Five Easy South Sound Stops

FIVE EASY PLACES: ISLAND GEMS OF THE SOUTH SOUND

My husband and I could keep our boat Murrelet almost anywhere. It is a trailerable MacGregor 26x with a swing keel, so our options include a friend’s dock on Lake Washington, a cousin’s yard in Skagit County, and a marina in our home port of Seattle, among others. Over the years, we have moored at Shilshole, Friday Harbor, and various locations on Vancouver Island—all of which provided a jumping off point to celebrated destinations.

This might surprise you, but our favorite place to keep the boat is the South Sound. Why? Because we prefer the cruising grounds around Olympia. Five Washington State Parks in particular offer the quiet beauty and rural charm that characterize the region, along with public access to appealing anchorages. These are places to view the natural world up close, remarkable for their opportunities for solitude as well as for their stunning scenery. Sailors who venture here will find relatively uncrowded beaches and trails—and, as a bonus, remnants of island and maritime history.

by Lisa Mighetto

HOPE ISLAND

Hope Island Marine State Park has always been special to me. Located nine miles north of Olympia at the juncture of Squaxin Passage and Pickering Passage, this 132-acre state park is reachable only by boat and is part of the Cascadia Marine Trail that extends to the San Juan Islands.

My personal connection to Hope Island began because it was the destination of my first overnight sail on Murrelet, and where I discovered the pleasures of the cruising life. I learned to snag a buoy here, for instance, with a boat hook and a line. The first attempt required several passes; but now my husband Frank and I can usually accomplish this task in a single swoop, with one of us on the bow and the other at the helm, using polite and efficient hand gestures instead of hollering into the wind.

Over the years, we have tied up at all five of the park’s buoys— and during the winter, we often have the place to ourselves, sometimes watching moonrises and meteor showers from our cockpit. In spite of its proximity to Olympia and Tacoma, Hope

Murrelet on a buoy at Hope Island.

Island is an excellent place to see the night sky.

Wildlife is especially abundant at Hope Island. Guillemots, grebes, scoters, and other seabirds are easily spotted in the water, while eagles soar overhead. We have spent many twilights listening to the call of loons—a sound that evokes the essence of wildness. Seals are a common sight, and their snorting around our boat always seems humorous by day and unnerving at night. On several occasions we saw orcas—and once, gray whales—traveling north into Pickering Passage.

What I like most about Hope Island is its human connections. The heavily-forested area to the east is home to the Squaxin Island Tribe, serving as a reminder that native peoples have occupied the waterways of the South Sound for many centuries.

Visitors to Hope Island can explore the vestiges of farming that took place decades ago. In the early 20th century, Louis Schmidt (brother of Olympia Brewing Company founder, Leopold Schmidt) bought the island and planted an orchard and a vineyard, using cuttings from locally developed grapes called “Island Belles.”

Today, a windmill, house, and several farm implements stand in a clearing in the forest, along with apple trees and gnarled grape vines, all within easy walking distance of the shoreline. Hikers along the island’s trails can look among the Douglas firs for furrowed ground, logging activity, and other traces of its early occupants.

Hope Island is not always quiet. Summer weekends are busy, attracting every imaginable type of watercraft and exuberant outdoor activity. Kayakers and canoers make the trip from nearby Boston Harbor or Carlyon Beach, sometimes staying the night on shore, while powerboats and sailboats use the buoys or anchor out. Once, when we were walking on shore and our boat was tied to a buoy, Frank and I witnessed a loose raft of boats from a local sailing club drift by, caught in the swift current. We heard that the club soon after held a seminar on rafting and anchoring for its members. We have also encountered wine and cheese parties, some planned and some impromptu.

Hope Island has something for everyone, and I cannot think of another place I would rather take my boat.

JARRELL COVE AND STRETCH POINT

Located on the northwestern tip of Harstine Island, Jarrell Cove State Park currently offers 15 mooring buoys and a state park dock. Typically, we reach Jarrell Cove by heading north through Pickering Passage, cruising under the Harstine Island Bridge at low tide. Larger sailboats will want to approach this state park from the east side of Harstine Island, as the bridge’s mean high water vertical clearance is 31 feet.

Pickering Passage, which leads to Jarrell Cove, is the South Sound at its scenic best: a narrow waterway lined with Douglas firs, cedars, maples, alders, and madrone trees, with charming houses and gardens peaking through. One spring, I brought a visitor from England through Pickering Passage on my boat. “I’ve never seen so many shades of green,” he remarked—a striking comment from a resident of a country known for its verdant landscape. I assured him that this waterway is equally colorful in autumn.

Even so, the dominant feature here is water—above and below. It rains more here than in the Central and North Sound and several winding inlets converge in this area, creating spooky currents and swirls.

The history of the region is tied to water. The Charles Wilkes Expedition explored and named Pickering Passage in 1841, passing by the Lushootseed clans living along its banks—the ancestors of the Squaxin Island Tribe, known as “People of the Water.” Historically, few roads have crossed this area; most early occupants traveled by boat and settled near the shore. Before construction of the bridge in 1969, a series of ferries carried passengers from the mainland to Harstine Island. Oysters flourished in this area, drawing rich nutrients from nearby Hammersly Inlet and Totten Inlet and encouraging commercial farms in the 19th and 20th centuries. Oyster cultivation is still visible along the waterway, along with remnants of old docks.

Tucked deep into the recesses of Pickering Passage, Jarrell Cove can feel remote. But chances are you will have company there, as it is one of the most visited marine parks in the South Sound. In addition to the boating facilities, the park offers car camping on the bluff above the emerald water. Scattered apple trees remind visitors that the camping area now sits on what was once an early farmstead.

Several times, Frank and I sailed Murrelet to Jarrell Cove, meeting friends who had pitched a tent on land. We shared a meal over a campfire, playing guitar and singing before returning to the water and the seclusion of our boat. Timing is everything—visitors are less likely to encounter crowds on

weekdays and in fall and winter. In the 20 years we have been cruising to Jarrell Cove, we have always been able to get a buoy or space at the dock.

Visitors wishing to extend their experience can cruise north and east to Stretch Point State Park, a satellite unit of Jarrell Cove. Located on Stretch Island in Case Inlet, Stretch Point is only reachable by boat and offers a large beach and several buoys for day use. To the east, sailors can also visit Vaughn Bay or cruise down scenic Case Inlet. Sailing south through this waterway is one of my favorite boating experiences. Dall’s porpoises are frequently spotted frolicking in these waters and lucky mariners can be rewarded with spectacular views of Mt. Rainier.

MCMICKEN ISLAND & HARSTINE ISLAND STATE PARK

These state parks, located in Case Inlet on the eastern side of Harstine Island, offer a typical South Sound experience: lovely beaches and hiking trails through forests of Douglas firs, dense ferns, and salal brush, with wildflowers in spring. McMicken Island, a 222-acre park, includes several buoys and anchorages for overnight stays. Nearby Harstine Island State Park can be reached by dinghy, and its beach and trails through the forested uplands are for day use.

Two unusual features make visiting these parks especially enchanting: noticeably clear water and a tombolo, which is a bar of sand connecting the island to the mainland (in this case, Harstine Island) at low tide.

The real fun here is exploring by small vessel, close to the water. Circling the island in my kayak, I have watched all kinds of fish and sea creatures by peering over the side, straight down to the bottom. On one particularly memorable evening Frank and I joined friends at the island for a dinghy ride through bioluminescence, with sparks flying like magic from our oars.

The tombolo, visible from both park units, inspires imagination. According to Jo Bailey, author of the classic guide Gunkholing in South Puget Sound, the small house and outbuildings that remain on the southern shore of McMicken were constructed in part using materials hauled across the tombolo in the 1940s. Use of the house is restricted to the original residents by agreement with Washington State Parks, which owns the island. Observant visitors can still see ruts and tire tracks from early activities connecting this shore to nearby Harstine Island—a testament to determination and ingenuity. Extreme caution should be used when approaching the tombolo, to avoid getting stuck on the wrong side or being surprised by a rapidly rising tide.

Humans are not the only creatures to use the tombolo. One night at anchor, Frank and I heard the eerie yipping of coyotes close to our boat. In the morning we noticed a dead fawn on the tombolo, which became submerged at high tide. Even creepier, we spent one October evening on a buoy here reading the novel The Woman in Black—a story about a lawyer trapped by himself on a haunted island when its land connection to the mainland was cut off at high tide. He spent an uncomfortable night tormented by a restless spirit. Fortunately, my experiences at these two state parks have been far sunnier.

These islands represent a small sample of the gems available in the South Sound. Sailors who venture to this corner of the Salish Sea will not be disappointed and, just may discover a few special places of their own.

Staff at Washington State Parks advise checking with the agency’s website for updated information on visiting policies, facilities available, fees, and more: www.parks.state.wa.us/

Please note that the number of buoys at marine parks, as well as access to docks, can change without advance notice.

Lisa Mighetto is a historian and sailor who lives in Seattle (and keeps her boat in Olympia). Her writing has appeared in Pacific Yachting, Cruising World, Sailing Magazine, and other publications.

Image courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.