A Scenic Drive along the Hood Canal

On June 4, 2020June 4, 2020 By The View from a DrawbridgeIn Nature, Observation, TravelLeave a comment

The first thing that you need to know about the Hood Canal, which is a body of water that lies between the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas here in Washington State, is that it isn’t a canal in the strict sense of the word. It’s not an artificial waterway. Far from it. It’s actually a fjord that was created 13,000 years ago by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet.

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The hood Canal is part of Puget Sound as well as being part of the Salish Sea. Recently I had the pleasure of riding along its westernmost shoreline for about 50 miles. It was idyllically rural, following the natural coastline with forested hills on one side and the waterway on the other, though the occasional one intersection town. If I had all the money in the world to play with, I’d love to retire to one of the waterfront homes there and watch the orcas swim by.

We started off on the north end of the canal, crossing the Hood Canal Bridge. We stopped in the community of Quilcene to pay a socially distant visit to a friend who recently bought a retirement home out there. This little community has a population of about 600, mostly nestled deep in the woods, with gorgeous views of Quilcene Bay. On a good day, you can see Mt. Rainier off in the distance. I left, wishing this friend would adopt me.

The booming metropolis boasts a brewery that apparently makes phenomenal wood fired pizza, but thanks to the pandemic, it’s only open for a few days a week for takeout, and we weren’t there on one of those lucky days. So on we went, to explore the canal.

The Hood Canal is 177 feet deep, and has an average width of one and a half miles. Its surface area is nearly 150 square miles. The natural beauty there is beyond words. Unfortunately, due to humans, the canal has suffered from a number of algae blooms due to lack of oxygen in the water. Much of this is the fault of septic tank run off and global warming. But on the day we were there, the water was crystal clear.

Many of the rivers that flow into the canal have typical Pacific Northwest names. Skokomish. Hamma Hamma. Duckabush. Dosewallips. Tahuya. Dewatto. Just traversing this area makes one feel poetic.

It was a glorious drive on a glorious day. I’m so happy to live in such an intensely varied and beautiful state! Here are some pictures we took during our ramble. Enjoy!

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The Hood Canal Bridge

On June 2, 2020May 30, 2020 By The View from a DrawbridgeIn Drawbridges, Observation, Travel3 Comments

As a bridgetender, whenever my travels take me anywhere near a movable bridge, I have to check it out. And the Hood Canal Bridge, which connects the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas in Washington state, is a unique bridge indeed, with an interesting history. The entire bridge is 7,869 feet long, and 6,521 feet of that floats. It’s the third longest floating bridge in the world, and the longest one located in a saltwater tidal basin.

The reason it was made a floating bridge is that the water depth ranges from 80 to 340 feet, and therefore support columns would have cost a fortune. Not that this bridge has been cheap by any means. The floating design has always been controversial because the tide difference averages 16.5 feet, and the wind, weather and current in the area can be rather severe.

The bridge first opened to traffic in 1961, and did well, until February 13, 1979. That’s when a disastrous windstorm with sustained winds of 85 mph and gusts up to 120mph hit the bridge broadside. The bridge was closed to traffic, and drawspan sections of the bridge were left open to reduce water pressure, but the western half of the bridge broke loose and sank. Fortunately the bridge crew and all members of the traveling public were off the bridge by then, so there were no casualties.

It took nearly 4 years to replace the span, and during that time, people either had to take a 50 mile detour or ride the hastily reestablished ferry system. The ferry took some time to set back up as the state had to reacquire the land and build the needed infrastructure. The bridge replacement cost 143 million dollars.

They then replaced other portions of the bridge from 2003 to 2009 to the tune of 471 million dollars. The pontoons and anchors for the bridge were built off site, and they had to relocate that site after two weeks when it was discovered that they had uncovered an ancestral burial ground belonging to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Not only did they have to purchase new land and relocate, but they had to rebury all the remains that had been uncovered and pay the tribe 2.5 million dollars in damages.

What interests me in particular about this bridge is the movable span. It is one of the few movable bridge designs that I’ve never had the opportunity to operate. I would love to!

The hood canal bridge doesn’t open very often. You have to make an appointment at least an hour in advance to get it to do so. And then, it’s a fascinating process. Check out this video if you’d like to watch an opening with an explanation. And here’s an explanation from WSDOT (Washington State Department of Transportation:

How long does it take to open and close the Hood Canal Bridge?

The length of time it takes to open and close the Hood Canal Bridge for a marine opening can vary from about ten minutes to 45 minutes.

To open the bridge to allow marine traffic to pass (as required by the Coast Guard), WSDOT has three spans on each side that are hydraulically raised. Once they are raised, the floating spans can be retracted back under those spans to provide the opening. Depending on what type of vessel is passing through, WSDOT may only have to retract one side of the span. If it is a sail boat that darts through, we will only open one side and it will take less time for traffic to get moving again.

Submarines and the support vessels that accompany them take longer and require both sides to be retracted. Submarines are not very maneuverable on top of the water and they will request the opening early. Ahead of the submarine will be smaller escort vessels that cross through first and then the submarine. As soon as all the vessels are through, the operator will start the closure of the two 300-feet floating spans moving towards each other. These are massive and take time to get moving and then slow down until they are together and locked. A crew member verifies that the lock is engaged, and then the three spans on each end of the opening that were raised up for the opening, these will be lowered back down. Once they are in place, the gates can be opened to vehicle traffic.

If there are any malfunctions in the system, the process will take longer. There have been times when cars would not start after they stopped for the bridge opening. This can also cause a delay in the time to clear traffic.

You can read a lot more interesting questions and answers about the hood canal bridge here. It also includes a link to live traffic cameras if you’d like to see what’s going on right this minute. Meanwhile, here are some of the pictures I took while crossing this fascinating bridge. I hope you get to cross it, too, someday.

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Find Your Folklore

On April 12, 2016April 11, 2016 By The View from a DrawbridgeIn My Jacksonville to Seattle Do Over, Observation4 Comments

Recently I had the privilege of hearing a local Native American Storyteller. Roger Fernandes is a member of the Lower Elwha Band of S’Klallam Indians, which is a tribe here in Washington state on the Olympic Peninsula. This was my first experience of this type, and now I’m longing for more.

I love storytelling. Not only did Roger tell myths and legends of the Coast Salish tribes, but he lead a fascinating discussion about what these stories had to teach the people of the past as well as how they are still relevant today. Folklore, after all, are the first lessons ever planned by humans, and storytellers were the first teachers. Roger often accompanied these stories with singing and drums, so I could imagine hearing them around a campfire, long before city lights blotted out the night sky.

At one point he spoke about how many of these old stories talk about basic truths, and because of that you can often find similar stories popping up in various cultures throughout the world. To demonstrate this, he told one story that originated with the Coast Salish people, and then told another one that came from Africa, and they were shockingly identical.

He encouraged each of us to look up the folklore of our ancestors, and search for the universal truths within these stories. I plan to do just that. I also plan to closely follow Northwest Heritage Resources, the organization that sponsored this event. They host cultural events of people from all over the world, and I have no doubt that I will enjoy many more evenings like this, thanks to them. Expect to hear about these experiences in future blog entries.

Roger Fernandes [Image credit: Northwest Heritage Resources]