We had a quiet night and a blissfully uneventful morning. Breakfast and then a last dip in the hot springs then carry our stuff back the 150 m to the kayaks.
No bears
But when we got to the kayaks we found that just beside the kayaks a bear, probably the big male, had dug a hole and left his mark. But he was nowhere to be seen and we marked right back.
What was also nowhere to be seen was the sea. Low tide. We had the better part of 100 m to carry.
Al this took time and we were not underway until after ten o’clock.
The paddle started with a last taste of the Pacific, but now the name was apt. The swells had subsided and we could focus attention on the sea otters, loons, guillemots etc that crossed our path.
We took advantage of the calm seas to paddle inside the skerries as we turned into the Lisa ski straight We were rewarded with the sight of a bear foraging for roots along the high water mark. When he became aware of us he showed his backside took a shot and disappeared into the forest. We did not interpret this as an invitation to come ashore.
Instead we paddled on with tail wind and following current up the Lisiansky straight until it was time for another oyster spaghetti lunch
After that a short paddle to a “gapahuk” shelter, same architect as those near Sitka. The shelter is a modest three walls and a roof, but the adjoining jetty looks like it could be used by a cruise ship. It probably takes as much to withstand the force of a winter storm.
For us it will be a good place to get a night’s rest before we paddle on the 28 km to Elfin cove tomorrow.
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