Misty Fjords – Riveted

Behm Canal, Misty Fjords, Ketchikan

Laura Domela — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 20:17:40 +0000

We left Thorne Bay and headed for Ketchikan to catch up on laundry, groceries, etc. and to pick up our 9-year-old granddaughter, Mijonet, for a trip around Behm Canal. (Read up on our previous last two stops on Prince of Wales Island over on Slowboat: Coffman Cove, and Thorne Bay.)

The Ketchikan airport is across Tongass Narrows from town/ That means travelers arriving or departing Ketchikan by air must take a ferry a few hundred yards across the narrows to get to the airport. However, there’s a public dinghy/loading dock right next door to the ferry dock, and boating to the airport is WAY more fun than going by car or ferry. Airship swung by the airport and picked up Mijonet, while Sam on Safe Harbour went on ahead and into Behm Canal starting with the north end.

The weather looked bumpy for leaving Ketchikan. NOAA was predicting 25-knot southerly winds, and getting around the south end of Revillagigedo Island in southerly weather is not fun at all because it’s open to Dixon Entrance, so we opted to start with the north. The plan worked great, and we had a smooth cruise all the way to Naha Bay.

We tied to the public float near the entrance to Roosevelt Lagoon and the nearby (tiny) community of Loring.

This float is in great condition and allows easy access to trails. It’s just around the corner from Naha Rapids which lead into (or out of) Roosevelt Lagoon. Sam took these two photos with his DJI Phantom that will give you a good overview of the place:

We took the dinghies out with visions of going through the narrows to explore Roosevelt Lagoon. But as we looked into the rapids, we saw…well, lots of rapids, and the water inside was visually much lower than the water outside. We turned back to explore Loring, and figured we’d check back later on the conditions at the rapids.

According to the 2010 census, Loring has a population of 4, but in the summer months that can swell to 50. It’s a quaint village with buildings connected by boardwalks and a cannery/history museum that had an open sign out but was actually closed. Other than the museum, there’s nothing for visitors.

Back at the rapids, not much change. We pulled the dinghies up to a cool little portage and walked the trail over to the lagoon to get a closer look.

So, no exploring Roosevelt Lagoon for us. We tried again in the morning closer to the time of slack at Loring, but the rapids were still running too fast. These are serious rapids, probably easily capable of capsizing a dinghy and drowning a human. Explore cautiously!

We had homemade pizza for dinner as the rain poured down. Torrential, two-inch-an-hour rain.

The next morning, Kevin and Mijonet went out for some fishing. Mijonet caught her first fish, a big pink salmon, which they threw back in.

With the fishing complete, we continued north and then east in Behm Canal to Fitzgibbon Cove.

It was still raining pretty heavily and it was windy. Fitzgibbon Cove is somewhat open to the south, and we had a 1-2 foot chop rolling through the anchorage which made for a bit of a bumpy night. Unfortunately, nothing nearby looked any better. We stayed here one night last year in pretty much the same conditions (remind us next year not to do that again please). We put out some crab traps, made dinner, took no photos. In the morning we pulled up one big male Dungeness (just enough to make crab mac-n-cheese for dinner) and then cruised to Walker Cove in Misty Fjords.

Walker Cove is definitely one of our favorite anchorages in SE Alaska. We spent several nights in here last summer and rain or shine, it’s gorgeous…dozens of waterfalls, sheer granite walls, and usually many bears. It’s much less crowded than Punchbowl Cove (a little further south) and just as beautiful. Even on this gray, misty day, it was clear enough to have a great view of the scenery.

Sam took this photo of Mij and Kevin and I getting a closer look at one of the many waterfalls

Up at the head of Walker Bay (no bears). (We anchored in here one night last year. It’s a little harder to find a good spot because it shoals quickly, but it’s doable and the scenery payoff is high.)

Sam really wanted to go underneath this waterfall…

So up went the Grundens hood…

We returned to the boats and dinghied up the river a bit. Last year we saw eight brown bears at the same time on shore in Walker Cove, but so far this visit — no bears. We thought maybe we’d find at least one feasting on salmon a little further upstream, but still we saw only eagles. We beached on a sandbar and walked around a little, stepping around some bear paw and eagle talon prints in the sand.

In the morning before leaving, we pulled the crab traps up and had three big male Dungies that were keepers. (Crab cakes for dinner, crab/eggs benedict for breakfast the next day, and some crab dip another night!)

We left Walker Bay with the idea that we’d anchor for the night at Winstanley Island/Shoalwater Pass, about 20nm (3 hours) away. The forecast was for 25-knot winds from the SE, but as we motored south conditions were perfectly calm. Wanting to take advantage of the calm conditions, we passed Shoalwater Pass and kept going, thinking we might have an easy trip around Point Alava. We didn’t. The wind and seas built to 25+ knots and 3-4 feet. The autopilots got a bit of a workout!

We ended up in Ice House Cove, just south of Carroll Point, tied to a huge mooring buoy. Ice House Cove turned out to be a sweet little anchorage. We hear that there are some trails here, but the weather was still super rainy so we didn’t go out and explore at all, nor did we manage to get any photos, but we’d definitely return to this anchorage. It’s close enough (8 miles) to Ketchikan but a great alternative when you don’t feel like being in town.

Once back in Ketchikan, Sam left for a quick trip to Seattle, and Kevin and I did a few touristy things with Mijonet. We had one (and a half) nice days of weather and managed to get out to Totem Bight State Park with just a bit of drizzle.

Inside the restoration house

Kadjuk Bird Pole (Tlingit). The fabled Kadjuk bird sits atop the pole (out of view) with a section of uncarved space below him symbolizing high esteem for the bird. Raven is the next figure with his breast forming the headdress of his wife, Fog Woman, who holds the first two salmon in the world, that she produced. (!!!) The two large faces at the base symbolize the two slaves of Raven.

View from the beach out into Tongass Narrows

The weather cooperated and Mij got to return to the airport via dinghy shuttle — the best kind of shuttle! From Airship (moored at the city float downtown) to the small vessel dock across Tongass Narrows it’s about 2.5 nautical miles, which is no big deal at all in settled weather (just watch for float planes!)

Kevin and I had a nice dinner up at the Bar Harbor Restaurant, and then spent Saturday and part of Sunday doing errands and chores.

We’ve been in Ketchikan now for a week! The last several days have been dreadfully gray and rainy. (We’ve had over 8 inches of rain since yesterday morning!!) But we’re all fueled up and have done the shopping we need, and now we’re just waiting for a break in the weather so we can head south across Dixon Entrance. If we don’t get the one we were hoping for this afternoon, maybe we’ll go see a movie!

Misty Fjords with Mijonet | Part 2

Laura Domela — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 01:53:31 +0000

On Friday morning Kevin and Mij went out to check crab traps (and Mij got another lesson in dinghy driving…she’s doing great!)

We had one keeper Dungeness, so I think I’ll make that recipe I made last week that was so good: crab spaghetti with lemon gremolata.

After breakfast, we left the mooring ball in Walker Cove and headed into the inner anchorage at the very head of the bay. We’d surveyed the area by dinghy (and depth sounder) on another visit and it looked anchorable, so we thought we’d give it a shot. The spot referenced in Active Captain says to anchor in front of the landslide in 40 feet of water. We found this to be a total no-go for us (40 feet would have you RIGHT next to the shore with almost no swinging room), and we instead anchored in about 80 feet on the other side, across from the waterfall and clear of the charted rocks.

The weather was pretty crappy for most of the day. We hung out and visited, played a little XBox, and did a little fishing in the rain.

The next morning we pulled anchor and headed down to Punchbowl Cove. The weather was gorgeous and we had a nice short cruise so once we arrived there was still lots of daylight to play with. We set the crap traps out again and then did some exploring by kayak. There was a fish boat on the (one) mooring ball, so we anchored over near the mouth of the river.

We got out on this beach and walked/waded/goofed around a bit:

On Sunday we headed back to Ketchikan (with one more crab, woohoo!). We trolled for salmon a bit on the way back (had a few pretty serious bites but didn’t catch anything) and then once in Ketchikan, went walking around town a bit. We grabbed a bite at the New York Hotel for dinner (meh, not that great). Back at Airship we played some cards and made some brownies while the wind and the rain both picked up considerably.

We’re staying at Thomas Basin this time (never stayed here before) because it’s convenient to town, groceries, and laundry. I like it! Cool native canoe on the dock across from us:

Piling topper:

It was such a blast having Mijonet with us for the past five days. She came up last summer with her mom for 10 days and it was super fun, but there was a lot of time she was bored and her mood was a bit more volatile. She had a harder time just “being on the boat” … but boy what a difference a year can make at her age. She was fantastic. It was fun having her solo too…getting to spend the time with just her was fun and not something we get to do for that long normally. She has such a great attitude about things, is always helpful, eats (and tries) pretty much everything, and wakes up every morning SO DANG HAPPY. It’s lovely. (Plus, she told me she thought I looked prettier without makeup, which was super endearing. Also, I put on a scarf this morning to take her to the airport and she said “You look like a fashion model with that scarf on.” I mean, who could not love this kid??)

Mijonet requested Crab Cake Benedict for breakfast this morning, so…guess what she got? I think we’ve had crab every single day. Yesterday we had crab for breakfast, lunch, and dinner…the kid loves crab, that’s for sure!

Just before noon today we took a taxi to the airport ferry and got Mij to her gate with plenty of time to spare. We said our goodbyes and waited for her plane to take off. (That’s the runway, behind the plane…up on the hill.)

Riding the ferry back across Tongass Narrows:

We walked back to town and grabbed lunch at Bar Harbor, then returned to the (awww, so quiet) Airship to get some work done. We’re waffling a little bit about whether to head south and across Dixon Entrance in the next day or so (forecast looks pretty good) or to go over to Kasaan (across Clarence Strait on Prince of Wales Island) for the re-dedication of the Chief Son-i-Hat Whale House this weekend, but we’re pretty sure we’re going to choose Kasaan. The Son-i-Hat Whale House is the only Haida clan house in Alaska. (If you were with us last year, you might remember we visited during restoration). The restoration is complete now, and the celebration will be large (they expect around 1,000 people, and I think Kasaan is a village of just over 50 residents) . The canoe landing happens on Friday, and the celebration is from noon to 6pm on Saturday. There will be dancing and food (potluck, we’re to bring a dish to share) and it should be a very cool thing to be a part of. We’ll arrive before Friday and if we don’t get a spot on the float we’ll anchor out. Might be more fun to watch the canoes come in from anchor. (I’m told I can photograph anything I want, too….so there’s THAT!!)

Misty Fjords with Mijonet | Part 1

Laura Domela — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 23:54:10 +0000

Kevin and Mijonet (granddaughter, 8, on her first solo trip!) arrived from Seattle on time in Ketchikan on Wednesday afternoon. We got Mij all unpacked and then headed up to the Bar Harbor Restaurant to have some dinner (Mij had a pound of clams to celebrate her arrival into the Land of Seafood). After dinner, Kevin and Mij got out their matching (telescoping) fishing rods and Kevin taught Mij how to cast. She caught on really fast!

By morning the wind had died down considerably. We left the dock around 7am and headed for Misty Fjords. Just as we were about to enter Behm Canal we found a humpback breaching like crazy. This guy was so active! We counted about 15 breaches in a row, then fin slaps, then about a dozen more breaches….so much energy! The first breach was usually a full one and the subsequent breaches were not quite full…but still seriously splashy.

We watched for a while and then continued on, since our cruise today was a long one. In Behm Canal we came upon some more Pacific White Sided Dolphins, but they didn’t come swim with us…must have been too busy eating fish.

We arrived in Walker Cove just after 5pm. There was no one else here, so we grabbed the one mooring ball and then went out to set crab traps. While we were setting the second trap we saw a black bear sow and two cubs on shore, so we followed them up the river a bit (from a distance). The sow was combing the shore for fish, as her two little ones followed along. It was so cool (except for the insane amount of bugs flying around us).

Up river a bit (it was just about high tide) we saw several seals, and then something weird floating/swimming in front of us a ways. It was kind of long, and didn’t really look like a seal head. I said “What IS that?” as we slowed down…it was alive, but didn’t look like a seal OR an otter. I picked up the camera and zoomed in…it WAS a seal, but with just its snout sticking out of the water…and it was swimming upside down! Silly seal!

I made a shrimp boil for dinner in the pressure cooker. This is a pretty cool recipe, actually. Beer, spices, potatoes, corn, sausage, and shrimp…5 minutes on high in the pressure cooker and boom! Super fast!

More Misty Fjords

Laura Domela — Sun, 12 Jun 2016 19:20:40 +0000

Kevin arrived back in Ketchikan after spending the week in Austin for work. He brought his mom back with him, and we’ll be showing her SE Alaska from Ketchikan to Petersburg this week. (I was really ready to get off the dock back out in nature again!)

Our first stop after some sightseeing in Ketchikan (Creek Street, Saxman Totem Village, and dinner at the Bar Harbor Restaurant) was Walker Cove in Misty Fjords. We were here a little over a week ago and really thought she’d like it, so here we are again!

We anchored near where we anchored before, in about 90 feet of water. There’s only one other boat in here. Both of us are anchored, and the mooring ball is free.

We noticed a very light-colored grizzly on shore while Kevin was setting up the crab traps, so all three of us went out in the dinghy to put out the crab traps, but first took a detour to get a closer look at the grizzly. He was digging in the sand on the beach when he noticed us…

We weren’t very close, and the electric motor on the dinghy is super quiet, but we didn’t want to disturb his meal, so we moved on to set the crab traps. After that we took a dinghy ride up the river a little ways.

On the way out, the grizzly was still on the beach and he didn’t seem to mind or notice us much, so we just sat still and watched him do his thing for about a half an hour. Look how light his fur is! This definitely is not the single male we saw in here a week or so ago…I’ve never seen a bear this light in color.

I made crab bisque for dinner and we played some games and got to bed fairly early.

This morning, Kevin and Shirley went out to pull the traps (in the rain) and I took a quick shower and made breakfast so it was ready when they got back. They brought back maybe 7 males, but only four were big enough to keep. Four’s plenty for dinner though, so we’re set!

We pulled anchor and left Walker Cove, headed around the rest of Behm Canal for Helm Bay. We wanted to make miles today! It was nice and calm most of the way around, but the forecast in Clarence Strait was for NW wind 20 knots in the afternoon, seas building to 4 feet, so we figured we could get some of that in the west arm of Behm. And sure enough, we did. Waves were 4 feet (or more) and pretty choppy (but straight on our bow), and the wind was gusting to 25 knots. It was a wet ride, for sure. (Glad we could show Shirley a more complete Alaska experience, not just the placid days filled with humpbacks and unicorns.)

I took no photos while we were in the soup, but here’s one from right before:

The conditions weren’t too bad at first, but definitely got progressively worse during the “cruise.” We chose a few duck out points in case we needed them, but ultimately kept going for Helm Bay.

We passed the entrance to the bay and extended out for a ways before turning in…since we knew we’d be surfing some pretty good-sized waves into the cove before we had shelter. It was challenging, but some REALLY good experience. We only had a couple of squirrelly sideways moments when I didn’t turn to starboard fast enough between waves, but all in all I think I did very well surfing Airship into Helm Bay. We’re on the Forest Service dock now, cooking up some crab.

Tomorrow: Meyers Chuck.

Misty Fjords | Day 2

Laura Domela — Sat, 28 May 2016 23:22:00 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016

This morning we woke up early, made some coffee, and sat out on the bow watching bears. We decided we’d take a dinghy ride further around to the end of Walker Cove before pulling the crab traps this morning. It was early and quiet and the water was glassy still. (So nice to have the electric Torqeedo for these kinds of quiet expeditions, instead of the loud gasoline outboard!)

There are a couple of decent spots to anchor further into the cove, and I think we may try one of them next time. Bears on the beach, waterfalls and snow-capped mountains around you…it’s like a different world in here.

Little (not really) bear ears:

Kevin dropped me at the boat (after a two-hour cruise) and I started breakfast while he checked the traps. Two more Dungeness. We’re going to stay in here another night, so he reset the traps (with a little more raw bacon…it’s our secret crab-getting bait).

Here we are, from the dinghy:

After breakfast Kevin took the drone up and I shot some photos of our anchorage:

There are four bears in this picture:

The sun came out for a bit and we decided to get the kayak out and go for a paddle. First, we headed over to the river (there are two bears in this photo):

And then, we saw more bears. The sow and her one cub were eating grass on the shore, so we stopped to watch them for a bit:

Kayak. Grizzly bears.

Back to Airship:

Dinner tonight was crab enchiladas. Yes, again. Hush.

Misty Fjords | Day 1

Laura Domela — Fri, 27 May 2016 22:49:00 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016

On Thursday morning we left Ketchikan and headed for Misty Fjords. We didn’t get to Misty Fjords last year and since we were about a week early to Ketchikan…what better to do with that week? We thought we’d check out New Eddystone Rock first, and then decide where to anchor for the night. New Eddystone is pretty spectacular. It rises 230 feet high and looks like something out of a video game.

We did a loop around the rock and then went over to see what Checats Cove (along the east side of Behm Canal) looked like. It looked like it was totally exposed and not much of an anchorage at all. Kayley said the real highlight of this anchorage was the view of New Eddystone from there, but that’s not really true. The rock is about two miles away and looks pretty tiny from Checats Cove. I mean, you can see it, but it’s not what I’d consider a great view of it. We headed back over to the anchorage at Winstanley Island, just a bit south. It was lovely and protected. We anchored in about 50 feet not too far from the Forest Service buoy (reserved for the Forest Service cabin on the shore). We put out a couple crab traps and this morning we had five or so Dungeness…two definite male keepers, and one on-the-line male that we put back.

I made us a quick breakfast and we pulled anchor and headed for Rudyerd Bay. Our plan was to do a little tour through Rudyerd and then go on up to Walker Cove tonight.

Rudyerd Cove and Punchbowl Cove are THE most popular tourist stops for Misty Fjords. Float plane after float plane after tour boat after tour boat….it was kinda nuts. There’s one mooring ball in Punchbowl Cove and some areas to either side of it for anchoring. There was a group of several boats that looked rafted together. We had a look around, and then continued deeper on into the bay. It was beautiful…big granite bowls and cliffs carved by glaciers, snow-topped mountains, tons of waterfalls…and really a LOT of mist. We could only occasionally see the snowy mountain tops…I’m hoping it gets a little less misty while we’re in here (not holding my breath). As we passed the entrance to Punchbowl Cove on our way out, one of the boats in there hailed us on the radio to let us know the mooring ball was free and that they’d also be leaving pretty soon. How nice! We thanked them but said we thought we’d continue on up to Walker Cove. They said they were headed there next too, so they’d see us there!

So…Rudyerd Bay is beautiful. Punchbowl Cove is impressive. But holy crap Walker kicks Rudyerd’s ass. It’s not just about the plethora of float planes and tour boats, either. As you enter Walker Cove it’s majestic. Enormous. Waterfalls everywhere.

As we approach the anchorage area, there are brown bears on the beach. Six of them. One sow with three cubs and one sow with one cub. “Oh hi, bears.”

There’s one other boat when we arrive (though we’re expecting quite a few more) and that boat has the mooring ball, so we anchored on the east side of that boat. (The west side, closer to the river, shoals up REAL fast. How fast, you might ask? Well, you could be going really slow in 60 feet of water and find yourself in 4 feet of water at the blink of an eye.)

Okay, back to the bears.

Kevin went to set some crab traps as the flotilla from Rudyerd Bay arrived (turns out they’re the Roche Harbor Yacht Club flotilla…and they seem great!) While Kevin was out dropping the traps, I noticed a single young male brown bear on the shore (that makes 7 bears total here).

A float plane circled around and then landed in this cove, scaring the bear away. The passengers and pilots got out of the plane and stood on the floats for a while, and eventually the bears came back, so everyone was happy.

We took the dinghy out for some exploring and headed up the river a ways. On the way up, we passed two dinghies from the flotilla group as they were on their way out. It was a little Jungle Boat ride-like at that point…”Keep an eye out for the hippo!”

It was gorgeous in there too, but man is it difficult to get ANY photos that describe the beauty of this place.

As we passed the beach/shore/field on our way back to Airship, and…more bears! We hung out and watched them for an hour or so as they…well, as they ate grass. Lots of grass.

Nice bear family portrait:

Awww, cub nuzzling mama bear:

We pulled some of Kevin’s BBQ ribs from the freezer, thawed them and then finished them on the grill, and I made a mushroom risotto and a caesar salad. (I needed to use up the mushrooms, so we’ll have crab and asparagus pasta tonight with our fresh crab.) There were at least four bears on the beach until it was just about dark.

Here’s today’s track from Winstanley Island, into Rudyerd Bay, and on to Walker Cove (32 nautical miles, 4 hours 38 minutes):