along Island Boulevard which runs the length of the island, someone (with a sense of humor) has marked a high point of the road.

Fox Pass

The location in Washington assures that we have a beautiful colors on the trees in the fall and throughout the year.

Color

Across Puget Sound, we see long trains winding up the shore to the port of Tacoma, a pleasant sound of rumbling train traffic coming across the water throughout the day, along with the occasional train whistle.

Trains across the water

The island deer population does present some interesting landscaping challenges and a learning curve of what they like to eat and dislike.

Deer

And as the sun rises over Mount Rainier, spectacular views present themselves for our pleasure, and as rain occasionally passes through, the sky lights up with a rainbow over the mountain.

Beautiful skies

A little rain

This is truly a beautiful, magical place.

Continuing to Wander in Gig Harbor

Continuing our trek through Gig Harbor, we pass Austin Park in the corner of the harbor and walk up Donkey Creek which drains into the harbor and up which Chum Salmon swim to spawn in the late fall.  Donkey Creek is named after the "donkey engine," a steam-powered winch used by loggers to drag heavy logs up to the Austin Mill alongside the creek.

Donkey Creek

Salmon in the fall

Salmon observation point

Alongside the creek are incubator barrels which local commercial fisherman fill with about one million hatchery eggs in January of each year.   The barrels protect the emerging fish from predators and strong currents as they develop, greatly increasing their survival rate.

Salmon incubator

Continuing along the harbor from Donkey Creek, we come to North Gig Harbor, the orginal downtown, now an area of restaurants, shops, offices, docks, and small parks, with great views across the harbor to the mountains (particularly Mount Rainier).

Small parks

Shops

Views of Mount Rainier across the harbor

Restaurants and docks

Moored at one of the docks is the Concordia, the original ferry between Seattle and Vashon Island, built in 1930.

Concordia

Scattered through the city are statues commemorating the nautical heritage and those fishermen lost at sea.

Statues

Buck and King Salmon

Gig Harbor

We are so lucky to live nearby and be able to easily visit this fabulous place.