The magnificence and the importance of Puget Sound can
hardly be encompassed in a few paragraphs. A watery gateway to the USA’s
Pacific Northwest, the Sound itself is a giant product of Earth’s
violent convulsions. Grasped in a volcanic fist of the Cascade and Olympic
mountain ranges, the huge basin was created by the motion of continental
plates gnashing against each other, then scraped and carved by glaciers
that buried their handiwork beneath a mile of ice some 14,000 years ago.
The
majestic Mount Rainer’s summit stands 14,411 feet or 4,392 meters.
Even today the Sound echoes occasional reminders of its
violent origins. In the northern Cascade Mountains the supposedly dormant
volcano Mount Baker periodically oozes clouds of steam over its summit and
stains its icy slopes with mudslides. Once an active volcano, glacier
covered Mount Rainer rises through morning fog some 60 miles southeast of
the city of Seattle.
As in the dawn of creation, stillness enfolds the
tidal-washed San Juan Islands clustered just north of Puget Sound. The San
Juan Islands and their inhabitants resist change. The great crescent of
172 islands spans the northern straits leading to the Puget Sound like
remnants of some vast breakwater long eroded by the sea.
Although
commercial fishing has long been restricted off the banks of San Juan
Islands, legislation was passed allowing Native American fishermen rights
to fishing in some restricted waters. The early morning fog chills
fisherman as they harvest an ever shrinking catch of salmon in open water.
Beneath towering stands of virgin hemlock and fir,
occasional deer, fox, otter and raccoon forage in a wilderness still only
lightly touched by man and machine. Offshore among the sheltered coves and
winding channels, pods of orcas referred to as killer whales endlessly
patrol the undersea kelp forests in search of salmon which are escorted
overhead by flapping canopies of puffins, cormorants and sea gulls.
Picturesque villages lure vacationers from the bustle
of Seattle, less than four hours away by ferry. As the island’s
popularity grew new residents flocked to paradise and land prices
skyrocketed.
Total tranquility is probably just a memory to the
native islanders who stood their ground. But the islands are still
“close” to paradise. Old-timers tell visitors their unique sanctuary
must be preserved against the misfortunes of greedy commercial development
that have affected other islands in Puget Sound. They believe their quiet
way of life and leisurely habits enable them to live longer.
Puget Sound is a yachtsman’s dream and a
fisherman’s Mecca. Seattle goes waterborne on weekends. With one of the
highest per capita boat ownerships in the nation, the entire city seems to
weigh anchor on Saturday mornings. A few less hardy boat lovers will take
to the leisurely atmosphere of the shores of Lake Union, not far from the
city’s downtown district. Here a fleet of sedate houseboats lies moored
in permanent residence.
Commercial fishermen working the now restricted
commercial salmon industry used to fish the banks off San Juan Islands and
harvest a handsome purse. Now salmon are farmed on state supported
‘salmon runs.’
Historically the Puget Sound has served as the gateway to Alaska and
has more than once been the jumping off point of handsome profit. Alaskans
still claim that in the Gold Rush of 1898 very little of their hard won
gold bullion ever got beyond Seattle.
Twilight
on the Mekong River at Four Thousand Islands.
