The glories of Hood Canal - includes related articles on food offerings, Victoria's restaurant, Union Country Store and a list of tourist attractions

Sunset, April, 1997 by Jim McCausland

Washington's best-kept secret is a peaceful fjord on the eastern flank of the Olympics

When George Vancouver sailed into Hood Canal in the spring of 1792, wild rhododendrons and dogwoods dappled forest edges with pink and white flowers; rivers and streams poured into the glacial fjord from all sides; and abundant fish, oysters, and spot prawns filled with the water beneath Captain Vancouver's yawl.

Backed by the snowcapped Olympic Mountains, the canal appeared magnificent, even to a crew that had just sailed the HMS Discovery up from Tahiti and Hawaii. But it was the quiet that impressed Vancouver most: he wrote about the channel's "pristine stillness," and how nature's "awful silence was only now and then interrupted by the croaking of a raven, the breathing of a seal, or the scream of an eagle."

Vancouver saw the 62-mile-long canal in a week by water. You can probably see it in a weekend by land, but the stillness remains, as do the sounds of raven, seal, and eagle. You can feel its peace in a spring shower, which may catch you quietly nursing a cup of coffee under a cedar-shingled shelter at a state beach, or in the evening, when a rim of pale sky backlights the Olympics, leaving the canal itself as black as a sea of ink. But mostly, though, like Captain Vancouver, you'll feel Hood Canal in your soul.

The Olympic Mountains, lit by a setting sun, seen from Alderbrook Resort on Hood Canal's south shore.

A tasting tour of Washington's grand canal

From smoked fish to smokin'-hot pizza, Hood Canal is a food lover's paradise

GRAZING THE WEST SHORE

Fresh oysters, crabs, and other shellfish are for sale everywhere along the canal's west shore; even small grocery stores have them. That abundance attests to the canal's purity - you can't harvest oysters from polluted waters.

Native people have been smoking fish for centuries, so it's no surprise that some of the best kipper and lox on the canal can be found at Joan's Smoked Salmon, owned and operated by Skokomish native Joan Pell. Taught by her grandmother, Pell smokes steelhead, ocean-caught salmon (whose meat is much firmer than river-caught fish), and oysters, all vacuum-packed for sale out of her home's kitchen. You'll find her between mileposts 336 and 337 on U.S. Highway 101, near Potlatch at the north end of the Skokomish Reservation; 20031 N. Highway 101, (360) 877-6737.

Or you can buy seafood direct from growers. For selection, it's hard to beat Hama Hama Company (on the south bank of the Hamma Hamma River in Eldon). Sandwiched between U.S. 101 and beds of Pacific oysters and Manila clams, this old family-run operation offers an assortment of fresh and smoked seafood, and fresh bread and cheese from time to time. Open 9 to 5:30 daily; N. 35959 Highway 101, 877-5890.

In Quilcene, Hood Canal Seafood Marketplace sells fresh clams and local Pacific oysters. It also offers pickled fish and Dungeness crab (both local and Alaskan stocks). Open 10 to 7 daily; 294963 Highway 101, 765-4880.

Despite its reputation for healthful seafood, the canal isn't without a few places for good old-fashioned (and tasty) calories. Locals frequent the Seabeck Pizza stand in the marina store at Pleasant Harbor. While your pizza is baking, you can watch the yachts in the marina; 308913 Highway 101, 7964611. Back up in Quilcene is the Timber House, which serves a fine prime rib for $17.95 on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, in addition to its logical specialty, oysters; 295534 Highway 101 S., 765-3339. And in Hoodsport, at milepost 332, is Hoodsport Winery, which offers a local vintage made from 'Island Belle' grapes, and raspberry-wine truffles; N. 23501 Highway 101, 877-9894.

Off-road adventures

Vancouver sailed and you'll drive, but don't miss the chance to get out of the car and stretch your legs

State and county parks, national forests, and fiver delta trails (at Dosewallips State Park, for example) offer hikes throughout Hood Canal. But three hikes - one at each end of the canal, and the third on the south shore - are standouts.

FOULWEATHER BLUFF NATURE PRESERVE

* Where: From the Hansville Fire Station at the north end of the Kitsap Peninsula, take Twin Spits Road N.E. west 2 3/4 miles to parking on the road's shoulder just beyond a salt marsh (look for signs reading "No Parking Dusk to Dawn"). Just down the trail here, a sign identifies the preserve.

* Distance: It's an easy, 10-minute walk to the canal.

* Description: Foulweather Bluff Nature Preserve is a 100-acre sanctuary owned by the Nature Conservancy. Though there's no public access to Tala Point or Foulweather Bluff proper, you can hike to a beautiful, little-known beach just inside the mouth of Hood Canal.

As you take the trail to the canal, winter wrens scold you from the underbrush, and ruby-crowned kinglets call out from high in the trees. Herons, buffleheads, and kingfishers patrol the brackish marsh, eagles and hawks soar overhead, and flickers cry out from the forest atop the bluff. A broad sandy beach edges Hood Canal itself. Look beyond the shore-side gulls out to the salt water, where you'll see rafts of loons, mergansers, grebes, and goldeneyes floating as far as you can see. And beyond them, the Olympics anchor the western horizon. No clamming, fires, or dogs are allowed.