Valdez to Whittier - 2005

June 25. The weather forecast looks great. Jean and I took the Alaska ferry from Whittier to Valdez. The crew was cooperative and let us make multiple trips into the car-deck to load our 15 plus days of gear and boats. Arrived in Valdez at 6:00 PM after a 5 hour ferry ride. Anadyr Adventures met us at the ferry dock and took our gear and boats to a protected launch site east of the small boat harbor. The site was packed with trailers. The winds were southwesterly from noon until 8:00 PM. We packed our heavy boats and headed out at 8:30. The seas were choppy but there was no wind. We paddled 1 1/2 hours to Gold Creek. There is reportedly a bear container upstream. We got there at low tide and didn't try to find it. We camped on the spit at a marginal campsite tide-wise. A large boat wake could have washed over the site at high tide. Also there was nowhere to hang the food. We were lucky and had a restless but uneventful night.

June 26. The day started cloudy and calm. We paddled to the beach across from Middle Rock at the start of the Narrows where we have previously camped. There is a very small gravel ledge for one tent. Potato Point has a much better site. The wind started about noon after the clouds cleared. Busted off half a tooth. There is no tooth pain but the gum is sore. Will see how bad it gets. Saw sea lions and sea otters.

June 27. The tooth is better. Paddled to 17 mile beach south of Sawmill Bay. Great beach with a stream. Pretty day with light south wind, clouds, and warm temperatures. Saw a black bear on a beach. No other kayakers. Pleasant evening.

June 28. Beautiful sunny calm morning. So far this trip we've seen lots of sea lions and the oyster catchers have been a kick! The paddle around Freemantle Point went well with calm seas. There is a beach 45 minutes south of 17 mile beach that is campable. There are no other stopping points until Heather Island. We checked out Emerald Cove across from southern Heather Island. It is not very campable. On a subsequent trip we camped at the small unnamed cove just east of Elf Point.

We saw a seal chase and catch a fish. Very exciting. No salmon were jumping so I didn't fish. Set up camp on a small island off the southern end of Heather Island. The site is OK in this low tide range. Paddled to the northern end of Heather on the eastern side. Couldn't cross over to the western side. There are miles of house sized and smaller icebergs grounded as far as we could see. There were lots of otter pups and moms on the ice. One berg with otter families rolled and it was chaos with pups crying and moms looking for their kids. Such a scene. The face of the Columbia Glacier is miles away but the entrance to Columbia Bay is choked with ice. Quite a sight. There were showers during the night.

June 29. Cloudy morning but sunny by afternoon. Paddled to Granite Cove and dropped our gear at the northern entrance. Hung food and paddled empty boats toward the glacier. Got to the submerged moraine across from the northern end of Heather Island. The huge bergs are grounded as far as we could see across Columbia Bay. Beached the boats and hiked to a high spot on the lateral moraine. The glacier is miles away and the bay north of the moraine is choked with ice. Most of the ice is in the middle of the bay. It was an unusual sight. I've never seen so much floating ice. We might be able to paddle along the sides but these bergs can roll unexpectedly. That thought is unsettling to me. We could camp on the moraine and hike along it. After supper, ice started floating into Granite Cove along with several otters. By evening, the bay was full of ice. Almost no mosquitoes so far but tons of black flies.

June 30. Cloudy calm day. In the morning, a hummingbird worked the flowers of the beach peas. It landed near Jean's tent door for a minute. These birds are so much fun to watch. Much of the ice moved out of Granite Cove and it has gone quite far south toward Granite Island. The beaches from Granite Cove to the point where we did the crossing to Glacier Island were so ice choked we couldn't land. Near the start of the crossing, Jean found a small ice-free beach to take a break. The beaches look campable if you can land. There were many huge house-sized bergs on the crossing to Glacier Island. After the crossing we stopped at the old camp on Growler Bay. It is deteriorating but must have been a great place to visit when it was in operation. The beaches in Growler and Finski bays look campable. We paddled clockwise around Glacier Island. There are a few exposed pocket beaches. The sea lions at Bull Head were neat. There must have been several hundred on the beaches. They were very noisy. We camped on a huge exposed beach just past Bull Head. A warm calm day.

July 1. Low clouds with light drizzle and occasional light rain. At the southwest end of Glacier Island we saw a humpback give a long display of jumps. The best show I've ever seen. The shore to the north of Glacier Island was cold and cloudy so we crossed to Granite Point and checked out Fairmount and Granite bays. Found a good campsite between the two bays on a gravel spit near Fairmont Point. Precipitation quit at bed time. Saw some jumping salmon but still haven't caught any. Met a guy who's paddling the Sound all summer. He's done this for the last 5 summers. Saw a land otter eating mussels. He was unafraid of us.

July 2. Paddled to Cedar Bay. Pretty bay with granite walls. There was marginal camping in the bay on grassy areas. The campsites would be OK if it were dry. Light rain and drizzle fell all night long and stopped before morning. Cloudy all day with drizzle by evening. No luck fishing. We returned to our pervious campsite on the point. There is an eagle nest nearby. The parents appear to be feeding the kids. Met last night's visitor again. He said that he slept in cabins out here like the one at the abandoned oyster farm next door. He also said there are tent platforms at the fish hatchery on Esther Island.

July 3. Rained all night and stopped about noon. After the rain stopped we packed and visited the abandoned oyster farm a short distance away. Crossed to Unakwik Point. There are good beaches on the Wells Bay side of the point. Crossed over to Olsen Island. There is camping on the eastern side of Olsen if you're careful about the tides. Saw a sea lion on the rocks. It was listless and may be sick. Camped on the beach at the southern end of Olsen Island. This site is a huge sandy beach with protected camping in the trees. Pleasant evening. Seas are still calm. Still no luck with the fish. No other kayakers but lots of wildlife.

July 4. Cloudy day. Fished and got strikes but didn't land any. Saw a whale. Met 4 paddlers doing the same trip. They spent 4 days at the Columbia Glacier, paddling 2 miles from the face, and camping at the top of a 60 foot hill. One huge ice release washed 30 feet up the hill. These huge surges moved the ice in waves. Wow! Crossed Eaglek Bay to camp near the oyster farm. The marked campsite is in grass plus a bear was nearby. We camped on a beach on the outside of the island and hope the bear stays on the mainland.

July 5. Dry night and clearing by late morning. Paddled along the coast to Ragged Point. The paddle from the campsite to Ragged Point had lots of good looking campsites. Paddled through a narrow entrance into a lagoon to a stream to get water. It was a short fun ride in and a short hard return paddle against the inflowing tide. There is a great protected site at Ragged Point. Lots of fish jumping at Ragged Point but couldn't catch any casting. I started the crossing to Axel LInd Island trolling. A pink softly took my pink pixie. I finally tired it out enough so we could net it and get it on the boat. Camped on west side of the peninsula that comes off the south of Axel Lind. We fried the fish and it tasted great. Five land otters swam to the beach near us and ran up the beach into the woods. The sites on the exposed beaches have few bugs like tonight's site. We've had very few mosquitoes but lots of gnats and black flies. A saw would be helpful to clear alders overhanging tent sites. Had warm shower today from the sun shower we brought along.

July 6. Clear night and day with some clouds over the mountains. Caught another salmon on the same pink pixie as yesterday. Caught and released a rockfish and lost a salmon. The map between Ragged Point and Squaw Bay doesn't seem to match the coastline. There are lots of beaches to rest and a few may be campable. Easy paddle to the west site at the East Flank Island. The campsite is small but pretty. There was a deer on the beach when we landed. It stood perfectly still for a long time before disappearing into the brush.

July 7. There were two fawns on our beach all evening last night. They came within 20 feet of us and were cautious but not afraid. Very entertaining. Fish were jumping all day and night. Didn't fish today since we ate fish the previous two nights. Quiet cloudy day as we paddled along the southern shore of Esther Island. There were beaches to take a break from Hodgkins Point eastward. West of Hodgkins Point it is all cliff except at the eastern entrance into Lake Bay. There is a big camping site on the island at the mouth of Esther Bay. The beach is long with gravel. It has several streams. We camped in a small cove 1 1/2 miles north of Point Esther. A salmon opener started at 8:00 PM. Not a quiet night.

July 8. Beautiful day. The night was noisy from the fish opening. Crossed to the other side of Wells Passage (7 miles) in 1:45 hours. Calm seas and light wind. Camped at Pigot Point. Fished some but didn't land any salmon. Landed a rockfish and released it. Just a relaxing short day. Saw two groups of kayakers.

July 9. Uneventful night. Sunny morning with light tailwind. Pleasant paddle to Whittier to end out trip. Used white gas from three 22 ounce fuel bottles and nearly all of a 34 ounce fuel bottle. Took 17 days of food, which fit OK into the boat with no dry bags on top. The total distance paddled was 150 miles.