Fiords and Remembrances
When Jane Minor, a longtime friend of The First Mate’s, first mentioned that she’d love to sail with us sometime, The First Mate emailed her our Alaskan itinerary never expecting that she would be able to make it. After all, she was just returning from a 6-week trip to Ecuador that included a Habitat for Humanity build. Jane lives in Australia, and there is just so much traveling to and from Australia that a body can take, but Jane emailed back with a request for the Misty Fiords leg. You could almost hear the static of excitement going back and forth on our email waves.
.
We have been friends since we were 12. Jane was in our wedding. She married an Australian doctor and moved there to set up home and raise her two girls. The two of us have stayed in touch over the years, first through letters and later through email. Still, distances kept us apart. Over the years, we have seen each other so very infrequently and only for short periods. Now, a whole week plus sailing, too, in this wonderful wilderness. It’s just too good to be true!
.
Wednesday, June 13th – Rested, cleaned up, fueled and provisioned, we leave Prince Rupert under scattered clouds. As we round the point, the sun breaks through the clouds. Looking back at Prince Rupert, we see that “Rainy Rupert” remains sheltered by its own lonely, grey rain cloud. We continue on happily under the sun.
.
The fishing rod is set. As we have only caught one other fish in the Pacific Northwest, and that was a year ago on our passage up the Pacific Coast, we do not have high hopes. By early afternoon, we had the sails up and the engine off when Zing! the line goes reeling out. A nice little salmon is brought in, and to our delight, it exceeds size requirements. It’s ours, and it’s soon on ice and awaiting dinner!
.
That night, anchored in Brundige Inlet, a festive dinner of our salmon is savored and enjoyed.
.
Thursday, June 14th – Misty Fiords is where we are heading, but it is on US soil, and we are still officially in Canada. So, we must continue on to Ketchikan where we can clear US Customs. From the water, Ketchikan looks pretty with a marina full of fishing boats, but it proves to be a disappointing cruise ship town. During the season, several mega ships a day pull in, disgorge their multitudes to shop or to go on excursions and then depart in the late afternoon.
.
It is early evening by the time we have cleared customs and walk into town. Ketchikan is totally deserted! Where is everybody? We learn that the locals have moved outside of town as have the stores and other facilities they need to survive. The town center is now just a cruise ship tourist trap. The First Mate’s camera had succumbed to too much sea air moisture and must be replaced. Surely, with all the tourists around, a camera can be purchased, but this is not the case. She could buy a pink-dyed mink, all manner of T-shirts, lots of ice cream cones, but no camera. The only place to find one, she is told, is at the Walmart outside of town. Can we walk? No, it is much too far. We take a taxi to Walmart and, fortunately, find an acceptable replacement. On the way back to the marina, our taxi driver is a talkative person who reminds The First Mate of the attitude one often hears in Telluride from those who have lived there since dirt was young. The guy, an old timer from the 70’s, bemoaned the growth and castigated the cruise ships while ignoring the fact that he owed his income to their arrival. Who are the majority of his paying passengers? We eat dinner at Steamers, the only restaurant we could find that stayed open in the evenings. We were told it served the best fish in town, but……. we should have eaten on Avante.
.
Friday, June 15th – We head back down toward Misty Fiords. The day again is bright blue and sunny. The mountains, pulling us like magnets, are strikingly white against the blue sky.
.
We anchor in Alava Cove at the entrance to Misty Fiords. On shore, there is a Forest Service hut that Jane and The First Mate want to explore. The Captain has something that he needs to do. With an amused smile, he suggests that the 2 gals ought to take The Dingbat and go ashore.
.
“What’s The Dingbat?” the reader asks. With some embarrassment, The First Mate will now introduce the touchy subject of The Dingbat. That name refers collectively to the dinghy and its motor. (The Captain thinks the name is especially apt when it is being piloted by a certain female.) From their very first meeting, The First Mate and The Dingbat have been at war. It’s a seesawing battle for control, and, after more than a year, The Dingbat still has the upper edge. The thing hasn’t dumped her in the water yet, but it’s come close. She thinks it’s all about Physics again.
As far as the First Mate is concerned, both the boat and the motor have diabolical issues. The boat has non-skid on its sloping floor that works for everyone’s feet but hers, which slip and slide at hurtful angles. She often ends up in a bone-bruising heap on the floor. She gets so tangled up with feet and arms that she can’t tell which way is up. “Keep your center of gravity low,” The Captain laughs. Low? It is low. She can’t stand up so how can it be anything but low? How she admires The Captain and everyone else who agilely climb in and out of the boat. Her personal rule of locomotion is that 3 of her 4 appendages have to be firmly holding onto something stationary before she moves the fourth appendage in any direction. It is the boat’s fault that she looks more crab than human moving around on it!
As far as the motor goes, its attack on her self-esteem is even worse. Directional control of the long steering arm is counterintuitive to her. Left is right, and right is left. The speed control lever is way too sensitive, and do not even mention the starter pull rope! After a year of ownership, she has yet to find the right angle at which to pull the rope to get the engine started. If ever an inanimate object had a mind of its own, this is it! Whether she speaks endearingly to it or curses it to a watery death, it rebuffs her. When she is driving, the motor will start only when it wants to start, and that’s it. For The Captain, it purrs into acquiescence. She has learned that the safest speed for her to travel is idle. Anything more than that endangers both herself and the world at large. Thus, she putts around like an idiot.
The animosity is mutual. After being barreled full force forward onto a pile of rocks when it was supposed to be in reverse and slowly backing up, The Dingbat doesn’t like her anymore than she likes it. There is no dignity or pride left in her dealings with this thing. She does, therefore, maintain that “The Dingbat” is a perfectly good name for the whole mess.
.
They take off. Jane, little aware of The First Mate’s ineptitude, happily takes in the scenery around her, thinking nothing of the very cold water just inches from her body. We drop the crab trap in a promising location and head to shore.
.
We explore the cabin and the land around it. Looking back at Avante, she is a pretty sight out there in Alava Bay.
.
Upon our return to the beach, to The First Mate’s disgust, The Dingbat has its 200 unwieldy pounds nestled in a rock pile far away from the water due to the receding tide. We lug and curse the thing back into the water, trying not to scratch the bottom because that would upset The Captain. However, other than the tide issue, this excursion in The Dingbat is uneventful. Maybe there is hope!
.
The Pacific Northwest is known for its extreme tidal changes. The next morning, The First Mate discovers that she had not planned for the 20 foot tidal range in Alava Bay. Her crab trap is now practically on the beach! There are 2 sea gulls squawking around it trying to get at the poor undersized crab enmeshed in the trap. The Captain thinks this is hilarious. She does not.
.
Saturday, June 16th – Leaving Alava Bay, we motor toward the entrance to Misty Fiords. The rock walls rising straight up out of the water amaze us.
.
The Punch Bowl is a beautiful and popular area in the Misty Fiords area. It is a small bay encircled by steep rock walls. Anchoring in the Punch Bowl itself will be difficult due to its extreme depth and steeply sloping bottom. Thinking we would only be able to motor in and out for a look, we find ourselves the only boat here. A hefty Forest Service mooring ball is unoccupied, and we pick it up, hoping no one will mind.
.
Under the warm afternoon sun, we sit contentedly eating lunch. The steep, chiseled sides of the rock walls are impressive. The distant snow covered mountains draw our eyes. As Jane says, “Who would have thought two little girls from Rye would be doing this?” We talk about our lives, our joys, our sorrows, and realize that we’ve been blessed with love and good fortune. We are at peace in the solitude of this magnificent wilderness.
.
There is a trail on shore, cut and maintained by the Forest Service, that leads up to a lake. With Avante secure on the mooring ball, we decide that we can leave her for a few hours and head out to find the trail. What a trail it proves to be! It is so much more than a hike in the woods, for an intricate route of wooden steps and bridges takes us up and over the steepest terrain. Lush green vegetation surrounds us. The First Mate is enchanted, for it reminds her of the elfin kingdom from the Lord of the Rings. At every turn, she expects the whole cast of characters to appear.
.
This is heavy rain forest vegetation, thick with shrubbery, moss and vines, brooding and mysterious. Occasional flowers bloom sprightly as if to brighten the atmosphere.
.
Narrow wooden walkways meander across the gnarly tree roots and thick vegetation allowing us to enter but not tread upon the beauty.
.
We hear but cannot see a waterfall ahead of us. Upon catching up with The Captain, he tells us, with some amusement, about his encounter with a black bear. He was on the trail above the stream and spotted the animal as it was crossing the stream over to his side. Bears don’t have great vision, and its hearing was deafened by the sound of the water. It was clearly unaware of the nearby human being toward which it was ambling. Using his best bear-avoidance techniques, The Captain began shouting and waving his arms to appear big and menacing. The startled bear lifted its head, stared at The Captain, sniffed the air and did a hasty retreat.
.
We finally reach Punchbowl Lake. Except for the green trees and foliage, it reminds us of a high Alpine lake with the snow-capped ridges above it all.
.
To our surprise, a seaplane has invaded our privacy on this remote lake. What a panoramic view of this area they must have had from above, but then they would have missed the magical experience of climbing through the fairy-land forest. We sit and watch it take off across the waters.
.
Back down at sea level, we find The Dingbat is securely beached again. But this time, Jane and The First Mate have a third hand to help haul the thing across the stoney muck to water.
.
The Punchbowl gave us one more surprise, and this one was not appreciated! After a relaxing evening, we went to bed with the sound of rain pattering on the cabin roof. In the middle of the night, a tremendous bang frightened us out of a deep sleep. It sounded like something had run into Avante or that we had crashed into the shore. Panicked by the noise, we are up on deck in a flash and scanning around with our flashlights. What ever happened? Everything looked fine, and the boat was not rocking from any impact. It was a mystery until we saw a flash of lightening. Seconds later the sound of the thunder blasted down on us, reverberated and intensified by the steep rock walls surrounding us.
.
Sunday, June 17 – Rain patters on the roof above as we wake. Morning mist hangs low. How perfectly appropriate for Misty Fiords! We journey down a long fiord arm marveling at the steep cliffs. Massive trees grow impossibly out of rock ledges. Waterfalls appear at every turn.
.
As we have moved further north, days have become noticeably longer. Sunsets are later, and twilights seem to last for hours. This photo was taken at 11:00 one quiet evening anchored in Misty Fiords.
.
Monday, June 18th – Our last night in Misty Fiords, we anchor in Shrimp Cove. In the morning, we find 2 very large, male crabs in our trap. What good luck Jane has brought us! Fresh-caught Wild Salmon at the beginning of her adventure, and fresh-trapped Dungeness Crabs at the end.
.
At the other end of Shrimp Bay is Helm Bay with another double waterfall. At low tide, it is possible to climb over the rocks to get below the falls. What a wonderful end to a week of sharing the beauty around us in this unique place and the remembrances we have from so many years. Such good friends are to be cherished.