North and South Sound canoes traveling in the 2013 Canoe Journey/Paddle to Quinault visited North Kitsap July 19 and 20 for two days of cultural sharing.

Herald editor Richard Walker followed the event from Suquamish to Port Gamble S’Klallam to Port Townsend, and will rejoin the Journey in Quinault, the host nation.

The Canoe Journey, a traditional journey on the ancestral waters by the First Peoples of the Northwest Coast, is a feat requiring mental, physical and spiritual readiness. Canoes traveled from Port Townsend to Jamestown on July 22, and headed to Dungeness Spit — the territory of the Elwha Klallam Tribe — July 23.

The journey to Jamestown, in heavy fog, illustrated how dangerous sea travel by canoe can be: A canoe from the Tsartlip First Nation in British Columbia overturned five miles west of Port Townsend; all pullers were rescued from the water and the canoe was towed to Sequim. There were no injuries, although one puller was taken to a local hospital to be checked for hypothermia. And July 23 canoes encountered rough waters en route to Dungeness Spit.

Here’s the schedule from now to Quinault.

July 23:    Elwha (Elwha Klallam Tribe)
July 24:    Elwha (Elwha Klallam Tribe)
July 25:    Pillar Point
July 26:    Neah Bay (Makah Nation)
July 27:    Ozette (Makah Nation)
July 28:    La Push (Quileute Tribe)
July 29:    La Push (Quileute Tribe)
July 30:    Hoh River (Hoh Tribe)
July 31:    Queets (Quinault Nation)
Aug. 1:     Taholah (Quinault Nation)

EARLIER STORIES
— The challenge of the Canoe Journey
— Canoe overturns near Port Townsend
— Canoe Journey Journal (blog)
— Canoe Journey helps participants connect with who they are
— Tall ships, canoes sail together in Canoe Journey