Columbia Bay - July 2021

7/13 - Jean and I drove 320 miles to Valdez from Anchorage in seven hours.  Today was cloudy and sunny but dry. Camped at the Bear Paw campground on the highest tent site.  There are nice hot showers, a covered area for cooking and seating inside out of the wind and rain. It cost $30. Very noisy night with lots of harbor noise. More than I've ever heard.

7/14 - A few sprinkles overnight.  Dry and calm morning.  It was very windy yesterday. The campsites I mention in this trip report can be downloaded in GPX format for loading into a GPS from the paddlingmaps.com website.  We got an early start to avoid the wind and showers. Launched from the city kayak beach near the campground. This beach is very clean with no seaweed on it at low tide. Better than the Bear Paw beach.  It also has steps down a steep slope. Boats are commercial fishing in the Port. We started to get a headwind after two hours. We paddled to a beach that works in low tides just south of Shoup Bay. Saw sea otters, sea lions and eagles. Cloudy day but low winds and dry. Gnats are on the beach.  This is a long beach and is good for walking. The highest tide is 11 feet today.

7/15 - Dry calm night with a low of 49.  Sun hit the beach at 7 AM and we were off the beach by nine to get ahead of the wind at the Narrows.  The paddle through the Narrows was calm. Breeze picked up in the last two hours of our five hour paddle to 17 mile beach.  Saw lots of commercial fishing boats but they were not fishing.  Partly cloudy day. The sun warmed us but it was cool when the clouds moved over.  Quiet seas.  Saw a raft of sea otter moms with pups and sea lions.  Boy are the sea lions big. They give us a long look when they passed us.  Saw jellyfish and starfish.  No sign of bear on the beaches but we still are hanging food. 17 mile is a huge camping beach with a stream. It could hold a large group. The beach lost sun by 6 PM. The wind lay in the evening.  This is a good beach in big tides. Saw no other kayakers.  Lots of salmon are jumping. This is a long beach and is good for walking.  There were a few sprinkles around bedtime and a rainbow. An oil tanker sailed by.  The highest tide is 11 feet today.

7/16 - The sun woke us up.  It was calm and we got a 9 AM start to take advantage of the good weather to get around Cape Freemantle.  Lots of salmon are jumping and sea lions fishing. Some salmon even splashed Jean when they jumped near her boat.  Saw a jellyfish on the beach. Stopped on a beach after 3 miles for a break. This would be a good camping beach. This is the last place to stop until Elf point.  We got to Elk Point two hours after the rest beach. It was around low tide and the beach was too rocky to land. Took a break on a beach on a bit farther up the coast. Paddled along the coast across from Heather Island for another hour and found a good campsite on an island that works in today's 11 foot high tide. There is good high camping on top of the island in the trees too. This could be a good foul weather site. Saw a lots of animals today. Besides the sea lions, there were jumping salmon and lots of sea otters. A few seals too. In Columbia Bay, we saw 20 land otters swimming and then going into the woods.  I’ve never seen a group that large.  Eight land otters came to our island until they realized we were there.  A few bugs. A quiet sunny evening. There is very little ice in this end of the bay. Heard a pack of coyotes yipping.  This campsite could work in tides up to 13 feet.

7/17 - Low of 45 last night.  Crows were active on the island when we arrived but they moved to a nearby island later but were still very noisy.  There are 4 large white  3” eggs here that are probably Bald Eagle eggs.  They are pecked open, maybe from the chicks hatching.  The gulls and oystercatchers are also very noisy here.  It was a clear night and cloudless day.  A light breeze too.  We got water from a stream near camp. The channel at the north end of Heather Island was shallow at low tide when we went through.  Paddled along the coast northward to the most scenic campsite in the Sound.  There are lots of beaches along the way but many are rocky and not good for landing. Our high campsite is next to the Great Nunatak.  There is lots of ice but it did not impede our paddling. Saw lots of sea otters and seals all day. The camp site has two streams and can be accessed from the north or south. There is space for multiple tents.  A beautiful evening watching the ice and listening to the calving glacier.  Surprisingly two jet skis went to the glacier. Stunning views of ice floating in the bay and the distant glacier. We are concerned about surges from calving so we carried our boats very high, putting the boats high above any surge. My boat went up the alluvial fan as high as our tent.  That was too much work so Jean’s boat went into the gully on our island.

7/18 - Low of 49.  Cloudy night and day.  Lots of warm sunny breaks. Day paddled the two arms to see both glacial complexes.  Eight hours of paddling 18 miles with three short breaks. Easily found routes through the ice and there was lots of ice. The eastern complex is the widest ice face I've ever seen.  It forms a long broad arc.  We heard the glacier rumbling but we did not see any calving.  Very spectacular.  There were just a few sea otters and ducks among the ice. Surprisingly no seals. Saw six motorboats and no kayaks all day.  We took a break on a sandy beach every one to two hours. There was a little light breeze but it was still quite cold. The western complex Is less interesting and smaller. It had more rumbling though. We got back to our beach at 7:30 and a goat was there.  It was cautious but went about its business of eating vegetation.  We were beat. Just a late supper and then to bed. Hauled the boats into the ravine. Some fireweed is blooming.  A few gnats and mosquitoes.

7/19 - Low of 45 last night.  Cloudy morning with a light breeze.  It was a long haul to get the gear and boats to the beach. Paddled to Elf Point in over four hours.  Saw two double kayaks on the other side of the bay. Checked out the campsites at the end of Heather Island and the island across from there where we’ve camped previously. They are now uncampable.  The southern end of Heather Island is posted no trespassing. That is new. Saw lots of sea otters with pups.  Also began seeing birds at Heather Island. There were few birds north of there. There were a few icebergs as far as Heather Island. We had some welcome warm sunshine in the evening. The north side of Elf has the best landing beach.  And there is camping on the beach. The south side has camping in the woods. There is no water here.  High tide of 12’ today.

7/20 - A low of 49 last night.  Cloudy with a light breeze. Left Elf Point on calm seas.  Fishing boats lined the coast from Elf to past Point Freemantle.  Lots of sea otters, Some sea lions, including a huge one that exploded behind my boat and splashed Jean. Lots of salmon are jumping. Took a break at the beach 3 miles south of 17 mile beach. It would be campable in these 13 foot high tides.  There was a huge kayak group at 17 mile beach so we went to Sawmill Bay.  Stayed on the big beach just outside of the bay. It has one high tent site. It will be fine on this 14 foot tide.  Went into the bay to get water. Checked out the campsite showing on the Trails Illustrated map.  It is a high grassy area.  Not the kind of place we like to camp. Met a paddle border on an island in Sawmill Bay, which may be an okay campsite. She is paddling to the Columbia glacier. Tomorrow will be our first rainy day on the trip.  High tide of 13’ today. 

7/21 -   Very low clouds and 55 in the morning.  Drizzle started in the morning with rain forecast for later so we took a day off.  We've paddled for seven days and this is a good rest day. The beach has one good high spot for a tent and is protected from the southerly winds.  We slept in and had a late breakfast. Paddled to the salmon stream on the west side of Sawmill Bay to get water.  Schools of salmon were in the stream and only a few had died.  Three bald eagles were flying around. Saw a kingfisher. Salmon were jumping in front of the bay. A tanker sailed north at suppertime.

7/22 - A low of 50 last night.  Cloudy morning with a little mist. A sea lion was fishing in our cove and caught a salmon.  Left on calm seas. The paddle boarder staying in the bay left ahead of us.  Lots of sea otters with pups.  The sea lions were actively fishing especially across from Shoup Bay.  A light breeze was in the Narrows. Saw an oil tanker going into the port and another one leaving. Tailwinds and following seas began in Port Valdez. The waves were running against the tide making 2 to 3 foot following seas which were uncomfortable. Got to the Valdez kayak beach okay. The warming sun came out in the evening.  Stayed at the Bear Paw campground.  Paddle 110 miles including the long day paddle.