Sea Kayak - Little Skookum Inlet

The early launch gave our group of nine plenty of time to get into the furthest reaches of the inlet. This turned out to be well past Old Olympic Highway, much further than anticipated. We had a light current assist in both directions with more significant help in narrow Little Skookum.

We saw many eagles and gulls drawn by the decomposing corpses of spawned salmon, a miraculous part of the regional ecosystem which should be viewed up close. However, eagles weren't the only animals there for the salmon, as we encountered two seals upstream in water only a few feet deep. One of them swam past with a salmon in its jaws.

It was a  cold day with a high of only 39 and humidity in the 90 percent range. A WSW wind gusting in the morning to 10kt only amplified the cold, and we were happy to keep breaks short to stay moving. We saw one inlet local on a rowing shell, but no other paddlers. A few fishermen were out tending nets or shellfish operations. We were faced with smoke-filled air in Totten Inlet on the way back, assumed to be from brush burning.

We were back at the launch at 1530 (3:30 real people time). A great and hearty group!