A Toast to CMT

Kayaking under a warm sunset near Blake Island is just one of the trail's many outstanding overnight trips.

West and south of Seattle, the CMT has five sites around Bainbridge Island and the Bremerton area and three rimming Vashon Island. Of these, the best closest site to Seattle is Blake Island, just north of Vashon Island. The wild sand-spit site, with its forest and distant city backdrop, is perfect for an overnight, as is Wingehaven, on the northeast coast of Vashon, an estate with no mansion. The grounds consist of remarkable manicured lawns, giant rhododendrons, and maturing redwoods, which make it a movie set with a picnic table.

Past Tacoma, through the Narrows (big currents, big rides) lies the South Sound, an often-overlooked, under-paddled backwater of safe and protected routes to quiet sylvan to semisylvan sites. If you are new to kayaking, this is a great place to paddle, with six sites, including four within 8 to 15 nms of each other. Try Hope Island, which is a jewel of a site, as is the forested campsite at Kopachuck State Park. Enjoy the solitude.

?? my Fort Worden trail site lies what I call the "outside route"--hazardous waters that include this crossing to Fort Ebey and then Deception Pass, along the exposed west coast of Whidbey Island. The reward is Deception Pass, which has remarkable marine topography and a beautiful bay to camp in. From there you can go inside or stay out to the San Juans. Mercifully for those seeking tamer waters, the "inside route" glides behind 60-mile-long Whidbey Island, passing quaint towns and remarkable estuaries before emerging in the islands that separate Puget Sound from the Strait of Georgia and Canadian waters. Sites of note include Ala Spit, Saddlebag, Pelican Beach--with its great hike to Eagle Cliff--and Lummi Island, a sunrise campsite with real beauty.

Last there are the fabled San Juans, which have the highest concentration of trail sites (nine) on the CMT, forming a true network of routes and campsites in a sun-drenched cosmos of magical islands. It is often crowded, so aim for weekdays if you can. Jones Island and Posey off Roche Harbor are the most popular, so try Spencer Spit on Lopez Island, with its apple orchard upland site, and Point Doughty on Orcas, with its approach to non-trailed Sucia, Matia, and Patos Islands.

With the Greek salad made, the soup cooking, and a cup of Earl Grey in hand, I can now reflect on the impact of the Cascadia Marine Trail. The CMT has been recognized as a National Recreation Trail on a par with the Appalachian Trail (1994). It has received the British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award for the Americas (1996) and is one of only 16 Millennium Trails (2000). But more important, it has been the training water for a crew of professionals and volunteers who both protect and expand the CMT and create other marine trails in the state.

The Washington Water Trails Association has gone on to develop the Willapa Bay Water Trail on that oyster-famous embayment on the Pacific Coast. To provide more access in the greater Seattle area, the WWTA created the Lakes-to-Locks Water Trail, which encouraged 15 cities and agencies to provide put-ins and way stops throughout the region. Finally, they have created models that other paddling organizations nationwide now emulate.

As I stir the soup, I'm thinking that all this recognition is really saying that you saved for the rest of us, for those who choose to go by human-powered watercraft, the right to explore our waters with the assurance that there's a safe harbor at the end of the day's paddle. Many thanks to the Washington Water Trails Association, and happy birthday, CMT.

Joel W. Rogers is a Seattle-based photojournalist who specializes in touring.