Around Revillagigedo Island

Walker Cove

6/4/11

Naha Bay government float

Left Ketchikan on a very rainy morning, about 12 noon and stopped to get a bunch of fuel on the way out (figure on 1.6 gph this time, sometimes it’s been 1.4, so I average about 1.5). 

Looking out at Naha

Boardwalk

Yep, it's bear poop!

BB and I went up the Tongass channel and took a right on Behm Canal, which circles Revillagigedo.  We weaved around a  bunch of islands until arriving at Naha Bay on Revillagigedo Island.  Way inside is a government run float with a ramp that runs into a trail.  There were only 2 boats tied up to it, both small and no people on it.  So I tied up, making sure there was plenty of room for at least a couple of more boats.  After that, it would be all about rafting - no worries.

Roosevelt Lagoon

So I put on my hiking boots and walked along the path which goes up a bit over a ridge and then down to Roosevelt Lagoon, which has a nature trail, wildlife and fishing - wildlife, particularly bears.  I think there are only black bears, according to one of the locals in Ketchikan, but I didn’t know for sure.  The woods were dark, and most of the path was a slippery boardwalk – I really had to watch my footing, while either whistling, tooting my horn, or making human-type noises - no bells.  I didn’t see any bears (thank god!), but I did see a couple of big bear scat right on the boardwalk.

Naha Bay

OK, I’m sure you’ve heard of this.  There’s a sign in one of the Canadian parks that states:

“Make sure that when you’re in an area known to have bears, be sure to wear bells and bring pepper spray with you.  There are two kinds of bears – black bears and brown bears.  If you see bear scat, you can tell what type of bear made it.  If it is a black bear, it will have berries and grubs in it.  If it is a brown bear, it will have bells and smell like pepper spray.”  …or something like that.

Island in the canal

At anyrate, I didn’t see any berries in the scat, and it looked really fresh.  So after I saw my second big bear scat, right on the boardwalk, I decided to scat…back to the boat.  There was no one at the park that I could see, it was dark, slippery, and (sigh) I was alone and psyched out.  One thing nice about this place was that it was super quiet – a nice break from all of the float planes in Ketchikan.

Looking out from Fitzgibbon Cover

About 8:30 pm, there came a group of people from the trail (remember that it is still strongly daylight, sun still up).  Two of them was a couple about my age or younger that came first, getting their boat ready to go.  About 15 minutes later, a young guy about Alex’s age (my son) and 3 girls came down – all had fishing poles.  They had hiked way beyond the lagoon to a lake further up the mountains.  They also saw the bear poop, but didn’t see any bears.

Fitzgibbon Cove

What was interesting is that they live in one of many houses that dot the shoreline from where the road ends from Ketchikan all the way to Naha Bay, all on independent energy systems, all people getting to and from Ketchikan traveling by way of boat.  The owner looked at my solar panels and then proceeded to describe how he replaced all of the batteries (about 2.5 tons worth) and installed a whole range of 130W solar panels recently.  He asked me how my solar panels were working and I told him the jury was still out.  Later, the next day, I found out that they were working really well, keeping my voltage well above 13 by noon.  I think these panels are really going to help.

Looking south at the Mystic Fiord National Park, on the left

The next day, about 1 pm, we headed east again along Behm Canal till we hit a long and narrow cove called Yes Bay, on the mainland.  By then, it was getting close to dinner time, and as I was not feeling too good at the time, and decided to take an early crash, but not without viewing an absolutely beautiful sunset. I tried to take pictures, but they didn't turn out well - out of focus.  I shared the cove with one other boat from Ketchikan.  So far, despite the ongoing stream of cruising yachts that I saw passing through Ketchikan, I have not seen many other boats except for locals.

A glassy day on Behm Canal

The next day was beautiful, sunny with a lot of clouds – very dramatic.  The northwesterly was coming in, but, because of the high altitude land mass around me, I could never get any wind to last more than 10 or 15 minutes, and then coming from all kinds of different directions.  At anyrate, we wound our way around Hassler and Bell Island, through narrow passageways (even saw some porpoise!), and finally went across Behm Canal to Fitzgibbon Cove, the first of long fiord-like coves/bays along the mainland of the Misty Fiords National Monument Wilderness.  Fitzgibbon Cove seemed relatively tame, but looking down the canal, I could see huge mountains, so I expected to be wowed the next day.

Green river water outflow

And the next day didn’t disappoint.  First of all, it was an absolutely, no-cloud-in-the-sky, and clear kind of day - and hot.  I had my t-shirt off for most of the time (thankfully no one was around) because there was no wind.

Entry to Walker Cove

Walker Cove

Tourist plane in Walker

Green valley where the bears play

Heading south, the first cove that I dipped into to check out was Walker Cove – they should call it Walker Inlet, because it’s 7 nautical miles all the way in there.  Words don’t describe how unbelievably majestic was the granite, glacier shaped outcroppings and u-shaped valleys topped with snow covered peaks.  I took a bunch of pics, but they don’t do it justice. The ruggedness and scope of the scenery reminded me of Yosemite, except it was not spoiled by the crowds of tourists and cars and bad vibes, other than a couple of tour floatplanes that flew overhead.  The valleys at the head of the bay were green and wide open and I was hoping to see some bear activity there, but I guess it was too much in the middle of the day.  I did poke the bow of my boat into one of many waterfalls along the side – the depth being like over 200’.  That was a gas…it was just a small waterfall, but when it hit my bow, the amount of water that came flooding down the decks was somewhat alarming, so I backed away after a few seconds of getting splashed on.  It certainly cleaned my windlass!

In any event, it was too deep to anchor, so I moved on to the next place called Rudyerd Bay.  On the way, the waters were absolutely glassy, reminding me of inside Baja, but with forests and snow-covered mountains instead of desert.  I could see for miles and miles.

(See next blog for continuation of story)