Blind Bay, Shaw Island

July 30, 2020. We’re on our way to Waldron but hiding out here in Blind Bay waiting for a south wind to blow through. We counted 42 boats when we came in but boats are continually coming and going. This is the sort of place we generally avoid. The Harvey equivalent would be spending the night in a casino parking lot. One nice thing was a lady sitting on the bow of her boat playing a flute. That was lovely. We are right next to the ferry dock on Shaw and directly across from the ferry dock on Orcas. You’d think there would be terrible ferry wakes but there aren’t. Maybe because the entrance here is surrounded by rocks and the ferries are going very slow when docking. In any case, it’s a safe harbor. Off to Waldron tomorrow.

Griffin Bay, San Juan Island

July 23, 2020. On July 15 we motored through Cattle Pass and anchored in Griffin Bay which is inside the hook at the bottom of San Juan Island. Cattle Pass is full of whirlpools and tide rips even at slack, which lasts about 3 seconds! By the next morning there were 5 foot waves out in the strait so, even though our crossing was a bit rough, we got through a narrow window of not-quite-so-rough! We were grateful to be out of that, safely tucked behind San Juan Is. We stayed in Griffin Bay four days. At the southern tip of San Juan Island is San Juan National Historical Park. Here you will find the “American Camp.” The “English Camp” is further north up Haro Strait. We visited the English Camp on our return from Canada last fall. San Juan Island was a hotly-contested piece of real estate back in the day and was divided between the US and Canada with the US in the American Camp and the Canadians in the English Camp. There was a small war fought that somehow involved a pig. Don’t ask us, google it.

Anyway, we had fun on the trails around the American Camp:

Backtracking (Pt. Gamble, Pt. Hadlock, Kilisut Harbor)

June 28, 2020. On June 20 we went back under the Hood Canal bridge to Gamble Bay and stayed for four days relaxing and hiking the trails. We found a trail to a beaver pond but didn’t see any beavers. By the 24th of June the grocery situation was getting dire as there were only Mom & Pop groceries within walking distance along the entire Hood Canal and none had organic. So we left Gamble and went to Port Hadlock, got groceries then went north a few miles to drop anchor for the night just south of Port Townsend. We were heading back to Kilisut Harbor but we were tired and the tides weren’t quite right for navigating that difficult entrance (the narrow, shallow, winding one). That turned out to be a mistake as we had rollers coming in from the Strait all night hitting us sideways and we woke to pea soup fog. We ended up navigating the difficult channel in the fog. All was good until we came upon a sailboat anchored in the middle of the channel! Wtf were they thinking? That would be like parking Harvey in the middle of the road for the night in the fog!!! But anyway we made it to our favorite spot which is a niche in Indian Island.

Indian Island is all military and people are not allowed on shore but it’s out of the way and very peaceful. Lot’s of eagles, pigeon guillemots and seals to entertain us along with reveille in the morning and taps at sundown. We tried putting our electric motor on the dinghy to go the 3 nautical miles up the bay to Fort Flagler so we could walk around but the wind came up and we turned back. After four days we had to get off the boat so today we motored up and anchored near the Fort to go for a walk.

We don’t quite know what to do with ourselves. It’s quiet and peaceful here with few other boats. We’re thinking of hanging out between Gamble and Killisut for a couple more weeks. Why leave a good thing? These anchorages are well-protected from all winds. We’ll have to stop at a marina soon for fuel and laundry, probably Port Ludlow. The San Juans are probably more crowded and the county is not exactly welcoming these days.

Triton Cove, Hood Canal

June 15, 2020. Still hiding from the south wind, we ventured further south. We stopped at Right Smart Cove because there is a general store, but it was a bust. We traveled further south to hide behind another little bight in Triton Cove. Here is Triton Cove State Park which is basically a postage stamp with a boat ramp and a few picnic tables. There are a bunch of houses in the cove and hwy 101 skirting it so we thought it wouldn’t be so great but it’s turned out nice. Only one porch light and we can hardly hear the traffic. We can’t figure this out because we heard quite a lot of traffic noise in Gamble Bay but the road was further away and there were more trees!

There are many eagles here. We’ve been watching them dive for fish and try to take them away from each other in flight. They’re practically dive-bombing Calliope. We have seen less of other water birds around here and few other creatures.

Turned out that today was another open shrimping day. There has been a steady stream of mosquito boats at the boat ramp, starting at 5 A.M. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to settle and we plan to go to Hoodsport for groceries.

Grayland Beach State Park, Grayland, WA

Sunday, January 5. We headed north from Cape Disappointment and stopped at Grayland for a week, staying through New Years. We only had one spotty bar on Roger so I waited to update this blog. We are now further north at Pacific Beach State Park with a whopping 3 bars, so I’m glad I waited. Grayland is pretty gray. It rained pretty much the whole time we were there. The campground is in the trees next to the ocean. You can hear, but not see, the ocean. It was a long slog through the marsh to get to the beach so, instead we rode our bikes through a bunch of cranberry bogs to get there. Right now we are parked right next to the beach and can sit in Harvey watching the waves break.

Bastendorf and Boice-Cope County Parks, Coos County, OR

Wednesday, December 11. We stayed one night at Bastendorf County Park on the ocean just south of Coos Bay, then headed further south to Boice-Cope County Park in Langlois, OR. Boice-Cope is on Floras Lake which is adjacent to the ocean. Floras Lake is a popular kite surfing spot, though there aren’t any here now. It’s been raining and windy the last few days. This area gets about 11 inches of rain in December and we think it’s true!

Flores Lake, Pacific Ocean waves crashing in the gap.

We hiked over to the beach and the waves were really crashing.

Oregon Coast between Waldport and Florence

We stayed at Tillicum Beach for a week and really enjoyed sleeping to the sound of surf every night. We drove around between Waldport and Florence looking at property and seeing the sights. Here are some of the things we saw:

Spouting Horn at Cook’s Chasm. The water has undercut the rock forming a cave. In storms and high tide, the waves roll in, hit the cave and water shoots straight up.

Crystal Crane Hot Springs

Sunday, November 24. So, we are trying to hit every hot spring we can find between Idaho and the coast. There are many. This one is sort of a rustic resort with cabins and Harvy hookups. We are taking the opportunity to do some laundry while soaking in the pool. This one is a very large outdoor pool with a fountain and hot water coming in on one side. For cooler water you only have to move to the other side. The bottom is gravel and the water is neck-deep in the middle. Awesome.

Crystal Crane Hot Pool. Duck pond at the back.

The water coming out of the tank in the back is VERY hot. The fountain in the foreground is pleasant and gives a nice “massage”.

You can rent a room, a small cottage or one of these teepees.

Horseshoe Bend, Malheur River, OR

November 23. We spent two days at Horseshoe Bend on the Malheur River near Juntura OR off of Hwy. 20. It’s a serious loop in the river, more than a horseshoe (see satellite pic below). At the middle of the loop the river splits and goes around both sides of a small island. On the island are three hot pools. The road to the island was gnarly and Captain Alan refused to go more than halfway. This left about a quarter mile hike to the island. The river was low enough that we could walk across the rocks without having to get our tootsies in the icy water. The pools were divine! The largest was also the coolest, getting hotter as they got smaller and closer to the river. I hopped in the river once, but Alan was having none of that.

The smallest hot pool at Horseshoe Bend.

The middle hot pool. This one was the hottest.

Old Fort Boise, Snake River ID

Thursday, November 21. We left our perch at Swan Falls earlier than planned because the wind came up and it was a tad uncomfortable. We stopped one night at Givens Hot Springs. The RV park was unremarkable, but the pool was divine! Been awhile since we totally immersed ourselves in water. We went in twice for over an hour each time. Aaaahhhhh.

On our way to the hot springs, we saw these guys:

Bull. Note testicles in a wire sack. Hair is colored electrical wires. Seen on Hwy. 78, Idaho.

We only spent one night at the hot springs because the park was right off the highway and there was a lot of road noise. Next stop is this Old Fort Boise park. We are parked about 5 feet from the river. There are several duck ponds here and lots of duck hunters.

Sunset on the Snake River, Old Fort Boise.