The Beauties of the State of Washington Part 4

GRAYS HARBOR.

To reach Grays Harbor, unless approaching from the ocean, means a trip through the wide fertile valley of the Chehalis river, either by auto or over one of the three transcontinental railroads that serve it. The entire journey presents a panorama of pretty landscapes. The stream itself is conspicuous, tracing the valley's boundary on one side and again on the other, as if choosing the most convenient course to the sea. Sometimes it disappears from view, but its presence is still marked by clumps of willows and cottonwoods protecting its banks, and again by some rustic bridge where the highway crosses.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SCENE ON LOWER GRAYS HARBOR.]

More generously the beauties unfold as the valley widens and the harbor is neared. Quaint towns are seen, including Oakville, noted for large s.h.i.+pments of cascara bark; Elma, an industrial center; and Montesano, the county seat and head of river navigation. Green meadows, wooded slopes, and cultivated farms on both sides of the river absorb the attention until Cosmopolis, Aberdeen, and Hoquiam, close by the harbor, are reached. These cities have experienced a remarkable growth within the past fourteen years. Aberdeen and Hoquiam have now a combined population of 29,000 in place of 6,355, the census returns of 1900.

Thoroughly cosmopolitan, they contain the homes of some of the wealthiest men in the state.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MT. ST. HELENS AND SPIRIT LAKE

SMELT FIs.h.i.+NG ON THE COWLITZ

AT THE OCEAN BEACH

THE KALAMA RIVER

A LOAD OF OYSTERS--WILLAPA HARBOR

WHALING STATION ON GRAYS HARBOR

SOUTHWEST WAs.h.i.+NGTON VIEWS.]

Such development has been due largely to the importance of the lumber industry which in this section of the state has a.s.sumed large proportions. The ravenous mills, the capacious yards, and the huge vessels loading for foreign ports are common sights within the cities.

Farther away in the logging camps the agility of the lumberjack is exhibited as he lays low the giants of the forest and trims the logs ready for the mills.

The harbor may be most thoroughly appreciated by taking a ride upon its waters. Regular steamers make the round trip each day, stopping at many points of interest, both in the north and the south bay, including the North Jetty under construction by the United States government, Westport, where the life saving station and the wireless telegraph station are located, and Bay City, one of the largest whaling stations in the northwest. On the same trip the clam and crab fisheries may be seen. At the week end it is pleasant to get off at Westport and visit Coha.s.set Beach, there to enjoy the modern social pastimes that engage the evenings of the summer dwellers.

Pacific Beach, Moclips, and a number of other ocean resorts near the terminus of the Northern Pacific, also deserve visits; while those desiring more strenuous exercise can make profitable excursions into the wild Olympic region, exploring the forested hills, visiting the oil prospects, or hunting and fis.h.i.+ng.

Splendid highways lead in different directions. In Chehalis county alone are 325 miles of gravel roads, every part of which pa.s.ses near interesting scenes. One road extends to the south of the harbor and another to the beach resorts at the north. The Olympic Highway, one of the state primary highways, leads east to the Sound country, and northward up the Humptulips Valley, through the big timber to Lake Quiniault, located in the midst of grand solitude on the edge of the Quiniault Indian Reservation, making this lake a handy resort for the people living near Grays Harbor. Those who take the trip should plan their return so as to include a ride down the Quiniault River in Indian canoes. The Mountaineers who returned this way from Mount Olympus in 1913, p.r.o.nounced it the best part of the entire outing:

"The trip down the Quiniault river with its manifold beauties and experiences beggars description--the swift current, the whirling eddies, the deep, dark-green water, trout leaping into the air to catch the flying insects, the banks clothed with magnificent forests, log jams through which or under which we pa.s.sed, animated branches marking the rhythmic motion of the current, the floating canoes gliding into the deeper, darker water to seek the current that hurried them on and ever on to the ocean. The Indians skillfully guided the little craft through the dangerous places, then settled back to rest until the next test of skill or strength was necessary, in the meantime relating bits of history or legends which explained names or some natural phenomenon. The boom of the surf announced the end of the journey. As the Mountaineers left the canoes on the beach at Taholah, it was agreed that the trip down the Quiniault marked the red-letter day of the 1913 outing."

WILLAPA BAY.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TWO PATRIARCHS--ONE 65 FEET IN CIRc.u.mFERENCE.]

The water area of this bay is 100 square miles, composed of two sections, one extending southward and separated from the ocean by a long narrow peninsula, nowhere more than two miles in width, and the other reaching eastward to South Bend and Raymond. Into it flows Willapa river, besides other short but swift mountain streams teeming with trout and other game fish. The bar is about a mile wide and the waters covering it 28 1/2 feet deep at low tide, thus enabling sea-going vessels to cross without the aid of tugs--a great advantage to ocean liners and big lumber schooners, which may be seen almost any day either lying at the docks or loaded to the gunwale pa.s.sing out to sea.

The southern arm approaches within three miles of the Columbia River.

People in Pacific County say that Uncle Sam plans to dig a ca.n.a.l through this narrow strip so that vessels may enter the river by way of Willapa Bay and avoid the Columbia bar, kept open by jetties built at enormous expense.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SURF ON WAs.h.i.+NGTON COAST

Photo by Asahel Curtis.]

The cities of Raymond and South Bend are other examples of what lumbering and fis.h.i.+ng have done for Was.h.i.+ngton munic.i.p.alities. Where a few years ago was nothing but a wilderness, known only to the Indians or an occasional fisherman, are now busy marts with extensive waterfront factory sites. Pretty roads start from these cities and wind along the harbor front or penetrate the interior. Excursions by water may be made to Bay Center and Tokeland, summer resorts and fis.h.i.+ng stations. Crab and clam fisheries and the oyster beds may be seen here to advantage, Tokeland being the place where eastern oysters were first transplanted for mercantile purposes.

South Bend and Raymond are also starting points for the North Beach ocean resorts. On this trip one gets a full view of the bay, and the ocean surf tumbling over the bar. At Nahcotta, a pretty oyster village, all pa.s.sengers are transferred to the O.-W. R. & N. train bound for Ilwaco and Megler, whence regular steamers cross to Astoria. This train makes frequent stops, permitting close scrutiny of the attractive summer cottages that face the boundless ocean constantly visible on the right.

Located at almost the southern extremity of the peninsula is the quaint town of Ilwaco, overlooking the Columbia bar. Near by are the most extensive cranberry marshes in the state. Another attraction is "North Head," most southwesterly point in the state of Was.h.i.+ngton, where an un.o.bstructed view of the ocean is obtained. From this point may be seen the waters of the Columbia mixing with the ocean, "Tillamook Head" in Oregon, the light house, the life-saving station, Fort Canby, the wireless station, and the "Seal Rocks," where hundreds of sea lions are usually sunning themselves.

Instead of returning by the same route, the Columbia River may be chosen to Kalama, whence the Sound Country may be quickly reached by the Pacific Highway or by rail. Every tourist should make at least one visit to the Harbor Country and see the ocean from the southwest corner of the state.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOUNT RAINIER REFLECTED IN MIRROR LAKE

"_Owning no mightier but the King of kings_"

_Copyright by Curtis & Miller_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK

"What vastness and sublimity Were spread before our eager gaze!

What wild and varied scenery!

What pictures for the poets lays!"]

One day, late in summer, I was sitting upon a commanding promontory nearly 7,000 feet in alt.i.tude, entranced by a panoramic view most wonderful to behold. The sky was clear, the sun's warm rays were un.o.bstructed, and the air I breathed pure as the nectar of heaven. Only five hours before I had left the city of Tacoma and a little earlier Seattle--two great cities throbbing with the activities of nearly a half million people engaged in manufacturing and mercantile pursuits.

Just beyond the foothills visible towards the west were the green valleys in which these metropolitan centers lay--the nearest only forty miles distant by an air line, close to the waters of Puget Sound. Yet here, almost in sight of them, I was enjoying a quietude known only to the haunts of nature. More than seven thousand feet above me towered the majestic dome of the second highest pinnacle in the United States, reserving observation to the north until its summit should be reached, while far toward the east and the south extended range upon range of mountain peaks, like an army of giants gathered around their chief. Here and there among them appeared the sub-chiefs, Adams and St. Helens in Was.h.i.+ngton; and Hood, Jefferson, and the Three Sisters, far beyond, in Oregon. Between their serrated ranks darker shadows marked the deep canyons where grows some of the choicest timber in the state.

Near by crawled the huge glacial bodies gnawing their way down the mountain side and splitting its surface into rugged ridges. Between them and below were spread the meadowed alpine parks or abandoned cirques--veritable fairylands--which had been carved out by these superhuman agencies eons before. Barely distinguishable was the road by which I had made the circuitous ascent, bending back and forth across the face of an apparently perpendicular wall, while the glacial streams glittering in the suns.h.i.+ne, resembled huge serpents lying in the profound hollows formed by the extending hills.

The hours spent in reaching this favored point were of themselves worth the effort. Either rail or automobile may be chosen to Ashford where each train is met by an auto stage. Leaving Tacoma, the highway threads a picturesque gravelly prairie for thirty miles, ascends the beautiful canyon road, crosses the Ohop Valley, leads to the brink of the Nisqually Canyon a thousand feet deep, plunges through dense virgin forests, reaches Longmire, and zigzags to the snout of the Nisqually Glacier, whence the ascent to the Camp of the Clouds may be continued afoot, on horseback, or by horse stage.

This region was only recently set aside as a National Park. Perhaps no other area in the world brings so many and such varied natural wonders to the very doors of two great cities. It contains a total of 207,360 acres, or 324 square miles, of which 100 square miles is occupied by Mount Rainier (or Mt. Tacoma), king of mountains, rising apparently directly from sea level, and visible from almost every point in the state.

No grander expression of Nature's sculptural art exists than this mighty pinnacle, 14,408 feet in alt.i.tude, whose glacial area, no less than 45 square miles in extent, exceeds that of any other peak in the United States. One of the most interesting glaciers is Carbon on the north slope, reaching down to a lower elevation than any other; the most readily reached is the Nisqually, five miles in length; and the largest is the White or Emmon's. Other primary glaciers are the Cowlitz, Ingraham, Winthrop, North and South Mowich, Puyallup, North and South Tahoma, and the Kautz. The most important secondary glaciers are Van Trump, Frying-Pan, Stevens, Paradise, and Interglacier.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PARADISE PARK

ON THE WAY DOWN

AVALANCHE LILIES

THE ASCENT

IN MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK.]

The summit may be reached by five different routes. These are the Paradise Valley, Indian Henry's, the Kautz Glacier, Ptarmigan Ridge, and Emmon's or the White Glacier route. The Paradise Valley (known also as the "Gibraltar") route, on the south side, is by far the most popular, for it is well provided with hotel accommodations, and both the government road and Paradise trail lead right up to the Camp of the Clouds, at the mountain's foot. It is usual to leave this tented village at midnight, arriving at Muir Camp (10,062 feet elevation) at about 5 a. m., and Columbia Crest, the highest point on the mountain, at about 11 a. m. From this celestial height one may see more than a hundred miles in every direction, far away to the ocean on the west and into the great Inland Empire on the east. The snow-capped peaks already noted are seen toward the south, Mount Olympus to the northwest, and Baker, Shuksan, Stuart, and Glacier Peak to the north; while the Mother, the Sluiskin, the Sourdough Mountains, and the Tatoosh Range near by seem like mere foothills, between eight and nine thousand feet below. No grander or more inspiring view may be observed anywhere in the world.

Scaling the peak, however, is a feat undertaken by only a few, and always with the aid of an experienced guide. The largest measure of real joy is found in the alpine "parks." The best known and most frequented is along the Paradise River. Tributary to it and reached from Longmire, are Indian Henry's, Van Trump, Cowlitz and Magnetic Parks. Others requiring more time to visit are Summerland, one of the largest and most beautiful, Elysian Fields, and Morain, Saint Andrews and Grand Parks.

Surrounded by rugged peaks and snow fields these natural amphitheaters present a pleasing contrast. Scarcely any underbrush exists in them but many beautiful flowers, shrubs, and trees abound; three hundred distinct plants are said to exist; pretty lakelets gem their surface; and all are drained by trickling streamlets or cut by raging rivers producing waterfalls of rare beauty as they go tumbling from the melting glaciers to the sea. Excellent trails, built by the government, lead to every point of interest and extend clear around the mountain. Camping places are plentiful or accommodations may be obtained at comfortable hotels.