South Sound's sweetest paddle takes you to a place called Hope

SHELTON -- Hammersley Inlet is the narrowest of the glacially carved waterways that curl around south Puget Sound like the gnarled fingers of a witch, funneling and propelling the tides to create what local kayakers call the "Shelton shuttle."

You can ride the rippling currents from Shelton seven miles out to the Sound, past forested green bluffs through seal-rich eddies and otter-visited coves. Then wait for the tide to turn and you can catch the briny currents of the flood back.

The water here gets cooking, up to 4 knots as it squeezes through narrows at Skookum Point and Cape Horn, and safety-conscious kayakers get the chance to play in the current and sharpen their paddling chops.

But the best thing about this trip is conifer-crowned and uninhabited Hope Island, just off the inlet's entrance. A marine state park, it provides the perfect turnaround point, a place to stop and stretch the legs, enjoy a snack or spend the night.

This is one of the classic paddles of Puget Sound; most seasoned Washington sea kayakers eventually scratch this off their lists.

"The Hammersley Inlet/Hope Island paddle we consider our signature paddle," says Gerry Hodge, a member of the South Sound Area Kayakers club. "You can do 16 miles for the cost of nine. We always time it so we have at least a 3-knot current pushing us out and a slightly lower current bringing us home, so it's downhill both ways."

PAUL JOSEPH BROWN / P-I

Niko French Nakai fishes just off the beach of Hope Island, a nearly uninhabited island in Hammersley Inlet.

Paddling here also provides an intriguing introduction to the intricate but often overlooked waterways of the South Sound. The San Juan Islands deservedly grab most of the paddle splash in Washington, but there are thousands of miles of inland marine shore elsewhere worth exploring.

Hope Island is also a stop on the 140-mile Cascadia Marine Trail, the federal- and state-sanctioned paddle route between Olympia and the San Juans, with a designated trail campsite tucked into the trees near shore and reserved for paddlers or rowers. There are also eight standard campsites on the island.

And so it was a logical destination for the Getaways paddle crew, which launched at Walker County Park just east of Shelton on a fine recent morning right before slack tide, winds calm and seas flatter than a platter. Hammersley Inlet was missed during the 1792 explorations by Lt. Peter Puget -- it doesn't take a celestial navigator to figure out his claim to fame -- but it hasn't been overlooked by the region's current inhabitants, with homes lining both shores.

We paddled leisurely for the next two-plus miles before rounding Skookum Point, the ebb gaining speed as we went. Somewhere in the eddies behind Skookum and Libby points we saw the first of many harbor seals, which often poked their heads above water surprisingly near us. In a bay beyond Libby Point, we saw five river otters resting on a dock.

Our ebb tide would not exceed 2 knots, so the water was relatively gentle, and we paddled and played in the rip tides around the points, "eddying out" and ferrying across the currents. Beyond Libby Point, the uplands above the shore become high banked, so here the inlet takes on a more natural character. Herring popped out of the water periodically, and we passed eagles perched in trees.

After rounding Cape Horn first and Cape Cod immediately after, our destination came into view. We hauled out for a rest and snacks at the Arcadia Point boat ramp, an optional starting point for those desiring a shorter paddle to Hope Island, just about a mile across Pickering Passage. The crossing was quick and easy, and Hope was exactly as you might imagine a forested, uninhabited island in Puget Sound.

It's topped by a jagged line of green trees, and its shoreline is littered with logs fallen from the forest and tangled underbrush, its beaches marked here and there by sun-bleached shell heaps left by the area's original inhabitants. The island is said to have been a neutral gathering spot for many tribes, and around the turn of the 20th century it became the home and farm of one of the founders of the Olympia Brewery. In 1990 it was acquired by state parks.

We paddled for the marine trail campsite on the island's south end, hauled out and set up camp.

Being close to Olympia and a popular paddle from Shelton, the island can get busy on a summer weekend.

PAUL JOSEPH BROWN / P-I

Ed Matkovick plays in the Hammersley Inlet current. Kayakers can time the currents to ride them up and down the inlet, earning it the nickname the "Shelton shuttle."

"In summer, the water-trail site is definitely full and people are sharing it all summer long," says Mischa Cowles, state parks regional manager. "The other campsites are well used as well, mostly on the weekends. People are really happy with the park, the isolation, the nice trail network. It's nice to actually be able to go to a deserted island."

Actually, it's not quite deserted, but watched over by caretakers -- a young couple who live in a small cabin near the campsites.

About two miles of trails circle the island, all easy and flat, passing an old orchard and rusty relics of the homestead, which in the early part of the past century provided grapes for a winery on nearby Hartstene Island; remnant vines from the "Island Bell Vineyard" are still visible. We wandered the trails, mostly through typical second-growth forest and strolled the gravelly beaches.

However, the water was flat and appealing, the Sound seemingly pleading to be paddled. So one member of our party, 13-year-old Niko French Nakai,, and I climbed into our boats and circled the island. I put a line out, tucked the fishing pole into my life jacket and paddled close to shore, hooking and releasing a gorgeously speckled sea-run cutthroat trout of about 14 inches and missing another strike.

Niko seemed to be relishing the entire trip.

"I kind of liked the whole getting to Hope Island," he said later. "I think launching at Arcadia would be less of an adventure. I could definitely do another day here, go around the island on some day paddles."

Hope Island is a wonderful, pleasant place, but it has shortcomings. Water is not available, so you must bring your own, and for that reason fires are not allowed, neither at the campsites nor on the beach. Also, the busy residential areas of Steamboat Island and Sandy Point on the mainland are less than a half-mile away, and the noise (lawn mowers, barking dogs, jet skis) detracts from the island's otherwise pastoral ambience.

But that also can provide a bit of amusement.

We spent the afternoon lying around the beach, at one point watching a group of power boaters beach their boat for a walk and almost get it stranded high and dry by the outgoing tide. A woman in their party got mired up to her thighs in the tidal mud, and we chuckled and joked at their antics in extricating her.

The next morning we packed up and launched on calm seas under billowy clouds, spotting a raccoon on shore and then a tiny spotted fawn prancing around the beach as its mother watched.

Then we shuttled uneventfully back to Shelton on the flood tide.

If you go

* "Kayaking Puget Sound, the San Juans, and Gulf Islands" by Randel Washburne and R. Carey Gersten (Mountaineers, 254 pages, $16.95) provides a good guide to the Hammersley Inlet/Hope Island paddle and others in the area. A good chart for the trip is the Sea Trails "WA 205 Olympia, the Inlets and Hartstene Island."

* The Washington Waters Trails Association home page provides information on the Cascadia Marine Trail and others at www.wwta.org.

* The club known as South Sound Area Kayakers takes weekly paddles that are free and open to all properly equipped paddlers. See www.ssak.hctc.com/.

* Kayaking is an inherently risky activity subject to tides and weather. Before attempting any paddle trip, make sure you get the proper training and equipment, usually available through kayak stores, guide services and paddling clubs. We were accompanied by kayak guide and instructor Chris Mitchell, www.secondwindsports.net.

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