THE PORTAGE

And Other Notes from Doubling the Salish 100

- Emiliano Marino

In the bygone days of the Dulahlip people, a branch of the Twana who inhabited the southern end of the Tahuya Peninsula (at the southern end of what’s now called Hood Canal), the shortest way to get a tribal canoe to South Puget Sound was by carrying or sliding it on greased planks overland from the head of the canal (Lynch Cove) to the head of the inlet to the south (North Bay). In 1841, Lieutenant Augustus Case of the Wilkes Expedition, when exploring western Washington, dubbed the Dulahlip’s trail Wilkes’ Portage.

Now, over a century and a half later, if I wanted to circumnavigate Kitsap Peninsula and meet up with the Salish 100 cruising fleet in South Sound, I knew I’d do essentially the same as the ancients by portaging Taswens, a 15'-6" Gloucester Gull dory, on foot over the hilly, 4-mile strip of land that separates upper and lower Puget Sound. The traditional portage trail, last used perhaps 120 years ago, is long gone. I’d have to pull the sail and oar dory, on wheels, along today’s state highways: routes 106 to 3, to 302, then to North Bay Road; much of the way uphill and shoulderless, all of it heavily traveled by motor vehicles.

Preparing to Portage

Road maps showed the route, but where to haul out and put in? I resorted first to an aerial study via Google Maps and located potential sites, possible ramps and marshes, as close as possible to the roads. Then, there was nothing to do but explore the area firsthand and survey the prospects.