RE: [Paddlewise] trips

 
  Took a nice little trip last weekend.  The plan was to head from
Juneau southeast down Gastineau Channel out into Stephens Passage and
then make a crossing of Stephens Passage over to Admiralty Island for a
weekend of camping and paddling.
 Friday we managed to get underway around noon under sunny skies with
the wind out of the southwest at 20 knots.  Water temps were in the mid
50's - I almost always wear a dry suit in these waters.  My partner and
I had the kayaks _loaded_ with food, she was ribbing me incessantly
about how much food I had bought and packed. (That's what happens when I
do all the planning and shopping for a trip - I'm a former hard-core
backpacker who saw the light when I discovered how much gear would fit
into a kayak<g>)  We'd eat well at least.
 Gastineau Channel leads toward the southeast from Juneau approx 8 miles
until it reaches the southern end of Douglas Island and the waters of
Stephens Passage.  We hugged the western shore of the channel and
paddled in very protected waters until we reached Point Tantallon at the
south end of Douglas Island.  As we approached the point we could see
that the waters of Stephens Passage had a good chop running before the
20 knot winds.  Nothing nasty, but the waves were probably a good three
feet consistently.  (Paddling these waters in anything less than ideal
conditions always makes me think of the latest news of boats that have
disappeared in the area.  Within the last three weeks two skiffs had
been lost with the lives of seven people.  I like the fact that my kayak
is truly much more sea-worthy than many of the boats that ply these
waters.)
 We took a short break on the rocks of Marmion Island off Point
Tantallon - a good time for a Power Bar, Pringles (hey, I did the
shopping!) and some water before attempting the five mile crossing over
to Admiralty Island (the native Tlingit name is Kootznoowoo - Fortress
of the Bears) and our destination - a little jewel of a cove called
Oliver Inlet.  We were headed almost directly into the waves - I had a
ball as the bow of my Seaward Ascente ducked time after time into the
waves.  It was a wet paddle....
 We entered the narrow neck of Oliver Inlet about an hour after the
indicated low tide, but the waters of Oliver Inlet weren't following the
rules!  The tide was still ebbing - and running at about 6 knots through
a rocky channel.  A little eddy-hopping and some tough moves and we got
through. (Hey, this is the G-rated version)  There was a little bit of
muttered verbal motivation going on too - "Yes, I should have talked to
somebody about local conditions like this.".....  What I know is it
certainly wasn't noted in the tide book or on the chart - ah, what's an
adventure without at least one unforeseen difficulty.  The secret is in
knowing how to deal with the things that you didn't anticipate.  
 Oliver Inlet is a narrow beautiful 1.5 mile long inlet.  We saw Great
Blue Heron and quite a few Bald Eagles as we paddled in an (eventually)
leisurely fashion up the inlet towards our next destination - a small
narrow gauge tram at the head of the inlet that leads across a mile wide
isthmus and over to the 60 mile long Seymour Canal.  We had reserved a
State Forest system cabin at the other end of the tram and planned to
paddle the protected waters of Seymour Canal the next day (and hopefully
see some of Admiralty's Brown Bear).  We saw an old dilapidated wooden
boat anchored in the cove, but no signs of life onboard or of a dinghy
on shore - strange.  Shortly before the head of the cove we found the
tram trail.  It appeared that the rails had at one time run all the way
to somewhere between the high and low tide lines (in this area the tides
can vary by as much as 21 feet), but now they terminate at the top of a
low hill.  As fortune would have it, the last people to use the tram
left it at the other end, so we had a nice walk, except for the
ferocious Spotted Sandpipers nesting up in the muskeg - they were rather
perturbed and scolded tremendously along with several dive-bombing runs
at us.  Both kayaks fit side-by-side on the tram car and it made an easy
portage.  The tram tracks cross an area of muskeg and appear to be quite
old - we can't figure out why the tram is here - it's a little bit out
of character for an area like this.  Hard to believe that it was put
here for recreational use.  Ah, well - it was fun riding down the hills
- as long as I didn't think too much about having to push back up the
hills on the way back.
 The state-owned cabin had four bunks, a wood stove and a latrine.
Several hours after low tide the waters of Seymour Canal seemed a long
way off -  at least a mile!  Most bays and shorelines in this area (SE
Alaska) are very steep and drop off sharply - long shallow bays like
this are unusual.  There weren't any salmon in either of the two nearby
streams, so it didn't surprise me that we didn't see any bear - except
for two bear skeletons left by hunters on the shore about two miles from
the cabin.  Spring bear season - nuts if you ask me!

 (Okay, My fingers are tired, the sun is shining and the fourth of July
weekend is beckoning - I'm going to run home and go for a paddle.  It
doesn't get dark around here until about 11:00pm these days - gotta love
summer in Alaska!).

Dave Seng
Juneau, Alaska
 


***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/
***************************************************************************