Tag Archives: Puget Sound

Secrets, seastars and spring tide

There was one other time that my sketching had the benefit of a supermoon. Last summer I spent a morning with some fellow sketchers under the ferry landing in Edmonds, WA. This is one of a few spots along Puget Sound where the tide goes out far enough to expose more than just a strip of beach. You can actually walk under the ferry dock at low tide—but you have to be quick, because it’s a very short time before the pilings are submerged again.

Well, the supermoon took care of that for us, pulling the tide out so far that the clay beds were exposed for several hours.

It also attracted hordes of beachcombers, who added an extra fun element to my drawings. But the real reason we were there was the same for all of us: discovering that the rocks and pilings were just teeming with marine life.

So thanks to the supermoon, I had plenty of time to sketch as much as I pleased—as well as the chance to discover that if you stand there long enough, sooner or later a burrowing clam will squirt your feet with arcs of seawater.

(Note to self: bring galoshes next time.)

Fishlass

You know, Salmon Beach is already a kind of mythical place, the kind of hidden world you read about in nautical legends. So it was completely fitting to follow the boardwalk path around a curve and suddenly find a siren* waiting on the rocks below.

*sculpture by Marilyn Mahoney

Above the clouds

One of my favorite things about living in the Northwest is how everything seems here seems to exist in its own microcosm. How you can be socked in a gray pall, nothing but pearly fog in every direction—unless you find a tall enough hill to climb. As you near the top, the light changes, sun filtering through in rays, until you reach the top—and find a whole different world waiting.

Dusky delta

As much as I love road trips, my hands-down favorite way to get between Tacoma, WA and Portland, OR is by train. Especially along the Puget Sound—where the tracks run literally inches from the shore—the views are absolutely gobsmacking. On this day, I was lucky enough to have a flawlessly sunny afternoon (in April that’s tantamount to a miracle round these parts) for my solo trip, and a return ticket at sunset. And best of all, the lovely conductor at the Portland station saw me sketching in the lobby—when he came to me in the boarding queue, he pointed at my sketchbook, gave me a wink, and assigned me a window seat on the west side of the packed train.

Wherever you are, Mr. Conductor, you completely made my day. Thanks a million.

Sea shanties

Salmon Beach might just be the best-kept secret on Puget Sound. I’d been dying to do a sketch there, and I finally got my chance a few weeks ago. The entire area is private property, and only residents and their guests are allowed. But my friend Ethan lives there, so I asked if he’d be willing to give me a tour. I had no idea that I was in for one of the best adventures I’ve had since I moved to Washington.

Salmon Beach is a neighborhood of 80-odd homes arranged in single file along the shoreline of the Tacoma Narrows. There are only two ways to get there: by boat or by descending (on foot) several hundred wooden steps leading down from the parking lot at the top of the cliff.

The way down is dizzying, and the return trip is a heckuva workout. I’d imagine that if I lived here, I’d learn quickly not to forget my keys in the car.

At the bottom is what feels like a time warp, or some sort of alternate dimension. The residents of Salmon Beach live in their own world, secluded but also open and extremely welcoming. Friendly household pets of every stripe wander around the boardwalk (they don’t run away, because where would they go?), and people greeted me with stories and tips on the best drawing spots.

I was so excited to share their world for an afternoon. Big thanks to Ethan for the grand tour, and to everyone I met that day—it feels so good to be in on the secret.