Trisha

Tied up at the old cannery site  38 miles south from Auke Bay today. It’s great to be underway after a celebratory send off with Kevin onboard the boat last night. We chose to tie up on the inside of Taku Harbor opposite an immaculate green sailboat. Trisha, the lone sailor of the craft was on the dock to catch our lines. I told her ‘it was not often we had the opportunity to tie up next to a garden.’ Hanging colorful flower baskets gently swayed from her rigging. She had just pulled up her crab pot which she had tossed from the dock. “There’s crab all over the place here”, she said. After a walk ashore I saw her enjoying a smoke looking sternward from her focsile, then catching the lines of another boat coming in. I arose early the next morning surprised to see only empty water where she had been.

Next Day

Absolutely Insanely Beautiful. We couldn’t pass by Port Snettisham on our way down Stephen’s Passage and explored up  to the end of Speel Arm, then stoped to drop the hook just beyond the Whiting River in Gilbert Bay. We entered Holkham Bay early afternoon and headed up Tracy arm to see Davies glacier and South Sawyer glacier whose colorful rocks and sheer granite walls webbed by countless waterfalls were spectacular. Traveling back out Tracy and into Endicott Arm we were able to make High Slack through Ford’s Terror and that’s where we’re swinging right now. 129 miles today filled with a lot of wows.

Ford’s Terror

How do you explain such a stupendous place as this? Man seems small and irrelevant here, where geologic time and the etched beauty of its passing is spell binding. I thought the name Ford’s Terror came from a guy caught in the rapids on an outgoing tide, plunging over the shallow terminal moraine pushed up long ago, or maybe from the crashing avalanches of cascading ice, show and rock that must constantly boom during winter months. No, I believe it was from the horrendous biting no-seeums when one gets up to take a leak overboard when the tide is out and the mudflats are nearby.

We awoke at 0315 to catch the high slack out of the narrow passage staying to starboard in deeper water and weaving among numerous icebergs, some as big as train cars. Bigger bergs yet greeted us in Endicott arm, some aqua blue with castle like turrets. Considering our fuel supply we passed by Seymour canal in favor of Gambier Bay where we now swing in a warm sunny breeze after a good nap.

Gambier Bay

Mile 1792.  Explored around Gambier Bay and anchored in Snug Cove. Caught some small flounder we used for bait to have Dungeness Crab for dinner with cream of potato soup. 

70 degree afternoon with enough breeze to keep the bugs off.

Wrangell

An eventful day. We bypassed The Brothers (two islands in Frederick Sound at the end of Admiralty Island) in favor of a direct heading to Petersburg because I estimated along with the fuel gauge that we would only have about 12 gallons spare. Just as we entered the top of the narrows perhaps a quarter mile from the harbor we ran out of diesel. Fortunately a couple good humored fishermen towed is into the fuel dock. After docking a couple hours at the harbor and picking up some supplies (plus extra fuel jugs) we ran the slalom course down the Wrangell narrows and are here now at the south Wrangell harbor on shore power for the first time since our Juneau  departure. I am sitting up in my bunk typing this after a wonderful rock fish meal and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc at the Stikine Inn.   A small shower patters the cabin.

Meyers Chuck

Took the Back Channel from Wrangell, through Eastern Passage below the Stikine Delta into Blake channel and a bit of Bradfield Canal. Explored Sunny Bay along with two Humpbacks feeding close to shore who rose in unison about fifty feet from the boat. Came east of Deer Island (Jim and I had gone up the west side last year on the way through Zimovia Strait) and into Earnest Sound. There was a lite chop going west in Earnest Sound, but turning into Clarence Strait past Lemly  Rock the seas took on a mixed 6-7 ft slop that was uncalled for on the forecast. We still had an hour of flood ahead of us and the going was so slow and uncomfortable we turned into the lovely Meyers Chuck. Several fishing boats had the same idea and more arrived later so it was a pretty good party with lot of friendly fishermen out of Wrangell who were on their way down for a gill net opener in Neets Bay for a terminal King fishery. Gerald on the NEW FREEDOM gave us a nice King for dinner which we barbecued up with rice and morels. The walking paths up from the dock at Meyers Chuck were very cool.

Bailey Bay and Shelokum Hot Springs

Departed Meyers Chuck at 0500 for Blem Canal to catch slack around Caamano Point. We tied up to a mooring buoy In Bailey Bay and splashed the dingy to go ashore and take the couple mile trip up to Shelokum Lake. The trail was in good shape, though part of it necessitated traversing through a creek under numerous waterfalls. A canoe with a couple old paddles allowed us an easier last mile to the Springs. Canadian Honkers, Loons, some nesting gulls, and other ducks made their selves known, especially the moss mouthed gulls who dive bombed us a couple times. The lake is stunning, black and deep below sheer rock walls that rise probably a thousand feet. The hot springs quickly filled up by plugging a 4 inch hole and the soak worked wonders for relieving  soar shoulder muscles and the general sense of well being from being is such a beautiful, quiet place.

Rudyerd Bay

A Brown Bear munched grass above the tide line much of the day and when we came back from our hike up to Punchbowl lake he was just below us. We quietly and respectfully passed by and when he finally noticed us from up wind he didn’t pay us much mind and went back to that luscious green grass. There is also Goose Tongue growing, but we forgot to pick some to add to the soup. We are tied to a mooring buoy here which is very convenient. Misty Fiords is a spectacular place with sheer cliff walls rising straight up out of the sea thousands of feet.                                    

It was a fairly arduous hike up to the Punchbowl Lake and quite a task getting the dingy back up on the roof. Fortunately Louise is strong as a Bull. The dingy ran well with the little 6 horse and main fuel tank. Yesterday we just rowed her to shore and carried her on the swim step when ran the 75 miles from Bailey Bay today but we miss the use of our swim step. We tried towing the dingy at first but I need a little more floating line to reach the yoke and keep her further beyond the wake.

High tide, the submerging creek has softened and another Grizzly has appeared right off our bow 100 meters. A blissfully quiet, calm, and variably sunny evening. Even the bugs are negligible. Contentment.