June 27 – Day 58 ---- Appleton to Kalinan Bay, Kruzof Island

June 27 – Day 58  ---- Appleton to Kalinan Bay, Kruzof Island

 

 

It was foggy this morning but it cleared and became a warm sunny day.  Tonic pulled out early headed for more adventures.  

The crab pots were pulled.  Count - Zero for Magic, 8 in the pot for Nelsea. Steve's 8 crab consisted of one keeper one too small, and 5 small King crab.  

Too small and not legal for non-residents to keep.  But fun to see.

 

 

 

 

We cruised through Peril Strait timing it so that we did not have to deal with a 7 knot current against us.  It was still running when we transited as shown by this photo of marker bouy #8   

 

Sealions on the rocks getting some sun.

 

When we got to Kalinan Bay there were a number of boat already there, it is a popular place.   There was a momma Grizzly with her two cubs on the beach.  The cubs were rough housing and running around while mom grazed on grass.   One cub was clearly more adventurous and went down to the water and ended up splashing around in the water a bit.  Then it ran very fast back up to mom, so likely she did not like it being in the water and called it back.

 

 

 

 

Steve, John, and Tom went fishing while Glen, Michelle, Jane and I went for a hike.  

We thought we were going to head toward the Sealion Cove on the ocean side of the island which is a 2.5 mile hike thorough 'serious bear country' (per the books), but we ended up taking the trail to the lake.  We took the trail  across the meadow at the head of the bay and up the hill.  The trail by the meadow was quite muddy.  Going up the hill there are areas of stairs cut into downed trees, stairs made of sections of logs with the top side flattened some cross-cut for traction while other have pieces of fishing net nailed on for traction.  Other areas you walk on boards of every size or rocks and tree roots.   The lake was beautiful.    We saw some young ladies with their dogs up not far from the lake and they said we were 1/3 of the way to the ocean beach.  Humm, there must be two trails, one over the hill and one at the lower level.  On the way back a large family (9 plus a dog) ended  up on the meadow trail behind us.  They clearly went the lower route as we would have seen or heard them if they'd been on the lake trail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bear claw marks in the wood along the trail

A far amount of bear evidence along the trail  (aka scat but not too fresh)

 

Glen said this was the bear bath/spa complete with flowers

 

Lots of stairs.  This set had a rope handrail.  Not quite ADA compliant

 

All uphill

 

The lake was beautiful, with sandy beaches and warm water.

 

Glen and Michelle wading in the warm water

 

 

 

Jane, Michelle, and I at the lake

 

We got back to the boats and spent the late afternoon early evening sitting in the sun on back decks.  The fisherman came back with some fish.   Fish Taco's for dinner tonight.

June 26 - Day 57 - Warm Springs to Hidden Falls to Appleton Cove

 

 

June 26 – Day 57 – Warm Springs to Hidden Falls to Appleton Cove

 

The sky is bright this morning but still with high clouds, which hopefully will clear.

 

 

The inlet behind the boats this morning. Took the Jet through there yesterday.

 

Looking back

 

 

We are now headed for Hidden Falls, a short distance (about 4 miles) up the strait.  This will be a short stop for a visit as we need to move on closer to Sitka for a crew change in a few days. 

Hidden Falls is a fish hatchery that we stopped at in 2016.  That year they gave us a tour of the facility; very interesting.   They also had at that time a number of ‘resident’ brown bears that stay there year-round and do not hibernate.   Hey, where there is free and easy food, why go anywhere else.    

 

Due to covid they are not giving tours inside the buildings this year.  But we were able to talk to some workers outside.  They had just released the first batch of little ones into one of the outside tanks this morning and while we were there they released another group.  

 

This one did not survive the transfer to outside

 

There were three brown ‘grizzly’ bear there, two were sitting on the rocks waiting for the adult fish to arrive.  The third was grazing in the grassy meadow across the river.

 

Just waiting, but no fish in sight

 

 

 

Still watching.  Check out those claws. 

 

 

Bored but waiting

 

Back to the boats, head out and have some lunch.    Next stop Appleton Cove.  Hopefully some crabbing there.

 

The views along the way are amazing

 

On the way in we noticed on AIS that m/v Tonic who we met earlier in the trip, was in the bay.  So after anchoring the guys went out to drop the pots.  

 

 

Shortly after we arrival Steve and Brian from Tonic came over to visit.  We exchanged stories about places visited.   They have been on what they called the ‘appetizer’ tour.  They have stopped into a lot of places and seen a lot, in a relatively short time.  We are going in the opposite directions so our paths had not crossed.  They said they’d been watching for us, and said that they saw three boats headed into this bay and said, it must be them.  We had a great visit and will be watching for them in Glacier Bay as our permits are for the same timeframe.   We told them about Hidden Falls, Waterfall Cove, Warm Springs (hot springs), Red Bluff Bay and Gut Bay all as must-see places.

 

There is a forest service rental cabin in this bay and it was occupied.  The group at the cabin kept setting off loud fireworks and in the evening ones with skyward bursts of color.  If there were bear in this bay they are all hiding way away from the water.

 

 

June 25 - Day 56 Gut Bay to Warm Springs Bay part 2

June 25 - Day 56 Gut Bay to Warm Springs Bay part 2

 

 

The trail up to the hot springs has been well maintained.  This community at one time got their electricity from the waterfall, and their hot water and heat from the natural hot springs above 'town'.   Some of the residents are full time and some just come for the summers.  Definitely a great place to live 'off the grid'.

 

Part of trail to hot springs and lake

 

                                   Reminder along the trail that we are in bear country

 

 

 

 

We all went for a soak in the natural pools.  There were three+ levels of pool usable and varying from very hot to cooler as they transitioned toward the river.  The river that feeds the waterfall goes right by these hot pools and spills cold water into the lowest pool (lowest pool is behind us in the photos).  After our soak Glen and I headed back down the trail while the others went up to the lake.  The lake is quite pretty with the high hills around it.

 

On the way back to the boats, Glen stopped to 'rinse off' in the bathhouse.  Michelle gave that a try as well; making photo ops for me.

Michelle with our boats in the background

 

The bath house --- It consists of three private rooms with tubs with both hot and cold running water provided by nature.  The rooms have openings 'windows' on their upper half of their outside (bay side) wall providing a view of the bay and waterfall for your enjoyment while bathing.

 

Bathhouse

 

After everyone was back at our 'home base' and  cleaned up, we had dinner followed by movie night.

June 25 – Day 56 Gut Bay to Warm Springs Bay - part 1

June 25 – Day 56     Gut Bay to Warm Springs Bay

 

Reflective morning in Gut Bay – 5:30 am

I'd say quiet but there are birds chirping and roaring waterfalls.

 

 

The sky is clearer this morning and at times it appears that the sun is trying to pop through the clouds.  Every once in a while it pops through and brightens up one of the snowfields way up there.  

 

There have been a couple hummingbirds buzzing around our boat all morning.  They seem attracted to the red stripes of the American flag on our stern.   One a bit bigger than the other.  Sorry no photos, they are too fast. 

 

About 7:30 much of the fog has cleared and the sun is trying harder to brighten up the bay.  There are even shadows forming.  

 

Today's destination is Warms Springs Bay  ---- Time for a dip in the hot springs.

Warm Spring Bay has a large roaring waterfall, which drops about 100 feet.  The waterfall used to provide electricity to the small community of about a dozen homes in the area.   About a ½ mile up the hill from the dock are the natural 'hot springs'.  These pools have hot to very hot water and are situated right next to the icy river water heading down to the falls.   Above the dock is an elevated boardwalk that connects the community.  On the dock is a bathhouse which has three private tub rooms which are open to the water side (they have curtains if you want more privacy), so you can bathe and soak while watching the boats in the bay and the waterfall.     

Steve and Michelle playing catch this morning, with a 10 lb. ball

 

 

 

The prawn in the area must be wearing glasses as they found their way into our pot. 

 

We got a salad bowl full of prawn this morning – won't starve today!

 

 

 

Nelsea following us out of Gut Bay

 

Cruising up Chatham Strait.  Passed by Red Bluff.  The rock on these hills looks a rusty red and are basically treeless, quite different than the other hills in the area.  We are not stopping in Red Bluff this trip but it is a beautiful and well protected bay.  There once was a cannery there.   We have seen Brown 'grizzly' bear in there on previous trips.

Cruising along we see lots of very long/tall waterfalls, some appear to be 100's of feet tall.  There is still quite a lot of snow in the higher elevations. Baranof Island has a large number of peaks in the 3,000 to  4,500+ foot range.  

 

Saw a large waterfall and took a detour for sight-seeing. There is an amazing amount of water crashing into the bay from this 200 ft high waterfall. 

 

Detour Waterfall

 

Pulled into Warm Springs Bay, anchored and tied to shore across by the inlet to the back bay.   The amount of water coming over the 100 ft falls is amazing.   All the rain this year has had an impact there.  Three of the men went out fishing, one stayed back to read, and one went out exploring.  I bet you can guess who was in each group.   The women played a card/tile game.  

 

 

 

When the fisherman got back it was time to go visit the hot springs.   The community looks about the same as in past trips but the building that was a combo house and small store, is now used as a facility for the Alaskan Whale Foundation, which also had two boats on the dock.  The two small cabins that were knocked off their foundation platforms years ago are still sitting where they landed, and still contain their furniture. Their two other partner cabins are also just sitting there furnished and unused.  The For Sale of Lease sign is still there waiting for someone to come scoop up this property.  They look the same as they did in 2008 when we first saw them.  

 

June 24 - Day 55 Gut Bay

 

 

 

June 24 – Day 55      Gut Bay

 

It has rained all day.  Some went out fishing.  The water in Chatham Strait was rough.   John and Michelle said they felt like they were in a four-foot wave washing machine.   Glad I did not go.   Glen and Tom did not report the same so they must have stayed inside Gut Bay.  Reports say that Gut Bay is a good spot for Halibut.  They did not catch one.   All came back with Black Cod which will be great for dinners.  Most was prepared and frozen.   I worked on projects and baked bread while they were gone.

 

It cleared enough in the afternoon to go exploring a bit in the Jetboat.  We weren’t going to go fast so all 7 of us piled into the boat and off we went (Dave stayed back to read).   Glen tried to take us up the river at the end of the bay, but we did not get far due to the huge rocks.   We saw a campsite, complete with a very large (about 10x20) wooden platform in the woods along the shore of the river.  Of course, some of us went ashore to explore.  This place even has an outhouse.  A room with a view…. There were only 3 walls and the 4^th side had a view of the waters of the river, meadow, and mountains. 

   

 

 

 

Some of these snowfields come clear down almost to the water.  Michelle and I wanted the guys to get us some snow.  Nope they would not do it, claiming that it was dirty snow.   She and I talked briefly about going on shore ourselves to go stand in the snow.  A photo op of course.  But we didn’t, maybe tomorrow.

 

Our chosen snowfield

 

We came across schools/balls of bait fish, so Tom and John grabbed to poles and started fishing.   Tom wanting to catch a salmon (we’d been seeing some jumping and feeding near the bait balls).   John put on the herring jig and was on the hunt for the bait fish.  His goal was to restock the boat with bait for the larger fishing opportunities.  He caught about a ½ dozen so he was semi happy.  Happy to be fishing but disappointed that he had not caught dozens of them. 

 

Gut Bay Anchorage

 

 

 

The proud fisherman

This time it is a clam shell, no clam just the shell