Watertrail: The Hidden Path Through Puget Sound
Joel Rogers's beautifully photographedWatertrailchronicles his 26-day, 440-mile sea kayak exploration of the Cascadia Marine Trail, the pristine water-bound route through Washington State's Puget Sound and San Juan Islands. Rogers closely scrutinizes the waterway, which is as much a Northwest icon as the apple or evergreen, investigating the relationship between ecosystem and industrial growth. ButWatertrailis much more than an environmental impact study: the photographer-author embraces the region's diversity, paddling with orcas and oil tankers and camping beneath coastal old growth, all the while capturing the sights with vibrant photographs. Following the equipment-laden "Boato" in the wake of passenger ferries and factory trawlers, we learn about early settlement, tidal incongruities, and the nutrient-rich Puget Sound waters. Rogers also rubs elbows with locals who inhabit the Puget Sound coastline: he celebrates the Fourth of July in Port Townsend, a salty town filled with utopians, iconoclasts, poets, and eccentrics, an eclectic mix who are bound by their love of water. Throughout the journey, Rogers' thoughtful prose and intimate images convey his passion for kayaking and a strong sense of place.--Rob McDonald