Canoe Journey Journal

My “day of rest” began at 6 a.m. with our support boat captain rousing me for a morning fishing trip. The early start from Port Angeles gave us more time to not catch fish. During six hours of aimless trolling on the strait we watched several fishermen haul in large Chinook salmon. But they were not us.

We gave up at 11 a.m. and went back to our camp on the Elwha reservation.

Protocol ceremonies began at the tribal center at 1 p.m. I watched presentations from Alaska Inuit and native Greenlanders, who are guests on the journey. The Greenlanders performed a lively, jig-like dance inspired by European whalers. The Inuit demonstrated several of their games, including leg wrestling, and challenged audience members on the gym floor.

At camp, kids were playing baseball and hiking to the Elwha River for swims. A native New Zealander, hosted by the Suqauamish Tribe, drilled the Tana Stobs family on a fierce, paddle-brandishing dance on the lawn.

After a dinner of Indian tacos (fry bread, chili and taco fixings), the skippers gathered pullers to discuss plans for the next leg of the journey. Crews will paddle to Pillar Point on Sunday, but because the winds pick up on the strait in the late morning and early afternoon, canoes will need to launch at 5 a.m.

“We’re racing the wind,” skipper Dennis Jones said.

Tomorrow’s wake up call will come at 3 a.m. Protocol will last late into the night, but most of the camp is already in bed.