Site :
Dimensions :
100 feet wide by 557 feet long
20 foot road easement on the south line of property
5 foot setback on the north line for neighboring property
Max Building site is 75 feet wide
Elevation :
20 feet at western property line
315 feet at eastern property line
Proposed building site between 140 and 180 feet
Grade :
Approximately 49 degrees (Geotechnical Report done in 2004)
Design :
Minimize visual impact on site
Hood Canal :
Often described as resembling a giant fish hook the Hood Canal, surrounded by pacific northwest forests and glacier capped peaks, is one of only two natural fjords in the United States.
The Hood Canal fjord formed during the Late Pleistocene era approximately 13,000 years ago when the Cordilleran Ice Sheet retreated. The ice sheet excavated the channels of Puget Sound, Lake Washington, and Hood Canal.
Christened “Hood’s Channel” by Captain Vancouver when he traced the shores of the sixty mile fjord in May 1792, the Twana people have called this hook of saltwater home for countless generations before European arrival.
The Skokomish valley cut down through the land and joined the glacier lake with the major fjord creating the L- shaped channel. The broad valley of the Skokomish River joins the southern tip of the Canal from the west in the same way as the hook joins from the East.
Spending winters in villages near the mouths of the major rivers, the Twana people lived in cedar plank homes and enjoyed a rich culture and livelihood on the fjord. Salmon, clams, oysters, plants, and game provided year round generous bounty for their families. The warmer months were marked with visits to neighboring settlements as well as further journeys to trade with people from as far away as what is now Alaska’s outer coast.
In 1792, Vancouver ventured into Hood Canal in longboats. He left his ships, the Discovery and Chatham, in nearby Port Townsend. Vancouver and his crew journeyed as far as the mouth of the Skokomish River, where Menzies, his botanist, was amazed by the rich vegetation as well as the natural beauty of the area. He wrote in his journal, “here the arm was hemmed in by lofty Mountains on one side and low flat country of considerable extent on the other.”
After a few days of exploration and trade with the Twana people, Vancouver and his men retraced their path out of the Canal leaving behind a legacy of European names in their wake.
Over two centuries later the Canal remains much the same. The settlements are replaced with small towns and knots of houses. Harvested hillsides have regrown new forests. The water route is replaced with a two lane highway that follows the shoreline.
Hood Canal is renown as a diving mecca as its glacial fjord formation caused underwater biomes that appear no where else in the world. Adventurers travel worldwide for the area’s spectacular hiking, boating, fishing, camping and outdoor opportunities. Heralded for its rich timber history and aquaculture resources it is the place many choose to live, visit, and enjoy life.
As Highway 101 meanders along the canal edge, we pass pockets of civilization and catch glimpses of the beauty through the trees.
This property overlooks the meeting point of the Skokomish River mouth and the Hood Canal. It sits south of the great bend. In the distance is the view of the Olympic Mountain Range.