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Thursday, July 24, 2003
Short Trips: Warm waters spawn a hot recreational area
By JEFF LARSEN
SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
The beach at Twanoh State Park on Hood Canal's south shore was packed last Saturday.
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As the temperature hovered in the 80s, hundreds of campers, boaters, beachcombers, shellfish gatherers, even a few sunbathers, soaked up the recreational essence of one of the most popular bodies of water in the state.
Originally named Hood's Canal in 1792 by Capt. George Vancouver, it's actually more a fjord than a canal. Generally canals are man-made waterways rather than natural occurrences like Hood Canal.
Early explorers guessed the Native American population around the canal at more than 35,000. The word twanon (hence Twanoh State Park) is supposedly derived from the Twana tribes, now known as the Skokomish, and means "gathering place."
What helps to make the south shore of the canal so recreationally hospitable is the very warm water -- exceptionally warm by Puget Sound's chilly standards.
The canal actually begins at the Strait of Juan de Fuca and continues south along the base of the Olympic Mountains range. At Union, it makes a sharp turn back slightly north and ends at Belfair, a small town just south of Bremerton. (You'll find Twanoh State Park between Union and Belfair.)
Annas Bay, at the mouth of the Skokomish River, forms the elbow where the canal turns east. At low tide the bay is a haven for a number of bird species, especially the great blue heron and bald eagles. Hundreds of large oyster beds are exposed at low tide. I counted more than 30 great blue herons feeding among the oysters one afternoon.
For most of the past century, and continuing today, the canal -- especially the south shore -- has been a recreational mecca for the Puget Sound region. Hundreds of summer and permanent homes were built on the narrow shore along state Route 106 between Belfair and Union. Some have been handed down from generation to generation. Alderbrook Resort and Robin Hood Village have anchored the lodging market since the 1930s, and the state park continues to gain popularity.
This is the first summer in recent memory that the south shore has managed without the historic Alderbrook Resort, currently under redevelopment. State Route 106 is being rerouted by the new owners to facilitate what eventually will become a state-of-the-art, world-class destination hotel and spa. Demolition of parts of the old resort and construction and remodeling for the "new" Alderbrook Resort and Spa is in full swing.
Last summer, optimistic Alderbrook owners told me they wanted to reopen the resort sometime this summer -- by Labor Day weekend at the latest. Last week resort spokesman Gary Oliver told me plans now are to officially open the resort during the July 4 holiday next year. Oliver also told me that a huge party is in the works for the grand opening. The highway reroute is expected to be completed by this coming October.
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 | Jeff Larsen / Special to the P-I | |
| A harbor seal pokes out of the water near the mouth of the Skokomish River, a favorite high-tide hunting spot for the native seals. | ||
In traditional Northwest fashion, a number of large cedar trees harvested on Alderbrook property to make way for the highway reroute are being milled to be used in construction of the new facility.
In the interest of tourism, Oliver also said that after the dust settles, the historic Dalby Waterwheel, a landmark part of the community along state Route 106 since the 1930s, will remain in tact and accessible for tourists from the rerouted highway.
Meanwhile, it's business as usual on the south shore this summer, including the Alderbrook Golf and Yacht club. General manager Brady Hatfield said the 18-hole golf course, situated on the hill overlooking the canal adjacent to Alderbrook Resort property, is always open to the public and will remain open to the public even after redevelopment of the resort is completed. Hatfield stressed that the golf course is open to the public during resort construction as well.
Blake and Corinne Caldwell, owners of Robin Hood Restaurant, Pub and Oyster Bar, have kicked up the south shore dining experience a notch since they opened two years ago. The Seattle transplants planted their own herb garden behind the restaurant, and they cook only with hormone-free meat, organic produce and wild salmon.
Simple and to the point, Blake's Big Burger ($10) topped with a giant slice of a Walla Walla Sweet onion, served with hand-cut fries, is about as hearty as a hamburger can get. The Lamb Meatloaf ($18.99) served with buttered grits, tomato jam and rosemary jus, also is a house favorite.
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| Jeff Larsen / Special to the P-I | |
| Dalby Creek waterwheel in Union, a landmark part of the community along state Route 106 since the 1930s, will remain intact and accessible for tourists from the rerouted highway. | ||
The pub -- along with the restaurant and oyster bar are part of the Robin Hood Village resort complex -- features local microbrews and offers the same menu as the restaurant. Corinne said they also try to showcase local musical talent whenever they can and support artists who play original music.
Robin Hood Village manager Brenda Larmay told me she jokingly calls village owner Bill Woodcock the "Chicken Whisperer" because of how well he gets along with the 35 or so chickens that lay the eggs she sells in the village liquor store. Woodcock also grows a variety of vegetables in his home garden, some of which he gives away to liquor store customers.
Besides the liquor store, the 70-year-old village incorporates 12 full RV hookups that include water, garbage, sewer and cable television, a mobile home park, four cottages, several camping areas, a coin laundry, sauna and five more RV hookups across the highway closer to the canal. Volunteer firefighter and entrepreneur Jamie Howe, operates the Timber Doodle espresso stand -- a popular morning stop directly across Route 106 from Robin Hood Village.
As he gave me a tour of his property, Bill Hunter, patriarch of Hunter Farms, a south canal family-owned business since the late 1800s, stopped and sadly peered into an empty pheasant cage in the barn behind his general store. Almost as if there had been a death in the family, he told me that the night before a weasel had slipped into the cage and killed all of his pheasants. In the same barn, Hunter houses goats, an emu, a llama, ducks, chickens, rabbits and one aging reindeer.
At first blush, Hunter Farms might look like a tidy, backwoods, country store on Route 106 that just sells any produce in season. In fact, Hunter Farms covers more than 2,400 acres in and around the Skokomish River valley and is a multifaceted enterprise.
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| Jeff Larsen / Special to the P-I | |
| The dock at Twanoh State Park in Union is a good place for an early-morning bike ride. | ||
Besides the busy general store, the farm is in the cattle, timber, hay and feed, greenhouse flower, Christmas tree and pumpkin businesses. Hunter is probably best known in Seattle for the Christmas tree retail business he has operated on his property in the Wedgwood district in the northeast part of the city for the past 50 years. During pumpkin harvest in October, his south Hood Canal farm comes alive with free hay rides for kids and just about any other fall or Halloween activity you can think of.
A frisky harbor seal poked its whiskered snout out of the water to get a better look at two kayakers gliding through the calm waters near the mouth of the Skokomish River, a favorite high-tide hunting spot for the native seals. An Osprey swooped low over the water looking for prey. Except for birds, there was hardly a sound on the water that morning.
Mark and Hannah Machacek recently started up a little kayak rental business called Kayak Hood Canal at the very tidy Hood Canal Marina in Union next to the public boat launch. Visitors can rent kayaks to experience the canal in a much different way than in a car or large boat. They rent recreational-style kayaks that are much wider than traditional kayaks, thus much easier to handle for beginners. They even may rent what's called "fat jack," an extra-wide, 14-foot-long two-seater.
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After a morning on the water, kayakers can dash across the highway to Kirk Chafe's Union Country Store for a deli sandwich, coffee, soft drink, latte or ice cream cone. A fitting finish to a perfect day on the south shore of Hood Canal.
Popularity taxes ecology
Along with the south shore's increasing recreational popularity have come some serious ecological problems. Last fall state officials declared the south part of the canal a "dead zone."
For the first time, the state halted all fishing except for salmon because of low oxygen levels -- levels low enough to make it difficult for fish to survive and low enough to suffocate other aquatic creatures. Plankton, which grows more rapidly because of human pollution, absorbs all the oxygen in the water after it dies and begins to decay.
A sad portent -- oxygen levels in the canal are even lower this month than the same time last year.
Also this month, the state Department of Health's early-warning system identified Annas Bay as a threatened oyster and shellfish area because of deteriorating water quality in the Skokomish River and the canal itself. The department said human contamination from aging septic systems is partly to blame, along with farm animal and wildlife waste. If conditions get any worse, the state said it could be forced to shut down shellfish harvesting in that part of the canal.
The Washington State Department of Ecology says the water quality in other parts of the south canal is getting increasingly worse as well.
It's not a cheery picture, and it's an environmental issue that visitors should be aware of, since the canal is such an extraordinary recreational resource. The canal just needs to be pampered and cared for, so future generations will be able to enjoy it and the state won't be forced to put the waterway off limits to try to save it.
On the brighter side, Alderbrook Resort, under extensive redevelopment after it was closed last fall by its new owners, will continue to operate its own waste treatment facility and it plans to rehabilitate a salmon-spawning stream on the property.
-- Jeff Larsen
Kayak Hood Canal -- 5101 E. state Route 106, Union; 360-898-5925; hours: daily 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; www.kayakhoodcanal.com
Robin Hood Restaurant, Pub and Oyster Bar -- 6790 state Route 106, Union; 360-898-4400; hours: pub, daily noon-9 p.m. (food service), will stay open later if busy; restaurant, Thursday-Sunday, 5 p.m.-9 p.m., reservations recommended.
Robin Hood Village -- 6780 E. state Route 106, Union; 360-898-2163; www.robinhoodvillage.com
Hunter Farms -- 1921 E. state Route 106, Union; 360-426-2222, 360-898-2222; general store hours: daily 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; www.hunter-farms.com.
More headlines and info from Bremerton, Port Orchard.
P-I photographer Jeff Larsen can be reached via e-mail at shorttrips@jefflarsen.com.
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