As you can see, it was not the greatest day for a canoe paddle - but we loaded up, and headed out early Saturday morning. We've had 27 days of solid rain, and we figured it wasn't going to get better.
We had one of the best paddles - ever! Sun-breaks came out, the rain stopped, and the Hood Canal came alive with the sounds of water, dripping from everything - from under exposed cedar roots jutting out over the cliffs, dripping from salal and huckleberry bushes, and from the pink buds of tree branches.
Lovely Madronas straddle the lava boulders that stretch out into the water. I was very surprised to see so much lava, both in chunks and in the pryroclastic flow residue.As we paddled along, we waved to guys suiting up to do some scuba diving. They had their eyes on the oysterbeds, which were all over this area. I was surprised at how clear the water was, given we've had record flooding here. The tide was way up.
We saw Goldeneyes diving down for shellfish, saw a couple bald eagles on a snag over the water. (We were the only people out on the water.)
From the shoreline we could hear the NFL game from some of the cabins - the Seahawks and Washington Redskins. Our daughter called as we drove back through the Hood Canal - she is moving to Washington D.C. and no longer roots for the Seahawks. George told her no one could beat the Seahawks with their league-leading offense. Needless to say Ruhiyyih and George 'hung up the banter' when Mack Strong ran 35 yards in the absense of Shawn Alexander, who was knocked out of the game with a concussion.
