We had a good night’s sleep, except Erling who somehow failed to close out the mosquitoes from his tent properly. That is a mistake you only make once. A hefty dose Finnish antihistamines helped manage the situation, but no face recognition on Erling’s iPhone..
Agitated sea lion
It was an otherwise uneventful night. But on the morning we saw that someone had lifted a bag out of the cockpit on Erling’s kayak, the spray deck had also snapped off in the process. No clear bear tracks.
We had dinner ( Thursday ) breakfast and lunch (Friday) at the nearby lodge. A late start Friday suited us well with respect to the currents we needed to negotiate to get into Glacier Bay proper.
We also got the compulsory briefing from the very helpful and well informed rangers.
Just as we were packing to leave a quite agitated couple called for our attention. They just wanted to let us know that the largest grizzly/brown bear they had ever seen were taking a nap at the end of the camp grounds, occupying tent site nr 28.
We just took their word for it. And paddled off for a quite easy 25 km paddle into Glacier bay. There were some currents running and three cruise ships exiting. But visibility was good so no problem keeping our distance.
Cuddly creatures. And important to the kelp forest ecosystem
We saw a lot of whales, sea otters and a flock of sea lions who were clearly agitated by our presence.
Much the same as we have seen along the coast. But the animals here appears less wary of people. Sea otters will just cast a glance our way and go on with their snacking, floating on their backs, toes out of water.
Protecting food at night is a priority in bear country.
There are various ways. The most common/traditional way is a bear hang, that is putting a rope over a suitable high branch and securing your food in a bag and hoist it up in a rope.
The modern upgrades we are using are Kevlar bags that the bears cannot tear open, tied closed and tied to a tree.
And that there is the “butterbox” for any squashable items. It a plastic can the bears can neither crack nor carry away
Leaving camp at White Sulphur Springs with the butter box
We left Elfin Cove around 1200 on Wednesday to try to get slack water out through the South Inian Passage.
Debra and Bobo had given us strong recommendations to visit a place called Hobbit Hole. But as we got out into the South Inian passage the currents were running hard. We thought that if this is slack water we don’t want to be anywhere near on non-slack water. Conditions were perfect for crossing to LeMaitre island. We chose to forego Hobbit Hole and take the good conditions while we had them.
Just as well. As we arrived at LeMaitre island the water was running like a river against us (westward) although the tide was going in (eastward). In less benign conditions this would have turned interesting.
As it were we paddled in the “channel” between the kelp belt and shore. Turned out it was just the same place the humpback whales were feeding. By lying still and holding on to the kelp we managed to observe from about ten metres distance.
Impressive. Big but agile animals.
We also saw a bald eagle catch a fish too big to lift. What did it do? It swam to shore with the fish, butterfly style!
We ended up paddling all 27 km to the northeast point of LeMaitre island in one go. So much for our learning into Elfin cove that three breaks were optimal for 32 km… so we’re tired, but not to tired to make a feast out of the fresh fish Debra had sent with us. But then the day was done. We went to tents to the sound of the water flowing like a river eastward even though the tide was flowing out westward. Over towards glacier bay there was what looked like a two metre high braking current waves
We took a cautious approach also Thursday and waited for low tide to get slack water even though that meant carrying the kayaks quite some distance over slippery boulders.
Again good choice we got following currents and managed to get over to the east bank of the inlet to glacier bay without incident and travelling at 7 plus km/hr (normal has been 5ish)
All the way whales were blowing in all directions but mostly in or near the kelp belt.
After lunch we managed again to get up quite close to a humpback as it broke the surface.
Bear dropping in foreground, Mikko and Erling setting up camp in the background
Then there was a short paddle to the ranger station and the associated campground. Well organised and set up with food caches etc. But also with a damping fresh bear dropping in the middle of the path. No one seemed to pay much attention.
We had a longish paddle ahead of us, 32 km it turned out. To avoid currents in the Lipinsky strait we started early 0745, so we figured we would still make the shop in Elfin Cove
And while the wind and currents were favourable just as we started that did not last. In the Lipinsky inlet we got strong head winds. A tunnelling effect as the wind came in from the Pacific.
A hard paddle. In particular for Karianne who is still recovering from av broken shoulder back in February.
We divided the day into three stages and it worked just fine.
Two kayak bums outside the post office in Elfin Cove. The postmistress is one of the about ten people that live here year round
Elfin Cove is a small fishing community (ten or so inhabitants during winter and maybe a couple of hundred during summer).
It is also a divided community between the recent recreational charter fishing businesses and the traditional fishermen and women.
The recreational businesses is growing buy buying up properties as and if members of the traditional community leaves. So little or no new recruitment to that community..
And then the traditional community gets below critical size fa school (happened decades ago) and the local fishermen’s association has bought the shop and pays the salaries of the two ladies tending it over summer. But even that is becoming a stretch as the traditional community shrinks.
The lodges and charters bring their own stuff and costumers by boat from Juneau.
How do we know all this? Because we were lucky enough to meet Debra and Bobo, two of the Elfin Cove’s fisherpersons, out at White Sulphur springs on Sunday.
They were there with their daughter in law Amy and two grandkids.
When we heard they were based in Elfin Cove we asked if there was any place to camp. No problem you can camp on our ground they said, just come all the way to the bottom of the cove.
And so we did and got a warm greeting, a fine place to pitch the tents and an invitation for dinner to boot.
Dinner time
The menu? Freshly caught fish. Obviously. But also freshly harvested salad from Debra’s vegetable garden. Less obviously.
Debra knows her way with fish after fifty years as an Alaskan fisherwoman
Debra has been based up here as a fisherwoman for fifty one years and Babo a similar time. Debra is from New Jersey and Babo from Indiana. They met up here each fishing from their own boat. But Babo had a stove on his…, and the rest is history. Including two sons Rylan and Taiga, brought here in Elfin Cove and who are also fishermen with their own boats and one daughter in law who is also a fisherwoman with her own boat. So five boats to the family fleet.
And four-five months of 18 hour days in summer early autumn and then these years they winter in southern climes. Except one some and daughter in law who winters in Juneau.
Jake, a family friend and teacher from Juneau also joined in for dinner with his two daughters. Two sons and one daughter in law were out fishing.
And so we got to hear about life here now and before. And we also got a lot of advice from fifty years of outdoor life up here. Debra has paddled the exact same route we had decades ago in a Klepper folding kayak. And they have paddled a lot also in Glacier Bay.
After a long meal and conversations accompanied by the four kids’ laughing on the trampoline it was time to get in the tents.
A very memorable day. Even more for the hospitality than the paddle. And the paddle would have been quite memorable all by itself.
Since we were sleeping light the day got an early start and since the gnats were out in high numbers breakfast was effective. We were on the water at 0800.
We were rewarded for the early start. The water lay like a mirror in sunshine from an almost clear blue sky.
The trails of sea otters, seals and sea lions shimmered like streaks of silver, while bald eagles flew overhead and deer grazed along the shores. But no bears.
We had two very narrow channels to navigate and we were apprehensive of the risk of strong head currents, but fortunately we hit mostly slack water.
After almost four hours we called it lunch. Lunch was Mikko’s smoked oyster spaghetti, it tastes as good as it sounds.
Next was a short outside outside passage in the Pacific Ocean again. Going out is easy, getting back inside can be a bit more adrenaline rich. We had to look a bit around to find a safe passage in and toward today’s destination: White sulphur hot springs.
When we arrived there was already two boats at anchor there and the landing was lousy for kayaks. We paddled just 150 m up along the coast and found a very small and very secluded cove.
A bit of reconnaissance and we discovered a nearby campsite en route to the hot springs. We put up the tents found out towels and some clean clothes and set off for the hundred and fifty or so meters to the buildings at the hot springs.
After about thirty meters we bacame aware of something about to cross the path less than ten metres ahead of us. Two bear cubs followed by their grizzly mother. Obviously, not all bears have gone fishing; these were foraging for roots at the beach, but now heading back into the forest.
They were so close that we would have had to use the wide angle on the camera to capture all three in one frame. It was definitely a photo opportunity.
It was also an opportunity to turn 180 degrees and just keep the conversation going at a constant pitch.
We took the latter opportunity.
Once the bears had disappeared into the forest we went down towards the sea and walked to the hot springs over wave washed boulders. At least it was open terrain
We had an uneventful 100 m walk.
On arriving at the hot springs we were greeted by a three generation plus two dogs family outing and a salmon fisherman, both parties based in Elfin Cove for the summer. That is where we plan to be in two days time.
They were only mildly impressed by our bear encounter. Par for the course around here apparently.
We were impressed by the hot springs and the building erected on top of them. A fantastic place to warm up while gazing out over the Pacific.
Then we discovered that there was another building. A cabin. With four walls an and a solid door. That trumps three bears.
Strictly speaking we should have booked in advance, but..
Long story short tents down and camp moved inside.
and good thing that was. Just as we sat down for dinner we became aware of a enourmous male grizzly passing leisurely by just beneath the hot sling pool where we had just been taking a dip..
Mikko insisted that before we could call it a day we had to explore our little island, all 500 sq m of it
Actually in a rainforest quite a lot can be crammed into 500 sq m. Like the leftovers of two of someone’s deer dinners and a shitload of bear shit.
It dawned upon us that some bear or other was particular about this place. There were a lot of signs of foraging for roots etc.
But what made us pause was the fact that it had chosen a particular small dump as a toilet spot. And loaded it. Not something you do if you just happen to pass through.
There obviously was a bear out there that considered this home.
However, he wasn’t home just now. And judging from the shit he hadn’t been here for some time. He had probably done what bears do in July around here: “gone fishing”.
Probably. But just in case we put up two alarms on the spit of land that was the only dry entry to the island. Yes, we know that bears can swim, but why waste the calories if you can walk?
Then it was “lights out” for a night of light sleep.
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.
Mikko enjoying the view from the hot spring. Next best thing to a sauna
Since we were sleeping light the day got an early start and since the gnats were out in high numbers breakfast was effective. We were on the water at 0800.
We were rewarded for the early start. The water lay like a mirror in sunshine from an almost clear blue sky.
The trails of sea otters, seals and sea lions shimmered like streaks of silver, while bald eagles flew overhead and deer grazed along the shores. But no bears.
We had two very narrow channels to navigate and we were apprehensive of the risk of strong head currents, but fortunately we hit mostly slack water.
After almost four hours we called it lunch. Lunch was Mikko’s smoked oyster spaghetti, it tastes as good as it sounds.
Next was a short outside outside passage in the Pacific Ocean again. Going out is easy, getting back inside can be a bit more adrenaline rich. We had to look a bit around to find a safe passage in and toward today’s destination: White sulphur hot springs.
Inside pool at the hot spings
When we arrived there was already two boats at anchor there and the landing was lousy for kayaks. We paddled just 150 m up along the coast and found a very small and very secluded cove.
A bit of reconnaissance and we discovered a nearby campsite en route to the hot springs. We put up the tents found out towels and some clean clothes and set off for the hundred and fifty or so meters to the buildings at the hot springs.
After about thirty meters we bacame aware of something about to cross the path less than ten metres ahead of us. Two bear cubs followed by their grizzly mother. Obviously, not all bears have gone fishing; these were foraging for roots at the beach, but now heading back into the forest.
They were so close that we would have had to use the wide angle on the camera to capture all three in one frame. It was definitely a photo opportunity.
It was also an opportunity to turn 180 degrees and just keep the conversation going at a constant pitch.
We took the latter opportunity.
Once the bears had disappeared into the forest we went down towards the sea and walked to the hot springs over wave washed boulders. At least it was open terrain
We had an uneventful 100 m walk.
On arriving at the hot springs we were greeted by a three generation plus two dogs family outing and a salmon fisherman, both parties based in Elfin Cove for the summer. That is where we plan to be in two days time.
They were only mildly impressed by our bear encounter. Par for the course around here apparently.
As they were leaving the high tide had allowed the swell to reach in and Mikko and Erling who were taking a chilling dip anyway helped steady then pack raft and paddle board the family used to get to their boat.
Inside the hot spring
(We later learned that they probably could have managed blindfolded and backwards, but they thanked us all the same)
We were impressed by the hot springs and the building erected on top of them. A fantastic place to warm up while gazing out over the Pacific.
Then we discovered that there was another building. A cabin. With four walls an and a solid door. That trumps three bears.
Strictly speaking we should have booked in advance, but..
Long story short tents down and camp moved inside.
Taking a dip in the outside pool
Good thing that was. Just as we sat down for dinner a huge male grizzly bear walked leisurely past where we had just been taking a dip in the outside pool…
Bandwidth does not allow pictures will update later)
Mikko insisted that before we could call it a day we had to explore our little island, all 500 sq m of it
Actually in a rainforest quite a lot can be crammed into 500 sq m. Like the leftovers of two of someone’s deer dinners and a shitload of bear shit.
It dawned upon us that some bear or other was particular about this place. There were a lot of signs of foraging for roots etc.
But what made us pause was the fact that it had chosen a particular small dump as a toilet spot. And loaded it. Not something you do if you just happen to pass through.
There obviously was a bear out there that considered this home.
However, he wasn’t home just now. And judging from the shit he hadn’t been here for some time. He had probably done what bears do in July around here: “gone fishing”.
Probably. But just in case we put up two alarms on the spit of land that was the only dry entry to the island. Yes, we know that bears can swim, but why waste the calories if you can walk?
Then it was “lights out” for a night of light sleep.
Bandwidth does not allow pictures will update later)
Steady supply of rain
The ecology here on the Pacific coast is called temperate rainforest. Apparently tocultivate a rainforest takes not just a lot of rain over the year, but a steady daily supply of the wet stuff. A bit for breakfast, a bit for lunch and dinner and a solid helping over the night.
To make a forest like this
At least that is our observation. No alarm tonight, but a steady downpour of rain accompanied by the thunder of waves breaking against the rocks made sure it was no silent night.
And everything was either soaking wet or just damp.
Under our dining room tarp it was just damp. We had a nice breakfast looking out at the rain running off the tarp.
Then it was time to load the boats and 0940 were off to another helping of heavy Pacific swells breaking on the skerries outside. It took a bit of focus, but fortunately it was just four km of it before we came into sheltered waters.
The rainforest was being well cultivated today as well, but sitting in a dry suit in the kayak we didn’t mind, just as the sea otters, sea lions and whales that crossed our paths (whales, one pretty close) or followed us (sea lions)
Lunch was grey and wet, but that made the soup taste even better.
Another two hours paddle and we arrived at a perfect campsite that Mikko had spotted on google.
It was still raining, but before we were ready to start dinner the sun came out!!!
Dinner postponed, all textiles out to dry and Mikko and Erling even took a dip.
Nothing is better than a sunny evening in camp in a rainforest.
