To The Hood
Hood Canal. If you’re not from around here (the Pacific Northwest) you have no idea where in the world Hood Canal is. Technically, it’s a fjord branch of Puget Sound, or the greater Salish Sea of Washington State that includes the San Juan Islands and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
I had a great many friends whose families had summer homes along Hood Canal. Occasionally, I would venture over on invitation, but mostly I kept to my own little bit of paradise along the West Seattle Puget Sound waterfront, where I grew up. Hood Canal housed a lot of my friends, but I already had a waterfront community built-in to where I lived. There was no need to go anywhere else.
It was natural I only ventured to Hood Canal a few times while growing up. Still, it is a beautiful place with a rural magic all its own. So, on a gorgeous end of October day we chose to drive the Aston over the Narrows, through Gig Harbor on SR16 and into the depths of the Kitsap Peninsula along SR302 on our way through the likes of Purdy, and along the Hood Canal along SR106.
We cruise past Sunset Beach on the south shore, enjoying the leisurely curves of this little two-lane road that’s hard up against the homes hugging the shoreline. In the early morning stillness the water is completely flat. Nary a ripple disturbs the deep blue water under a cloudless sky. We can’t resist a stop at little Twanoh State Park where the beach is piled high with oyster shells. It’s cool, but once you’re out of the long shadows the sun’s radiant heat makes it comfortable without a parka. A perfect, crisp, sunny autumn day.
Back on the road, we cruise past the Chateau Schafer, the beautiful Harmony Hill Retreat, closely followed by the stylishly rustic Alderbrook Resort, still a very nice destination complete with a golf course set upon the hill across the road. Into Union, we cross around the ‘Big Bend,’ where the canal turns almost a 180, going from NE/SW to true North/South and on to its mouth some 50 miles north at Foulweather Bluff. A mix of eclectic Anglo-Saxon and Indian names follow up the shoreline from Tahuya, where the famous US101 intersects at Skokomish. The 101 beautifully and rhythmically tracks its way through Potlatch, Hoodsport, past the cutoff to Lake Cushman, Lilliwap, and on to other Olympic Peninsula highlights like the Duckabush, Dosewallips, and Hama Hama rivers.
We are stopping for lunch at the Hama Hama Oysterhouse for some of their very tasty, famous oysters. Only grown and harvested here on Hood Canal, Hama Hama’s are renowned for their smaller size and sweet, flavorful palette. They’re one of my favorite oysters. The Hama Hama Oyster Company is a 100 year old, 6th generation oyster harvesting company. This place has got tradition, atmosphere and great oysters goin’ on. It’s classic, old school rustic in the best Olympic Peninsula tradition. No one’s going to baby you here; you better come prepared with a dose of self-dependence and a hardy attitude. Around here it’s hard work that earns respect.
While we’re on the subject, Hood Canal is a treasure trove for oysters; they grow everywhere here in the shallow, relatively calm waters that are fed with a brackish mix of fresh mountain spring water and Salish Sea saltiness. Both wild and farmed oysters grow here. These intertidal delicacies fall into varieties found up and down the Canal. Dosewallips, Fjordlux, Hama Hama, Dabob Bay, Sun Hollow, Deer Creek, Olympia, Baywater Sweet, Quilcene, and Blue Pool are just some of the many species found in this special body of water.
Our lunch highlight over and our bellies satisfied, we bid farewell to this little mecca of the PNW, fall into the Aston’s plush leather seats, and reluctantly begin our journey back to traffic and ‘civilization’ (I use the term loosely). Buoyed by the thought of returning, we cruise home daydreaming of our next day at the Canal. Oh, yes….
