Coastal Defense on Puget Sound

Above Elwha River mouth.

In the late 70's I was a student at Marrowstone Music Camp then located at Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island. Since it was summer, playing my cello all day didn't necessarily appeal to me, so my friends and I and others snuck away to hide from our instructors in the park's numerous World War 1 era coastal defense bunkers.  We knew where every searchlight bunker, observatory pillbox and gun battery was.  There were even rumors of a closed tunnel that extended across the park, which in years since we found didn't exist. At the time the park was in poor condition and most of the emplacements were overgrown yet open entirely, whereas since many doorways, slits, and ladder entries have been welded shut.

This introduction led me in my youth to an interest in local coastal defense emplacements. I researched and old blueprints dating to the late 1890's and locations of most of the emplacements throughout Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and near Cape Flattery.

The first emplacement was Civil War era and located next to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse on the Columbia River mouth. The next series were constructed for the Spanish American War in 1898.  These includes the extensive forts in Puget Sound such a Fort Flagler, Worden, Casey, and a few on Rich Passage.  There's even a gun battery on Goat Island near La Connor.  The final stage was built to keep the Japanese away during World War 2. In all the above cases, history progressed to where each were outdated soon after their completion.  The 18" wide diameter muzzle cannon at Salt Creek Rec Area west of Port Angeles was fired only once, then was scrapped.

Fort Casey St Park, Whidbey Island.

Not all are mapped or easily found. There's several observatory pill boxes along the length of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Kayakers have found a mysterious iron door attached to a rock face west of Agate Point (Crescent Beach).  Our favorite emplacement, Battery Lee at Fort Flagler is falling off the cliff just above the Marrowstone Light House.  Much of it's lower searchlight rooms are on the beach.  The bunker was three levels with ladders going through vertical tunnels to each level. Perfect for hiding from music instructors!

Salt Creek Rec Area. WW2 Era.

Fort Casey, Whidbey Island.

Fort Ebey, Whidbey island.

Learn more about my book Kayaking Puget Sound and the San Juans, 60 Trips. I also offer SUP and Kayak lessons available throughout the year at Salmon Bay Paddle. Questions about paddling on the Salish Sea, give me a holler anytime at salmonbaypaddle@gmail.com or 206-465-7167

Support the Washington Water Trails Association and the Cascadia Marine Trail. The wwta works to create and protect access for paddlers on Puget Sound as well as provide an extensive network of over 60 paddle-in camping sites - www.wwta.org

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.