We quickly found the Alaska Sea Kayaker's shop and were introduced to our kayaks. Because we had some concerns about packing all our gear into the boats, we did a test stuff by the dock while we waited for our water taxi. With the help of one of the ASK staff, we learned how to fit all the dry bags into the kayaks.
We made a human chain to transfer all the dry bags and kayaking gear down the dock and into the water taxi for the ride to Whale Bay. The kayaks went on rollers above the cabin, all the dry bags were piled under the benches or on the middle of the cabin floor. It's a pretty efficient process, and within a few minutes we were out of the Whittier Harbor onto the glassy water of Passage Canal. The weather was sunny, and we had lots of great views of the amazing glaciers in Blackstone Bay and College Fjord.
The water taxi ride through Culross and Dangerous Passages was extremely scenic. These are intimate water ways, with lots of interesting islands and passages. We had great views of the glaciers near Nellie Juan. As we passed Chenega Island, just north of our destination, we picked up some wind and choppy water, which Captain Pete Heddell explained was due to the winds off the glaciers in Icy Bay...hmm, these glaciers were still many miles away, and we were going to be paddling up Icy Bay later in the week.
We saw a few Humpback whales spouting in the distance. Pete dropped us at our destination in Whale Bay by mid-afternoon and quickly sped away. We pulled the kayaks above the tidal zone and set up camp in the flat area just above the beach. It was a little buggy, but beautiful. Some of us spent some time kayaking around the small bay where we were camped. Around the point, we saw a bear fishing. There was also a bald eagle near camp.
These people are smiling because:
1) They just caught enough salmon for dinner
2) They skipped the nature hike
3) They love being together in the wilderness
4) All of the above
The following day was a layover day. We used it to paddle to the head of Whale Bay. This gave everyone a chance to get used to the kayaks. The water was glassy, with lots of sun and blue sky. We beached the boats and Tim quickly found a stream with hundreds of salmon spawning in it. While he and Diane fished, and Dave photographed, the rest of us hiked up towards a saddle overlooking Bainbridge Passage to the South. Tim and Diane remembered it as being very scenic from the Sierra Club trip they did here several years ago.
The hike started well enough, but quickly degenerated into a bushwack through Devil's Club, alder thickets and huge Cow Parsnip. We kept thinking if we could get just a little ways through the brush, over to a drainage, it would get better. But it didn't.
After awhile, we gave up and started thrashing our way back down the hill. In places, we could follow the trail we had beat down on the way up (or the random bear trail), but this wasn't always possible. I practiced a number of novel expletives. What we didn't know at the time is that Cow Parsnip sap is full of psoralen and related coumarin derivatives that hypersensitize the skin to UV damage. A month later, I still have burns on my arms from this hike.
We paddled back to camp against a slight headwind. The blue skies and blue water were magic. We saw several sea otters, and more bald eagles.
Back at camp, we gratefully supplemented our freeze-dried food with Tim's salmon, putting all the camp stoves into action to fry the steaks that he cut. After dinner, we built a small driftwood fire on the beach. The gnats were out, and persistent. Tim and Diane hadn't brought mosquito netting, but later Roger and Susie found extras for them. The weather was great, and the long Alaskan evening was pleasant.
Sue demonstrates the technique for drinking breakfast coffee while netted. While planning the trip, we had worried about weather, waves, wind, and bears. Turns out our biggest concerns were bugs and those killer cow parsnip plants.
It was in the mid-40's early this morning. The grass around our camp, and our tents, were drenched with dew this morning, so we spent a little extra time drying out before packing.
This was the first time we had to load all the camping gear into the kayaks for real. Fortunately, everything fit. But we were still getting used to the dry bags, and remembering what was in each bag wasn't yet natural. Tim and Diane launched first, while I helped Roger and Susie.