Eglon Beach to Point No Point - Trip #20

Views of Point No Point and the beach between the PNP Lighthouse and Eglon Beach. Trip #20 in the book.

The point is a glimpse of what West Point and other low points around the Sound looked like prior to being developed.  Lots of history there.

I paddled it during the Seventy48 Race last year. Beautiful mostly undeveloped beach worth checking out.  Fun tide-rips off PNP.

I ended my Seventy48 race at the point realizing I'd rather be enjoying the beach vs trudging on for last 20 miles (had already done 50 in less than 24hrs).

Access via Eglon Beach or PNP. No legal camping in there but lots of great guerilla spots.

Get a burger and shake at Hansgrille at Hansville just beyond the point. Fun local scene there.

Photos from the web.

Rob Casey is author of Kayaking Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands, 60 Trips and Stand Up Paddling Flat Water to Surf and Rivers, both by Mountaineers Books.  He owns Salmon Bay Paddle a SUP school in Seattle.  Get in touch: rob@salmonbaypaddle.com

Blake Island, Trip #12

Located in the heart of middle Puget Sound, Blake Island State Park is easily accessible from several put-ins.  Paddlers can choose between super easy short paddling distances to much longer trips depending on their skill level or time available for a trip.  

During the first weekend in September (2012), my partner Christy and I had little time to escape work thus chose the shortest paddle to the island from the Southworth ferry terminal.   While it did require taking the Vashon-Southworth ferry from Seattle, the paddle to the island from Southworth was about a mile.  

Other access points to Blake:

- Southworth Ferry Terminal, 1 mile.  

- Vashon Island ferry terminal, 1.5 miles.

- Manchester, about 2 miles. 

- Fort Ward Park on Bainbridge, approx 2-3 miles.

- Fauntelroy (West Seattle) ferry dock, approx 4 miles.

- Ballard (neighborhood in Seattle), 8 miles.  

Blake can feel like it's isolated and far away from the city on one trip, while on the other you may feel like you're camping in a city park.  During the trip above, it was a hot weekend so we had a regular stream of island hikers walking through or by our site and canoeists and boaters drifting by.  One guy even tried to buy a cup of coffee from me for $10. I thought he was kidding but later found out he was serious!  The best way to avoid crowds is to go on weekdays in summer or 'off seasons'. 

Raccoons can be problematic but the State Park recently installed metal raccoon boxes to store your food which we found quite useful.  

There's three campsites for paddlers on the island.  The WWTA Cascadia Marine Trail site is on the NW side, the 'primitive' site on the south side (our favorite), and in Tilikum Village on the northeast side. There's a great surf break there south of the marina for freighter and wind waves.  I surfed it one day for 1 hour scoring on waist high peelers. 

'Primitive' Site on the south side.

Shot with an Oregon Scientific ATC9K.