More New Finds

The next day I took Care on a loop from Jarrell's Cove thru Pickering Passage to a few turns after the entrance of Hammersley Inlet, so she could see how Puget could miss the entrance, which he did. Since there were no interesting birds in the bights, we continued on to Hope Island where we grabbed a buoy and had lunch. We proceeded on to Zittlel's Marina where I dropped her off and continued back up Case again for McMickin Island. Why not, the weather is good, I say to myself. It was so good I spent 2 more nights there. and then continued on my way home, exploring places I had seen from a distance and thought they had potential.

The Key Peninsula separates Carr and Case Inlet. At the southern end of the peninsula on the Case side is Devil's Head, a high bluffed point which overlooks the entire Nisqually Delta. This delta is formed from the Nisqually Glacier on Mt. Rainier and the Nisqually River. My small guide book speaks of 2 DNR properties on the southwest side of Key Peninsula.

The large beach at Joemma gives lots of room to beachcoam and then you move into DNR 13 and then into an older settlement of Taylor Bay. There is a stretch of private homes and beach with Do Not Tresspass Signs. Then I came across an area not mentioned in the book. It is called Johnson Wildlife Refuge and is part of the Great Peninsula Conservancy. The sign, while difficult to read said Sensitive area, no fires. It has a beautiful gravel beach with sand proceeding it and some sort of lagoon in the back. I was inching Shatoosh up into the clear water and drifted in 5 feet. This area needs more exploration from us as it looks inviting and peaceful. Then I cruised farther towards Devils Head and came across DNR16 which is really beautiful and at one point may have had a fresh water lagoon. I drifted south and east along the shore with a flooding tide in 10 feet of water. The beach is pristine gravel with sand farther offshore. It is lovely and also is one to revisit.

DNR 13

Johnson Wildlife Refuge

DNR 16

It has been difficult to find some of these areas on the internet, but it seems that in 2010 a 94 acre park was created using the DNR property, part of Taylor Bay and the Johnson Wildlife Refuge.
http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/cfapps/internet/news.cfm?node_id=104092

All these places are less than 2nm from my marina. As I cruise more and more in Case Inlet, there are numerous little inlets, lagoons behind beaches and glorious beaches that are well worth exploring in our dinghies.

I cruised 32nm with Care and a total of 47.5nm. It is always so nice having Care join me and I love finding new birds and new beaches/lagoons. What a great week.