Port Ludlow


We can point to the stormline and say, "The ice stopped here." We
work and play at the very limits of the glacial incursions from the
north. Gargantuan mountains of frozen water scratched deep trenches in
the face of the earth as they advanced relentlessly into these most
southerly latitudes, and when they retreated over successive millennia
the liquid sea claimed the trenches as its own. The "inland ocean"
we so enjoy today is our legacy from that geologically recent era, and
one would certainly include Port Ludlow among the more enjoyable
corners of the glacial footprint in Puget Sound.

Port Ludlow is situated at the head of Hood Canal, on the western shore
of Admiralty Inlet. Mariners bound for Port Ludlow are advised to be
mindful of rocks scattered along a rough line from Olele Point, (at the
south end of Oak Bay), to Tala Point (at the NE edge of Port Ludlow
waterway). The hazards are well marked, with Klas Rocks near
47.57.79N, 122.40.25 W and Colvos Rocks near 47.56.92N, 122.40.00W.
NOAA chart #18477 should be consulted prior to entering Port Ludlow.
Most vessels will find adequate depth if they do not crowd the
shorelines, and a wide turn around Burner Point (marked by a totem
pole) is advisable when approaching the Port Ludlow Marina.

Ludlow Creek threads a cleft between the granite and basalt cores of
the Olympic Mountains to emerge with a happy gurgle into Ludlow Bay.
The creek runs brown with tannins leached from the peat and soil
upstream. Salmon spawn below the falls. Atop a rocky base, primordial
forests of conifers, ferns, and deciduous shrubs built up a reddish
brown, spongy mass to nurture countless generations of seedlings. The
red bark earth gives way beneath soft footfalls, and is so full of
roots that the tangles breach the surface. When the lumbermen arrived
at Port Ludlow in the 1850's, the cedar and hemlock towers supported
fragrant green canopies a hundred feet and more above the ground.
Between fire cycles, sunlight was excluded from the forest floor so
underbrush was limited and walking between the monstrous trunks was
relatively easy. When "Euro" man arrived at Port Ludlow, he began
his occupation by felling the gigantic trees. Cities in California and
timber-depleted regions in the Midwest were desperate for clear,
straight grained lumber and mills at Port Ludlow and nearby Port Gamble
responded to the demand.

In the earliest years of Port Ludlow, the first sawmill enterprise was
plagued with financial problems and forced to close. The tiny community
turned instead to shipbuilding. Hall Brothers shipyards of Port Ludlow
completed 31 sailing ships between 1874 and 1881. When the shipyard
began to decline as well, the Pope and Talbot Company (successfully
running a thriving lumber operation across the canal at Port Gamble)
bought the original sawmill for just under $65,000 and revived the
timber operations at Port Ludlow. Lumber schooners would call at a
wharf in Ludlow Bay to load 125,000 board feet of lumber per day, and a
"company town" of about 500 people was established.

In the middle of the 20th Century, Pope and Talbot closed the lumber
mill at Port Ludlow. The wharf and millworks were dismantled, and many
of the better houses were barged across Hood Canal to be reused in Port
Gamble. A boater visiting Port Ludlow today can still find some
evidence of the lumber years, but much has changed. The village of
leisure and retirement townhouses perched just above the storm tide
line have little in common with the rustic shacks and simple cottages
that housed laborers and foremen in the era when the scream of saws and
the aromas of pitch and wood chips permeated the air.

The marina to Port Ludlow is in very good condition, and well equipped.
A fuel dock offers gasoline and diesel, and a dockside convenience
store has a good inventory of beverages, snacks, basic groceries, some
boating gear, and an assortment of tourist souvenirs. Transient
moorage rates are approximately 85-cents per foot. Thirty- amp
shorepower is priced at $3, while 50-amp hookups are $6. We have always
encountered a friendly and courteous staff at Port Ludlow.

Port Ludlow is a short cruise from Seattle, Everett, Port Orchard, or
Port Townsend and is particularly suitable as a destination for yacht
club or power squadron weekends. Picnic tables surround a bonfire pit
near the marina office to create and ideal venue of a potluck dinner.
Additional tables are located under cover, providing a rainy day option
for outdoor dining. There are horseshoe pits near the fire circle.
Shoreside restrooms and showers are clean and bright.

It would be hard to avoid having a wonderful time at Port Ludlow.
Boaters arriving solo, (without a schedule of organized club
activities) will enjoy exploring the area. A pontoon bridge crosses a
man-made freshwater lagoon and connects the marina with a very decent
dining establishment. The Harbormaster Restaurant, (with the Wreck Room
Lounge), offers a diverse menu but takes special pride in seafood
dishes. Locals recommend the halibut and chips.

There are a number of interesting areas to explore at the marina, and
many more very nearby. Even if the restaurant isn't the ultimate
destination, there's a broad sitting area on the midspan float of the
pontoon bridge; a fine place to contemplate the mossy shallows where
the mud is yellow green with algae and the wind teases the surface like
a lover with a gentle comb.

For many years, there was constant fire on Burner Point. The kiln
bricks are scattered in the shallows around the circular cement base,
colored in the reds, the yellows, dirty whites and sooty browns of the
flames they once contained. You can see the bricks on lower tides,
relatively and curiously exempt from hosting the ubiquitous barnacles
populating the surrounding rocks. Perhaps the bricks still taste of
smoke from the wood chips that fired the oven and cured the lumber at
Port Ludlow and thereby discourage the tiny shells. We can remember a
fire circle for the use of marina guests on this point, but there is no
trace of it any more. Look now for the ochres, the browns, the purples,
and the bronze of Port Ludlow's current industry in the sunset
colored rows of chockablock townhouses, just across the wild grass
meadow from the point. Yes, that is one of the "classic" picnic
tables, oddly displaced somewhere between the old kiln site and the
ultra modern residences and disappearing from sight in the purple
topped stalks of rangy emerald turf.

The busy Burner Point kiln would have stood on the circular, fortified
concrete base like an enormous and smoking tipi, (a dwelling form
extremely unusual among tribes enjoying a natural abundance that
allowed the luxury of fixed, planked structures). A more suitably NW
native shape, a story pole, stands on Burner Point today. The pole was
commissioned by Pope Resources and erected in 1995. The upper figure is
an eagle, representing a time of airborne spirits that preceded
terrestrial life. The second figure is a bear, symbolizing the natural
world prior to human habitation and considered a spiritual ancestor by
the indigenous S'klallam nation. The third image depicts two men
standing with locked arms, and commemorates the partnership of Mr. Pope
and Mr. Talbot. The fourth image is a lumberjack, and the fifth is a
beaver. The lumberjack and bear images recount the logging and
homebuilding phases that characterize the last 150 years at Port
Ludlow. The lowest carving consists of six interlocking figures,
depicting the diverse community of people and cultures currently
co-mingled at Port Ludlow.

On a day in early June, a bald eagle perched atop his wooden likeness
on the Burner Point pole, surprisingly unperturbed by the human taking
photos from the edge of the concrete circle. A lone crow, (a far more
humble but momentarily more aggressive bird), eventually drove the
eagle from his perch.

Hikers will enjoy a day or more at Port Ludlow. Many of the logging
roads in the area have been converted to trails. There is a pamphlet
available in the marina office with some information on a five-mile
scenic trail located perhaps two miles from the marina (count on a
9-mile walk, round trip). For the less fit, the less ambitious, or
those beginning a hike in hours of waning daylight we can recommend an
interesting walk of no more than two and one-half miles, including the
distance from the marina to the head of the trail.

To reach the Ludlow Falls Interpretive Trail, walk through the marina
parking lot and turn left on the two-lane county road. The road will
eventually raise a small settlement with a gas station, a bank, a
chiropractor's office, and a clearing where the outdoor market is
held on summer Fridays. Across the parking lot behind the bank building
is a bulletin board with a map of all the hiking trails in the Port
Ludlow vicinity. The head of the Ludlow Falls trail is down the road
across the street from the bulletin board, and does wind through a RV
park for a relatively short stretch. The route to the trailhead is
plainly marked with small signs and arrows.

The Ludlow Falls trail is circular, and hikers interested only in
viewing the falls could turn right, rather than the recommended left,
and find the falls only a few hundred yards beyond a wooden footbridge
crossing a small gorge. We suggest the left turn, and a half-mile walk
through the woods where trailside signs provide information about
several varieties of trees and shrubs encountered along the way. The
left turn route is generally either level or downhill all the way to
Ludlow Creek, where some easily negotiated stairs assist in regaining
the original altitude and bring a hiker to the scenic head of Ludlow
Falls. This is a lovely walk in late spring, but we observed factors
that bode well for an impressive natural tour during any season in the
NW. The hike is more than worth the time and energy required, and we
considered it a highlight of our visit to Port Ludlow.

It's easy to recommend Port Ludlow, but important to realize that it
may be caught in some high grass time when the recreational aspect of
the marina becomes increasingly engulfed by the advance of the nearby
townhomes. Additional demand for permanent moorage has previously been
known to reduce or eliminate guest moorage at other desirable marinas.
One can be optimistic that there will be many years, maybe even a few
decades before this grand eagle of a destination gem is displaced by
the less noble, but noisier and more insistent crow of developers. When
trying to ignore the signs for condominium sales offices, a cynic might
note that there is still some "pitch" in the wind at Port Ludlow.

Awesome story, being from Tacoma, I visited Port Ludlow once and its truely
breath taking. I really enjoy your writings. Do you write for a magazine or
paper ? I look forward to your writings.

Thanks
Ed
wrote in message
oups.com...
Port Ludlow


We can point to the stormline and say, "The ice stopped here." We
work and play at the very limits of the glacial incursions from the
north. Gargantuan mountains of frozen water scratched deep trenches in
the face of the earth as they advanced relentlessly into these most
southerly latitudes, and when they retreated over successive millennia
the liquid sea claimed the trenches as its own. The "inland ocean"
we so enjoy today is our legacy from that geologically recent era, and
one would certainly include Port Ludlow among the more enjoyable
corners of the glacial footprint in Puget Sound.

Port Ludlow is situated at the head of Hood Canal, on the western shore
of Admiralty Inlet. Mariners bound for Port Ludlow are advised to be
mindful of rocks scattered along a rough line from Olele Point, (at the
south end of Oak Bay), to Tala Point (at the NE edge of Port Ludlow
waterway). The hazards are well marked, with Klas Rocks near
47.57.79N, 122.40.25 W and Colvos Rocks near 47.56.92N, 122.40.00W.
NOAA chart #18477 should be consulted prior to entering Port Ludlow.
Most vessels will find adequate depth if they do not crowd the
shorelines, and a wide turn around Burner Point (marked by a totem
pole) is advisable when approaching the Port Ludlow Marina.

Ludlow Creek threads a cleft between the granite and basalt cores of
the Olympic Mountains to emerge with a happy gurgle into Ludlow Bay.
The creek runs brown with tannins leached from the peat and soil
upstream. Salmon spawn below the falls. Atop a rocky base, primordial
forests of conifers, ferns, and deciduous shrubs built up a reddish
brown, spongy mass to nurture countless generations of seedlings. The
red bark earth gives way beneath soft footfalls, and is so full of
roots that the tangles breach the surface. When the lumbermen arrived
at Port Ludlow in the 1850's, the cedar and hemlock towers supported
fragrant green canopies a hundred feet and more above the ground.
Between fire cycles, sunlight was excluded from the forest floor so
underbrush was limited and walking between the monstrous trunks was
relatively easy. When "Euro" man arrived at Port Ludlow, he began
his occupation by felling the gigantic trees. Cities in California and
timber-depleted regions in the Midwest were desperate for clear,
straight grained lumber and mills at Port Ludlow and nearby Port Gamble
responded to the demand.

In the earliest years of Port Ludlow, the first sawmill enterprise was
plagued with financial problems and forced to close. The tiny community
turned instead to shipbuilding. Hall Brothers shipyards of Port Ludlow
completed 31 sailing ships between 1874 and 1881. When the shipyard
began to decline as well, the Pope and Talbot Company (successfully
running a thriving lumber operation across the canal at Port Gamble)
bought the original sawmill for just under $65,000 and revived the
timber operations at Port Ludlow. Lumber schooners would call at a
wharf in Ludlow Bay to load 125,000 board feet of lumber per day, and a
"company town" of about 500 people was established.

In the middle of the 20th Century, Pope and Talbot closed the lumber
mill at Port Ludlow. The wharf and millworks were dismantled, and many
of the better houses were barged across Hood Canal to be reused in Port
Gamble. A boater visiting Port Ludlow today can still find some
evidence of the lumber years, but much has changed. The village of
leisure and retirement townhouses perched just above the storm tide
line have little in common with the rustic shacks and simple cottages
that housed laborers and foremen in the era when the scream of saws and
the aromas of pitch and wood chips permeated the air.

The marina to Port Ludlow is in very good condition, and well equipped.
A fuel dock offers gasoline and diesel, and a dockside convenience
store has a good inventory of beverages, snacks, basic groceries, some
boating gear, and an assortment of tourist souvenirs. Transient
moorage rates are approximately 85-cents per foot. Thirty- amp
shorepower is priced at $3, while 50-amp hookups are $6. We have always
encountered a friendly and courteous staff at Port Ludlow.

Port Ludlow is a short cruise from Seattle, Everett, Port Orchard, or
Port Townsend and is particularly suitable as a destination for yacht
club or power squadron weekends. Picnic tables surround a bonfire pit
near the marina office to create and ideal venue of a potluck dinner.
Additional tables are located under cover, providing a rainy day option
for outdoor dining. There are horseshoe pits near the fire circle.
Shoreside restrooms and showers are clean and bright.

It would be hard to avoid having a wonderful time at Port Ludlow.
Boaters arriving solo, (without a schedule of organized club
activities) will enjoy exploring the area. A pontoon bridge crosses a
man-made freshwater lagoon and connects the marina with a very decent
dining establishment. The Harbormaster Restaurant, (with the Wreck Room
Lounge), offers a diverse menu but takes special pride in seafood
dishes. Locals recommend the halibut and chips.

There are a number of interesting areas to explore at the marina, and
many more very nearby. Even if the restaurant isn't the ultimate
destination, there's a broad sitting area on the midspan float of the
pontoon bridge; a fine place to contemplate the mossy shallows where
the mud is yellow green with algae and the wind teases the surface like
a lover with a gentle comb.

For many years, there was constant fire on Burner Point. The kiln
bricks are scattered in the shallows around the circular cement base,
colored in the reds, the yellows, dirty whites and sooty browns of the
flames they once contained. You can see the bricks on lower tides,
relatively and curiously exempt from hosting the ubiquitous barnacles
populating the surrounding rocks. Perhaps the bricks still taste of
smoke from the wood chips that fired the oven and cured the lumber at
Port Ludlow and thereby discourage the tiny shells. We can remember a
fire circle for the use of marina guests on this point, but there is no
trace of it any more. Look now for the ochres, the browns, the purples,
and the bronze of Port Ludlow's current industry in the sunset
colored rows of chockablock townhouses, just across the wild grass
meadow from the point. Yes, that is one of the "classic" picnic
tables, oddly displaced somewhere between the old kiln site and the
ultra modern residences and disappearing from sight in the purple
topped stalks of rangy emerald turf.

The busy Burner Point kiln would have stood on the circular, fortified
concrete base like an enormous and smoking tipi, (a dwelling form
extremely unusual among tribes enjoying a natural abundance that
allowed the luxury of fixed, planked structures). A more suitably NW
native shape, a story pole, stands on Burner Point today. The pole was
commissioned by Pope Resources and erected in 1995. The upper figure is
an eagle, representing a time of airborne spirits that preceded
terrestrial life. The second figure is a bear, symbolizing the natural
world prior to human habitation and considered a spiritual ancestor by
the indigenous S'klallam nation. The third image depicts two men
standing with locked arms, and commemorates the partnership of Mr. Pope
and Mr. Talbot. The fourth image is a lumberjack, and the fifth is a
beaver. The lumberjack and bear images recount the logging and
homebuilding phases that characterize the last 150 years at Port
Ludlow. The lowest carving consists of six interlocking figures,
depicting the diverse community of people and cultures currently
co-mingled at Port Ludlow.

On a day in early June, a bald eagle perched atop his wooden likeness
on the Burner Point pole, surprisingly unperturbed by the human taking
photos from the edge of the concrete circle. A lone crow, (a far more
humble but momentarily more aggressive bird), eventually drove the
eagle from his perch.

Hikers will enjoy a day or more at Port Ludlow. Many of the logging
roads in the area have been converted to trails. There is a pamphlet
available in the marina office with some information on a five-mile
scenic trail located perhaps two miles from the marina (count on a
9-mile walk, round trip). For the less fit, the less ambitious, or
those beginning a hike in hours of waning daylight we can recommend an
interesting walk of no more than two and one-half miles, including the
distance from the marina to the head of the trail.

To reach the Ludlow Falls Interpretive Trail, walk through the marina
parking lot and turn left on the two-lane county road. The road will
eventually raise a small settlement with a gas station, a bank, a
chiropractor's office, and a clearing where the outdoor market is
held on summer Fridays. Across the parking lot behind the bank building
is a bulletin board with a map of all the hiking trails in the Port
Ludlow vicinity. The head of the Ludlow Falls trail is down the road
across the street from the bulletin board, and does wind through a RV
park for a relatively short stretch. The route to the trailhead is
plainly marked with small signs and arrows.

The Ludlow Falls trail is circular, and hikers interested only in
viewing the falls could turn right, rather than the recommended left,
and find the falls only a few hundred yards beyond a wooden footbridge
crossing a small gorge. We suggest the left turn, and a half-mile walk
through the woods where trailside signs provide information about
several varieties of trees and shrubs encountered along the way. The
left turn route is generally either level or downhill all the way to
Ludlow Creek, where some easily negotiated stairs assist in regaining
the original altitude and bring a hiker to the scenic head of Ludlow
Falls. This is a lovely walk in late spring, but we observed factors
that bode well for an impressive natural tour during any season in the
NW. The hike is more than worth the time and energy required, and we
considered it a highlight of our visit to Port Ludlow.

It's easy to recommend Port Ludlow, but important to realize that it
may be caught in some high grass time when the recreational aspect of
the marina becomes increasingly engulfed by the advance of the nearby
townhomes. Additional demand for permanent moorage has previously been
known to reduce or eliminate guest moorage at other desirable marinas.
One can be optimistic that there will be many years, maybe even a few
decades before this grand eagle of a destination gem is displaced by
the less noble, but noisier and more insistent crow of developers. When
trying to ignore the signs for condominium sales offices, a cynic might
note that there is still some "pitch" in the wind at Port Ludlow.

Drop into West Marine, Boater's World, Day Island Boatworks, Breakwater
Marina, Point Defiance Boathouse or similar locations down in Tacoma
and sort through the "freebie" pubs sometime. You'll find the US
magazine with which I am associated. The same publisher also runs most
of the material in a British Columbia magazine with a different title.

Glad you enjoyed the story. It will be out with photos in the July 6
issue. I got a good shot of the bald eagle on the totem pole, but I
will need to see how the quality holds up as it is will need to be
slightly enlarged.